If you thought mobile phone users were annoying, just wait until folks on the
train start talking to their computers. IBM this week demonstrated a prototype
of the first hands-free wearable computer. The size of a personal stereo, the
Wearable PC can be controlled by voice commands or through a hand-held tracker
ball, and is monitored through a “head-up” display mounted in a lightweight
monocular display which hangs in front of the user’s eye. Data storage problems
always held back wearable computers, but IBM’s “Microdrive”, a one-inch hard
disc that can store up to 340 megabytes of data
(This Week, September 12, p 15)
has solved this: the new computer runs most Windows 98 applications, says
IBM.
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