There was a baseball player and an exotic dancer. The limitation of the system was that they were using a small projector ( 320x200 LCOS I thought, from the look of it ) to inject the image into the glasses. Though the lack of dynamic range in the camera and brightness control on the prototype made it difficult to work out - basically, it's designed to work in full sunlight and was bright enough to do so, but we were inside where I took the video so it just overwhelmed the camera and came out "overexposed" compared to the background image.

They were working on smaller video projectors when I spoke to them, but the techs who developed the technology were not around to speak to.

And yes, the image was still much better to my eye... It was one of the two things I found at CES that made the show worth attending.

GrpA

Newer technology integrates the image directly into normal sunglass or prescription glasses lenses through optical waveguides to create an image focussed at infinity that is stable even if you're moving around.

Vuzix has already made prototypes and the lenses look normal - though they did have a projector on the side of the lens. It was technology developed by Nokia and to see how impressive it actually is, take a look at this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atTqT7z00Kc&list=UUXV7-Fjn7hdQcINo7-T3mWQ&index=1&feature=plcp

That's some video I got *through* the glasses at CES in January - And you'll notice that even though I can't keep the camera still, the image is rock steady within the active area of the glass lens. ( The lens is just a few millimeters thick ).

The newer technology looks almost holographic and can certainly be made to provide a 3D image...

Though if Google's glasses were really cheap, I'd still buy them. There's something to be said for a older but functional technology in a pair of glasses for $100 compared to the latest tech for more than $1000.

GrpA

Anthropomorphic Vehicle Control (AVC) -

When the driver *becomes* the vehicle... See's through the vehicles cameras and feels and controls the vehicle like it's their own body.

Currently under development, but you can get an idea what it's like from this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Turing-Evolved-ebook/dp/B007GTWLDW/ref=zg_tr_158595011_4

It talks about other vehicles ( aircraft, ground, water etc ) but mostly about DEMONs - Direct Engagement Military Offensive Neurosuit.

That's pretty much where I think it's headed - the book is free at the moment, BTW. Other formats: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/34627

GrpA

Vacuum tubes aren't that unusual. The US Military has been using them for decades for Night Vision equipment and the best NV equipment is still based on vacuum tube technology. This is what Image Intensifiers are, which comprise more than 90% of new NV equipment.

Less commonly ( and more historically ) the Image Intensifier is a particular type of tube known as a photodiode, but more modern tubes incorporate a lot more technology including electron multipliers ( microchannel plates ) within the tube itself.

But it's still all 100% vacuum tube technology and hasn't changed much over the past century.

GrpA

Does this really surprise anyone?

You are free to do whatever you want to in this world, until such time as someone with more power than you discovers a way to make you pay for doing it.

Now two commercial interests have discovered a way to set up the same toll gate and bridge over the same river and neither wants to give up their perceived right to all the traffic they can handle, while denying the other.

Of course it's going to end up in a fight.

But what is really surprising is that the people who have to cross that bridge never take a side in this matter, since theoretically it's their elected representatives who get to decide which technological bridges have monopolies and which may co-exist.

GrpA

This is something I have experienced myself.

A short story I wrote was entirely fiction based, yet some of the assumptions I made about the technology involved were close enough to the truth that an aerospace simulation company that develops military simulation technology uses the story as a concept model to explain their own simulation technology.

The surprise to me was when they contacted me to let me know. I had never realised just how much I had gotten right until they said "It's a lot closer to the truth than many of us like to admit".

Good SF has a way of taking a complicated technical matter and putting it into contexts that people can understand and relate to - in this respect, SF is more important as a tool for humanity than many other forms of traditional writing.

GrpA

He's convinced every young person in Iran to hate the regime...

GrpA.

No, School is supposed to be about training them to have sufficient basic skills to enter the job climate.

Parents are supposed to teach kids how to think for themselves...

GrpA

Given the US withdrawal in Iraq, engaging in a war with Iran won't be easy or popular. Lately they've managed to capture drones and threatening the shipping will let them achieve their own goals with the least risk of provoking a US response.

I guess the real question is, what will the US do if it is attacked? In all likelyhood, they will be buzzed by Iranian boats without actually being attacked. But how close will they let such boats approach?

GrpA

Then you may want to read the free book: "Military Diorama" - http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/35490

This book is presently in use with the Military Simulations industry ( or at least with specific companies within it ) as a context model to help people understand why simulation technology is important.

If you want to examine the ethics behind testing of human subjects for reactions, you can also read "Turing Evolved" which is set 28 years after Military Diorama and is also a free book. http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/34627

Both of the books are free to download and distribute ( released as "Shareware" ), well reviewed on all major ebook sites and both examine the technology of military simulations and the ethics behind them. One of the larger military simulation companies reviewed both stories and now uses them as a context model to explain where the technology is going and what it's purposes are for. They described Military Diorama as "A lot closer to the truth than many of us like to admit"

GrpA.

My thoughts too, but Tesla was busy at the time and it was after Marconi won the Nobel Prize in 1911 that Tesla finally sued Marconi and Won.

Marconi fooled the American public pretty well and to this day, most people still believe Marconi invented the Radio Telegraph - probably including most people on Slashdot.

The Radio Telegraph was invented by Tesla. The Radio ( as we know it today ) was invented by Fessenden.

Neither really got the credit they deserve - Marconi had the political connections he needed to abuse the US patent system... I guess nothing has changed in 112 years.

GrpA

Not likely... Apple is a true multinational and would be run and staffed by Italians for the most of it. And it's not bullying - it's a clear case of failing to meet their warranty obligations.

To be fair, consumer laws in the US are pretty poor and there's very little government intervention even when US companies deliberately and systematically break the law.

But this was not in the US, it was in Italy and like much of the the rest of the world, there are laws in Italy to protect consumers from dodgy goods. This is known as Statutory Warranty and you can be sure that if a company was fined so much, it is usually because they knew the law and were breaking it on purpose as a means to making extra profits.

All Apple had to do is compete on the same level playing field as everyone else in Italy ( and in fact, most of the rest of the world ) and it looks like they chose not to, got caught and got punished.

GrpA

That is corporate ethics at it's absolute worst. You can be sure that it's likely Apple in Italy knew of the situation and was milking it if they got a fine like that... :(

I wonder if the fine even approaches the profits they made abusing the laws like that.

GrpA

Why is the parent marked Troll? Closed borders are exactly why people can't move en-mass from one area of the planet to another... And countries that are upset by such serious issues and cannot sustain broad migration are not suitable for internal migration.

In fact, it seems a perfectly logical response to the post it was referencing...

GrpA

This is all about 9/11. Back then, the US declared a war on irony. If the US ask scientists to self-censor so as not to assist terrorists and the scientists ignore them and publish dangerous details, then a terrorist group take up their invention and the scientists are killed in the attack, then the US will finally win that war...

Besides, I've read many published research articles that I'd really *not* want to see in terrorist hands... Most of them published by the US military.
So maybe the US already won the war on irony.

GrpA