12-08-2004, 01:00 PM
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Swami
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 4,303
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Pocket PC � Literally so in 2020?
"In 2020, whipping out your mobile phone to make a call will be quaintly pass�. By then phones will be printed directly on to wrists, or other parts of the body....., Inanimate objects will start to interact with us: we will be surrounded - on streets, in homes, in appliances, on our bodies and possibly in our heads - by things that "think". Forget local area networks - these will be body area networks�� smart fabrics and textiles will be exploited to enhance functionality, form, or aesthetics. Such materials are already starting to change how gadgets and electronics are used and designed. So MP3 players - the mass gadget of the moment - will disappear and instead become integrated into one's clothing, says Mr Pearson. "So the gadgets that fill up your handbag, when we integrate those into fabric, we can actually get rid of all that stuff. You won't necessarily see the electronics. Wearable technology could exploit body heat to charge it up, while "video tattoos", or intelligent electronic contact lenses, might function as TV screens for those on the move. ""
This BBC news article is worth a look to see how tech gadgets in future may simultaneously be ubiquitous and unnoticed. Wearable computing sounds good, though I don't like the sound of tattoos or implants. PC may stand for Personal Computer, but that's a bit too personal for my liking. :wink: Think of the upgrade problems, to say nothing of soft and hard rests! :lol: So, at what point do you think a Pocket PC will actually BE a pocket? How far would you be willing to go to integrate electronics into your body or wardrobe?
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12-08-2004, 02:24 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 138
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What happens if it rains? I don't want to short circuit :wink:
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12-08-2004, 02:49 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 137
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by PatrickD
What happens if it rains? I don't want to short circuit :wink:
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:rotfl: :rofl:
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12-08-2004, 02:54 PM
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Swami
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 4,303
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by PatrickD
What happens if it rains? I don't want to short circuit :wink:
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I think that an unstated assumption is that the electronics will be machine washable. Well - they will have to be if they are on clothes. But of course, these will initially be geek clothes, so maybe not. :lol: :wink:
The 'integrated' cloths I have seen recently usually have waterproof wiringing and a detachable electronics component 'pack'. The electronics in future can't be too bulky or heavy if the predictions are to come true.
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12-08-2004, 03:03 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 658
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body area networks? BAN! :lol:
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12-08-2004, 03:24 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 181
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I'd like a Pocket PC/Cell Phone that straps onto your wrist like a watch, with a larger screen... Now, that may not be far away!
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12-08-2004, 03:25 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 138
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Jonathon Watkins
Quote:
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Originally Posted by PatrickD
What happens if it rains? I don't want to short circuit :wink:
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I think that an unstated assumption is that the electronics will be machine washable. Well - they will have to be if they are on clothes. But of course, these will initially be geek clothes, so maybe not. :lol: :wink:
The 'integrated' cloths I have seen recently usually have waterproof wiringing and a detachable electronics component 'pack'. The electronics in future can't be too bulky or heavy if the predictions are to come true. |
Or maybe I will have weather radar embedded in a tattoo, so I can avoid the occasional shower. In the event a downpour is unavoidable, a S.P.O.T. umbrella will deploy from my shirt protecting my valuable electronics. Once the storm has passed, I�ll click my heels together three times, and a helicopter propeller will pop out of my hat allowing me to fly to my destination, guided by a GPS display built into my contact lens. Cool I can�t wait for the future. :wink:
Seriously though, this stuff does seem rather cool. What I would like to see them develop is a fabric with a built in cooling/heating system to keep the wearer comfortable. It would have to be self contained and powered. I don't want to wear any huge backpacks or battery packs.
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12-08-2004, 03:26 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 65
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What fun are electronics that you can't see and touch?
That'll be a sad day when all of our toys are like toasters - boring. And worse yet - invisible.
I don't think it will fly, unless of course human beings all go blind.
Mark 
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12-08-2004, 04:15 PM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 9
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Just wanted to point out that there is already a real term for this, PAN: Personal Area Network.
Believe it or not, Microsoft is doing some of the coolest research in this area... They are actively developing a system that uses the conductivity of the human body to transmit data. Gives new meaning to the term "getting a buzz" I suppose
I actually wrote a paper some years ago about the evolution and eventual merging of man and technology. I basically outlined a scenario where this is an inevitable path of human evolution because biological evolution is more or less a dead end once you control your environment as we largely do. When I wrote the paper, parts of it sounded rather fanciful, but developments over the past three years are rapidly making it sound all too realistic... brains grown in petri dishes controlling flight simulators, monkeys moving robotic arms over the Internet, professors in Britain with neural implants, etc. All of this stuff is real, has been done, IS being done, and is moving the man-machine that much closer to reality.
For me, I'm OK with it, for the most part. Any technology can be detected, but I would never "embed" into myself technology specifically DESIGNED to be detected anr/or tracked, no matter what the justification, which might sound rather reasonable.
So, those chips that radiate my medical information, no way, even if it could save my life in an emergency. But a cortical implant to enhance my vision? Sure. A GPS transmitter in my kids so I can find them if they are kidnapped (the so-called LoJack for people)? Never. But something that let me control my home appliances with my thoughts? You bet.
It's funny... I'm a huge Babylon 5 fan, and especially of the Technomages. If you think about it, for the first time in human history, we stand on the verge of being able to take a first stab at making those characters a reality, in some small way.
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12-08-2004, 04:42 PM
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Developer & Designer, News Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 12,959
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Re: Pocket PC � Literally so in 2020?
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Jonathon Watkins
By then phones will be printed directly on to wrists, or other parts of the body....., Inanimate objects will start to interact with us: we will be surrounded - on streets, in homes, in appliances, on our bodies and possibly in our heads - by things that "think".
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This world just sounds like one big "tattoo". Imagine having company logos printed on you.... (Hey, check out my HP tattoo!) :mrgreen:
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