Building a Cheap HUD for a Wearable Computer? 43
BJS asks: "I'm in the process of building a my first Wearable Computer. The last thing I have to do in it's construction is to make a heads up display system. I want to have something like an iScape2, a MicroOptical C3, or even this TekGear component, however I'm in collage so I can't afford to spend much. A friend of mine suggested that I find a broken camcorder online and mod the viewfinder. Dose anyone have any suggestions or experience in making their own HUDs? Does anyone know where I can find a broken camcorder or camcorder parts? And finally, what experiences have people had with making a wearable computer? Thank you, Slashdot!"
You're in "collage" (Score:4, Funny)
Re:You're in "collage" (Score:2, Funny)
No Build Hardware First, or end up like me (Score:5, Funny)
Input devices are important of course and what I ended up doing was to split a keyboard in two and sew each half into the front of my unitard just below nipple level and extending downwards toward my waist. The mouse had to be a trackball since it needed to be stationary, so I put it in the only place easily accessible to both hands but still out of the way of the keyboard which happened to make it appear much like a codpiece. The numeric keypad was situated just below my navel which worked well for Quake III because of the easy accessability between the keypad and the trackball/codpiece. An LCD screen is a must for the display due to the weight factor of regular CRT tubes. I used an NTSC output from my video card to go to a 5" LCD from an SUV's backseat television. Then I painted it to look like a Beijoran pleasure crystal.
Now power wasn't as much of a problem as you might think. All I needed was a 5 and 12 volt DC source. No inverter, none of that AC bullhockey. Of course, using Kirchoff's laws I was able to use a single 12 volt car battery to cover both bases. The battery didn't work to well mounted on my back. It kept sliding down and really stretching out the material of my betazoid uniform, so I had to mount it in a sling hanging between my legs. While it was the best place for it, it was rather uncomfortable walking because it tended to swing wildly and bash me in either knee.
I soon replaced the single 12 volt car battery with two 6 volt lantern batteries wired in series. They didn't last as long but were much lighter and didn't stretch out the crotch of my purple unitard nearly as much. They also didn't look quite so out of place, although unnaturally large. However, an auditorium full of Star Trekkers can become quite warm and perspiration generally contains electrolytes in the form of salt which then conducts electricity very well, as you know if you've ever put your tongue on the terminals of a 9 volt battery. Needless to say, I was unable to sit during the keynote speech and sometimes would jump around a bit for no apparent reason which would have looked very strange to the other convention goers if I had dressed as a vulcan like I originally planned.
The hard drive was very loud until I dampened the vibrations by duct taping it against my left butt cheek. One improvement I would like to make just for the sake of balance is to add a second drive on the right side and mirror the two. And I should add some sort of heat sink to them because they get hot! Speaking of heat sinks, I had the one for the CPU sticking out of my back almost like a shark fin. I think it got extremely hot because while waiting for Capt. Kirk's autograph I backed up a little and heard a sizzle and a scream. When I turned around there was a klingon warrior in tears on the floor licking and blowing on his forearm.
Anyway, it really is important to build your hardware first because a lot of people mistook me for a borg who used to be a betazoid.
i built Cheap HUD for Wearable Computer with mono (Score:2, Funny)