PluggedIn: Eshades for the Paranoid, Near-Sighted
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2000 11:47:00 AM EST
By Andrea Orr
PALO ALTO, Calif. (Reuters) - Not even the best-guarded password will
protect the contents of your computer when you are logged on and
sandwiched between two other passengers on a transatlantic flight.
It's a security problem that doesn't get discussed much, but you have to
wonder about all the internal memos and trade secrets that escape right
over peoples shoulders on airplanes and other cramped compartments.
For a more private way to work in public places, one small Silicon Valley
company, InViso, says it has a solution: a pair of clunky sunglasses that
open onto an image of a full-sized computer screen -- for your eyes only.
InViso believes there are a lot of private and paranoid people traveling
around on planes. It predicts that soon after it introduces the eShades early
next year, it will not be unusual to board a jet and look down at two aisles
of commuters shrouded in dark glasses and typing away at connected
keyboards.
Misguided geek fantasy or practical consumer product?
InViso Chairman and founder Alfred Hildebrand insists consumers are
already lining up.
``Whenever we demonstrate the eShades, for about 90 percent of the
people who see them, their first question is, 'Can I be a beta tester?'''
Hildebrand says.
In fact, the eShades display some rather unusual and advanced technology
that is hard to appreciate until you try on the glasses.
While much of the current discussion of wireless devices focuses on how to
repackage the contents of a computer onto a minute screen the size of a cell
phone display window, InViso is doing just the opposite. It delivers the
entire computer screen in one piece, so you can view it as a whole, without
having to squint, or scroll around with your cursor.
While many companies in the wireless space are delivering Internet content
via the spoken word so that mobile consumers don't have to look at a
screen at all, InViso says it lets consumers on the go take the whole
computer screen with them. Provided, of course, that they are traveling on
public transportation. When you are looking at a computer screen through
your eShades, it is tough to look at the road.
How does it reproduce the image of a 19-inch computer through two little
screens that are actually smaller than postage stamps? The answer is a
``microdisplay'' technology that produces a perceived image far larger than
the dimensions of the display. Since they simulate an image that is several
feet in the distance, the eShades produce less eye strain that results from
looking at a desktop computer, Hildebrand says. He calls the product an
``ergonomic magnifier.''
InViso does not have a lock on microdisplay technology. Head-mounted
displays similar to the eShades have long been used in the military and
companies like Sony Corp. 6758 and Microvision Inc. MVIS have
experimented with products for the consumer market.
Jupiter Communications analyst Billy Pidgeon says the considerable weight
and the ``immersible'' nature of such products has limited their adoption.
``Just like any gadget, this one has some potential, but it still needs to be
refined,'' Pidgeon says.
InViso, which has attracted investment dollars from Qualcomm Inc.
QCOM, Cypress Semiconductor Corp. CY and Mitsui 8031, is working
on a lighter-weight product. It is also planning to introduce the eCase, an
alternative to the eShades, which provides the same big-screen viewing
experience over a cell phone-like device that you can hold up to just one
eye. The eCase preserves more peripheral vision so, for instance, you can
enjoy that airline meal while you scan a document.
And, the company says, its products are not for airlines only. Although the
crowded flight provides an especially compelling example of how secure
documents may be compromised, InViso says it has as many potential uses
as any Web-enabled cell phone. Private (very private) movie screenings are
one example. A far bigger market could result from partnering with other
device makers to create a full-sized computer and compact-phone in one.
And, for the really paranoid, InViso says its shades could replace the
desktop computers in the work place.
``A lot of people are more and more concerned about security in the
office,'' Hildebrand says. ``We have a lot of Asian companies who are
looking at the eShades as a potential replacement for computer monitors.''
Reut11:47 10-03-00
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