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Microcap & Penny Stocks : Microvision (MVIS) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rob who wrote (2741)	5/27/1999 7:27:00 PM
From: Obewon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7721

Was sent the following article out of the Washington Post. Talks about current wearable computers and may be interesting to MVIS investors. Hands On By Jason Byrne Government Computer News Thursday, May 27, 1999; Page E05 The Xybernaut Mobile Assistant IV might look futuristic, but this wearable computer can do real work--today, not tomorrow. It's a Windows-based unit that can hang from your belt. With it comes an array of devices that lets you use it on the go, including a head-mounted display, a touch screen you wear on your wrist, a tiny keyboard and a video camera. The Mobile Assistant is meant for such jobs as entering product inventory data in a warehouse corridor or doing an aircraft engine repair that requires frequent reference to an online manual. Xybernaut Corp., a Fairfax company, has done an excellent job of pulling together the many components and technologies that can make this happen. But wearable computers are still in their infancy. For now, the MA IV is suitable only for people who want extreme mobility and are willing to cope with a fledgling product. For instance, the head-mounted display is uncomfortable to wear for extended periods and awkward to put on and take off. Think heavy, unbalanced stereo headphones with lots of cables. A curved plastic reflector bounces the screen image from a 1.1-inch color display into one eye. I found the image quality just fine at 640-by-480-pixel resolution, but the curved reflector warped the edges of the screen, including the Microsoft Windows task bar, making it unreadable. Two different reflectors come with the unit. One is opaque, for use when you don't need to see with that eye. The other is transparent and gives a tinted view of everything in front of the user. The transparent display becomes hard to read under direct lighting, however. Attachable components include an optional miniature digital video camera and a microphone and earpiece. The camera would be useful in situations where sending out live video is important--a security guard on patrol, perhaps? The microphone and the voice-recognition software, IBM ViaVoice, let the user give dictation. The earpiece delivers sound from the computer. The microphone and earpiece attach to either side of the headset. One of the nice things about this and other Xybernaut components is that they can be configured for right-handed or left-handed users. Multiple cables going every which way make the unit generally cumbersome. I mounted the computer unit and battery pack on a belt, although a vest is also available and might be easier to use. I found it hard to strike a balance between having the cables short enough to stay out of the way but long enough for free movement. A wrist-mounted QWERTY keyboard is available. Users who prefer not to deal with the head-mounted display can choose a wrist-mounted LCD touch screen for both display and data entry. The wrist display's 640-by-480 color screen measures a little more than 8 inches long, similar in size to a subnotebook computer's screen. But because it is a touch screen, you can invoke built-in commands with the tap of a finger or stylus. I had mixed results with both. A finger tap often brought no response. And there was a noticeable difference between where the stylus contacted the screen and where the display activated. Still, I found the wrist-mounted touch screen easier to use than the head-mounted display. A miniature keyboard also is included. Standard mobile computers still need a flat surface. The MA IV, in contrast, works in any position, almost anywhere. NASA reportedly is evaluating it for zero-gravity environments. What about the processing power? The MA IV comes with a 200- or 233-MHz Pentium MMX processor, which is fine for many applications. But voice recognition slows it to a crawl. The delay might not be too noticeable in dictating a few words into on-screen form, but you cannot dictate entire paragraphs with any speed. Memory ranges from 32 to 128 megabytes. My test unit had the maximum, which definitely helped. The removable hard drive is mounted in a shock-absorbing gel. The case is magnesium alloy. You get a 2.1- or 4.3-gigabyte hard drive, a built-in pointing device, two Type II PC card slots, a display port, and Universal Serial Bus and port-replicator interfaces. Battery life depends on the components at work. Count on three hours or less for most applications. Overall, the Xybernaut Mobile Assistant IV sends a mixed message. It says the future is now. But it also suggests there's a better future ahead. To respond, send e-mail to editor@gcn.com or visit the Government Computer News Web site at www.gcn.com. Mobile Assistant IV Xybernaut Corp., Fairfax Telephone: 703-631-6925 Web address: www.xybernaut.com Price: $4,995 and up Pros: + Bleeding-edge mobility + Flexible, useful components Cons: -- Improvements needed in technology, integration and ergonomics Report card grade: B -- © Copyright 1999 The Washington Post Company