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Wearable computer now available


Beam me down Scotty: the monitor is mounted on spectacle frames, giving viewing privacy. (Pic: Popular Mechanics)

The laptop was an extension of the desktop computer. Now, it seems we have a head-top computer.

It might look like something from a sci-fi film, but for the first time a wearable computer is being offered for sale.

The computer, built by Xybernaut Corporation in the United States, is called poma. The processor is about the size of a paperback, with a separate mouse and a colour head-mounted display.

Running on Windows CE, the computer replaces a mobile, pager, and MP3 player, says Xybernaut. It is operated by a handheld optical mouse, and has a 32Bit 128 MHz RISC processor, 32MB of RAM, and 32MB of ROM.

Windows CE is a 'stripped down' version of a full Windows operating system, prompting comment that the poma is merely a more sophisticated version of a PalmPilot.

Where the poma differs, however, is in the screen.

"The head-mounted display has the same resolution and imagery that you would see if you were looking at a desktop monitor," Xybernaut president Edward Newman told BBC News Online.

While it is small, the screen appears as large as a 15-inch desktop monitor screen simply because it sits so close to the eye. Xybernaut drew on experience from military applications to develop a screen that is transparent — in theory, you should be able to play speed-racing computer games and cross the road safely at the same time.

The computer was on display at the 2002 Consumer Electronics Show, where it won the Editor's Choice Award from Popular Mechanics magazine.

Poma weighs less than 300 grams but it is limited in its computing capabilities. In addition, its main advantage — portability — becomes less realistic if the user takes advantage of the expansion slots for a wireless modem, a portable hard drive, or a wearable keyboard.

But for cutting-edge types who simply must get one before anyone else, a limited number of the units are for sale. The price is about AUD$3000.
