Google Glass for Ears: Japanese Researchers Are Now Testing Earclip-type Wearable PC
What if you can wear a computer inside your ear and control it by using facial movements? Japanese researchers are now testing wearable clip-on PC -- the next Google Glass for ears.
Created by engineer Kazuhiro Taniguchi of Hiroshima City University, the brilliant device, called Earclip-type Wearable PC, only weighs 17g and its design was inspired by simplicity by Ikebana Japanese flower arrangements, also known as kado or "way of flowers." It is reminiscent of the in-ear computer worn by Joaquin Phoenix in the 2013 sci-fi romantic film Her, where his character Theodore Twombly falls in love with an operating system with a female voice.
The Earclip-type Wearable PC, which weighs 17g, is battery-powered and comes with built-in storage: users can upload software, apps and files to their ear-worn clip. It features GPS, a compass, gyro-sensor, speaker, microphone, pulse monitor and thermometer.
It can be connected to any Bluetooth-enabled device and programmed to register a range of tiny movements inside the ear and recognize every time a wearer's eyes and mouth move by using infrared sensors. For example, a wearer could easily scroll through menus by winking, or open a program by sticking out their tongue.
Taniguchi calls his device "a third hand" that could be used by rock climbers, hikers, cyclists and other athletes, as well as people with disabilities. "Supposing I climb a mountain, look at the sky at night and see a bright star up there, it could tell me what it is," he said. "As it knows what altitude I'm at, which direction I'm looking and at what angle, it could tell me, 'The bright star you are seeing now is Sirius.'"
"We have made this with the basic idea that people will wear it in the same way they wear earrings," he added.
The in-ear computer will be ready to go on sale to select people by Christmas 2015 and general sale from April 2016.
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