gumstix
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Homebrew head-mounted Linux system for telepresence, looking silly
Sure, viewable eyewear (such as that made by Vuzix) might look like fun, but even with the display balancing on the bridge of your nose you need to find a place to wear that video source. What our man Pascal Brisset did is design a Linux system around a Gumstix Overo Fire computer-on-module, a Vuzix VR920 head-mounted stereoscopic 640 x 480 display (complete with 3D tilt sensor and 3D magnetic compass), WiFi, and Bluetooth modules -- the whole shebang resides in (and on) the eyewear, just the thing for secure telepresence and augmented reality applications (or just extra-private web browsing). And he did it all for under a grand. In order to implement his design, Pascal had to design and custom manufacture a digital-to-analog video converter board using direct-to-PCB inkjet printing. As Hack A Day notes, one can easily question the wisdom of "a pair of microwave transceivers and a LiPo battery strapped directly over one's eyes and brain," but that's the price of progress, right? [Via Hack A Day]
Joseph L. Flatley10.29.2009
Gumstix netstix 400xm-cf mini-computer
It's been a while since we've heard from Gumstix, purveyors of puny computers since, uh, 2004, but thankfully they've come through with another PC-on-a-stick -- of limited use to the average user -- to whet our appetite for diminutive gadgets. Their latest is the netstix 400xm-cf -- Linux-based, of course -- packing a 400MHz Intel XScale PXA255 processor, with 64MB RAM, 16MB Flash, built-in 10/100baseT networking, and a CompactFlash Type II card slot for additional storage. While it obviously won't be replacing your desktop anytime soon, Gumstix sees the pint-sized computer as a boon to network administrators, who can use the netstix to test and diagnose network problems. If you just want one to play around with, the 400xm-cf will run you $206.50, though that can be knocked down to $186 apiece if you (or your higher ups) order 1,000 or more.
Donald Melanson10.23.2006