Building a Cheap HUD for a Wearable Computer?

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!"

Re:Build software first.

[TheLink]

Don't get your logic.

Just restrict your UI to using fewer inputs with a layer of abstraction - e.g. a numeric keypad (or even just arrow keys and two other keys). Keys can be remapped. There are even reasonable analogues to mouse input available - there's stuff which detects the position of the eyes etc, you can cater for those without buying or building those.

You just have to clear on what your objective is- if you want a computer you can wear, just strap on your cellphone or nokia ngage.

If you want something really different and innovative, then the software is where you do it, and you can do most of it way before you get the hardware. The hardware will get there and become cheap[1], they don't really need your help and I doubt you can make much of a difference in that field.

But if you want "the appearance" more than the function, sure go ahead and work hard at sticking a camera viewfinder to your head just so you can check email and run emacs while walking around.

[1] By the time he's out of college the hardware will be more affordable and ready, probably made in China or Taiwan. See the Espresso PC [cappuccinopc.com] from Saint Song [saintsong.com.tw] for instance, just a few more steps and you'd have a wearable.

However, they might rip off his software too by that time ;).

Or maybe they'll give him a job.. Yeah right ;).

Re:I understand the question...

[divbyzero]

Kidding aside (since speaking in beeps is not a serious option for most people), a non-visual wearable computer has a lot of potential. It's not the point of the original poster's question, but it would be a neat project on its own. Text-to-speech (TTS) output through an unintrusive, inexpensive earbud; menu-style input from a small, similarly inexpensive, belt-mounted keypad [google.com]. In fact, now that reasonable embedded TTS solutions [winbond.com] are available, you could do the whole thing on the cheap, using a microcontroller. After that, it just becomes an exercise in interface design, since audio output is strictly one-dimentional, unlike a visual interface which lets you see multiple things at once.