Wearable Video Cameras The Next Consumer Must Have?

A few years back I purchased a Flip Ultra video cam, and recently upgraded to a Flip Mino HD (G.N. you and the girls can keep the Ultra :)). I'm loving the Mino even more than I did the Ultra as it is smaller, lighter, and has a rechargeable battery built in, all with the same ease of use I grew accustomed to. It seems as though the next hot item in mobile video cams might be the wearable kind, enabling us to go about our business and capture our moments with out much thought involved. I do after all have to think about reaching for my Flip cam and aim it at the objects of my interest. 

The New York Times has an interesting article called "When a Camcorder Becomes a Life Partner" by Anne Eisenberg. The article describes two intriguing products, the more intrusive but better recording quality GoPro HD Hero 960 ($179.99 US) and the Looxcie ($199 US), which loops over the ear and is reminiscent of a hands free Bluetooth phone headset.

The GoPro features:

High-Definition video at 1,280 x 960 pixels and 30 frames a second. This device is a small cube less than two inches high and can be mounted into a waterproof case which combinedweigh less than six ounces. The lens can capture photos or video at 170-degree angle, and the camera mounts to a headband or plastic plates that can attach it to flat or curved surfaces.

The Looxcie:

Loops over the ear and is built into a Bluetooth headset that streams digital images wirelessly to your Android phone using a free Looxcie app. From there, the the video clips can go directly to e-mail. This is the less obvious of the two cameras but also only captures video at 15 frames per second and 480 x 320 pixels.

In either case, expect to see these and similar devices showing up at sporting events and school plays in your neighbourhoods soon.    

Functional Clothing Takes On New Meaning

From shirts that generate electricity when you move in them to fabrics that can prevent colds and flu and never needs washing. The garment industry is making huge headway in changing the clothes we wear from simply a fashion statement to a truly a functional wardrobe. "Your whole body can be equipped with an array of sensors," Bruce Thomas, co-director of the Wearable Computer Laboratory at the University of Australia, tells CNN.

"If clothes could talk, they could tell us so much about our bodies," says Dr. Shirley Coyle, an engineer based at the National Center for Sensor Research at Dublin City University, Ireland.

"They are an interface between our bodies and the environment and in the future will prove a vital tool in health care. We are creating clothing with sensors that does not intrude on the comfort of the patient with wires."

"This is an entirely new area, but every day we are discovering ways of adding new functions to textiles. It has so much potential. Our clothes will definitely play a very different role in the future," says Dr Coyle.

Wearable computing on display in Boston

The Globe and Mail has an interesting story about a recent conference held in Boston that put a number of new "wearable computing" devices on display. Everything from shirts that nag you to straighten up, shoes and name tags that track your movements, and gloves that control your music player volume. The thing that I find incredible about these devices is that now, like never before, they are very close to having commercial applications and acceptance. Expect to see or hear more of this technology soon!