Kopin demos 4G-equipped, head-mounted computer
updated 03:30 pm EST, Mon January 16, 2012
Kopin shows early version of wearable computer
A company called Kopin has shown off its wearable, Motorola-branded computer, the Golden-i. It connects to the cloud using 4G and has many possible uses, from law enforcement, to medicine (such as surgery) to mechanical work at home. It sports Kopin's uniquely dense one-inch display, which equates to a traditional 15-inch monitor due to its proximity to the wearer's eye, and the display appears to be 18 inches away.
The system is powered by a 600MHz TI OMAP3 processor with a 400MHz DSP, and can take speech or six-axis head gesture inputs. Users can access the web, broadcast programming, and color video.
A detachable camera is optional, letting users record or stream real-time video or capture and send 1080p-resolution still images. The system runs on Windows Embedded CE 6.0 OS and Bluetooth is onboard as well for connecting to compatible devices, as is Wi-Fi. The headset sports a microSD memory card slot for a capacity of up to 32GB.
The company will continue to develop the device for a few months, suggesting it may become available for sale sometime later in the year. It could be sold to police departments, however, allowing officers to respond to a call and view a neighborhood map or access local security cameras over the web as well, if possible, enhancing his safety and speeding up response time.
Motorola is said to bring out a ruggedized version of the device later this year, while Kopin is also working with Verizon and Ericsson to bring it out to a number of markets. These first systems will be aimed at industrial markets first, although staff said they could see it used by everyday owners to repair a bike or get details on an unsafe neighborhood.
A video demo of the unit and company representative interviews courtesy of ARMdevices is available below.
