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Re: Commercial wearable

Roland Orre wrote:
> 
> "R. Paul McCarty" <> wrote:
> ...
> >> http://www.dwave.net/~fwpc/
> > This looks strikingly like the via wearable, I wonder if this is the form
> > factor all commercial wearables are going to take.  Not a bad form factor,
> > but its a difficult package to try to create with a homebuilt wearable.
> 
> I guess that it is not the best package for serious permanent usage either.
> To be able to wear the computer at least 15-20 hours per day it should fit
> comfortable and not be an obstacle. A belt like the VIA computer and some
> other may be that. For a reasonable long time, however, there will be a lot
> of people that will only use their wearable in their job, but not as their
> ubiquitous sensory and brain extension, in the same way as there are a lot
> of people today that have chosen to only use computers at their job and not
> use them at home. For those people I guess that the belt-version, like VIA
> will be much used.
> 
> For us others, were the wearable will be/is a more or less integrated part
> of us, like glasses, watch, socks etc, we need something more comfortable.
> For my own I will make a westcoat version were the weight and size of
> batteries and and all the hardware will be rather well distributed on
> all sides of the body.
> 
> I have one problem though. Cooling! I intend to go for the P54-133 CardPC
> but that little thing dissipates some heat and is specified to use a fan,
> but I don't like fans. All my computers except my lap make a lot of noise
> due to the fans, which may be silent in the beginning but soon start to
> rise their noise, often after just a couple of days usage.
> I don't want any noise from my wearable!
> 
> Has anyone any experience with some passive soft cooling material that
> could, e.g. be spread out over the westcoat?

I think that's the real trick.  With cleaver heat sinking you can just
cool off your wearable by convection.  One advantage of a wearable over
desktop PCs is that it is moving around and can cool off without a fan,
but obviously there are limits to how many aluminum fans and plates you
can wear.

> Has anyone any experience with liquid cooling for wearables?

I don't think liquid cooling would work, here.  Alternatively, perhaps
an air pocket in a piece of clothing could be used to pump air in and
out of a wearable computer by moving around.  Don't laugh, but remember
the suits used in Dune to filter water from perspiration? something
similar could easilly convert mechanical movement into air flow over
your wearable. Of course this introduces the problem that if you sit
still too long you may overheat your wearable if no air movement is
occuring.. unless the air movement was generated from breathing.. say a
surgical rubber tube wrapped around your chest that as your breathed
pumped air around your wearable.

okay, enough thinking out loud for one message. :)

-Paul

-- 
R. Paul McCarty / DARS Coordinator /  / x52059
317 Lattimore Hall, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627
Computers don't make mistakes;what they do,they do on purpose.-Dale/KOTH

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