Laptops for the Disabled? 27
visionWhiteout asks: "I've been looking around a while for a laptop that would suit my special needs. I have a rare eye disorder known as achromatopsia which makes it nearly impossible to see a laptop screen in bright condititions. The ideal solution is a headset with a small screen near the eye, but the ones that I've seen (mostly on ThinkGeek) are a bit bulky. I'm not sure how many people remember it, but there was an old IBM commercial featuring a small voice activated PC that used a device like this. I was wondering if that, or anything similar has become available that I may have missed. Any other commentary is greatly appreciated."
Maybe (Score:2)
Re:Hunting down the lowest fare (Score:1)
Laptops and Bright Ambient Light (Score:2, Interesting)
Voice-activated wearable? (Score:1)
Might help... (Score:2, Interesting)
Several options (Score:4, Informative)
There are some reviews here [wearcam.org]. I've used the bulky but natural "virtual vision" goggles they mention, and yes, it's perfect for camcorders and mangles text. TekGear [tekgear.com] has some more modern displays, all of which look like your eyes are being attacked by a small piece of aluminum. They also carry the "best selling QUGA (?) monocule in the world" [tekgear.com] a one-eyed machine very close to what you describe except that the resolution is low and you look like a call center employee with the microphone stuck in your eye. There are also some in the Imac family, Bizrate has a list [bizrate.com] of several. Liteye [liteye.com] puts out some sufficiently small displays of reasonable image integrity. Once again, still looks funky but in a funkytional sort of way. Plus, they are more of a parts supplier than a solutions provider. MicroOptical [microopticalcorp.com] has several, with their tech briefly reviewed [about.com] by about.com.
If you are looking to purchase one, the two buzzwords to use are head mounted display and wearable display. Hitachi even combined buzz and produced a wearable internet applicance [hitachi.co.jp], though only for the japanese and who knows if it was released.
I hope that gives you some ideas. I also hope some people post here who didn't just pick through google :).
Come again? (Score:1, Insightful)
> which makes it nearly impossible to see a laptop
> screen in bright condititions.
Ummm...doesn't everyone have this?
Here are a few links. (Score:3, Informative)
Xybernaut [xybernaut.com]
MicroOptical [microopticalcorp.com]
laptops for visually impaired people (Score:1)