Wearable system for mountaineers proposed
By Marc Perton 
posted Jul 7th 2005 6:00AM
posted Jul 7th 2005 6:00AM
Given the amount of money people spend on mountaineering gear
(not to mention what it costs just to get to places like Mt. Everest), it's a little surprising nobody's come up with a
wearable computer system designed specifically for climbers. However, Anurag Sehgal at the Interaction Design Institute
in Italy, attempts to address this in a thesis project that attempts to combine a satellite phone, GPS, digital camera,
PDA and other equipment into a complete wearable system controlled by a glove-based gesture system (after all, you're
not about to take your gloves off to use a keyboard when summitting Everest). Sounds great; now let's get someone to
actually manufacture it.
LOL, that picture need a caption...
"What the #$@! is all this $%@!, Im trying to climb a mountain here!"
No >real< climbers would buy this crap. Unless it weighed less than 6 ounces. Lightweight is all the rage now... You pay about $100 for each ounce you shave - so to shave enough weight down to then strap this monstrosity on would cost you a mint.
Not to mention you would have a hard time focusing when all your friends were sending you IM's telling you what an ass you looked like.
Ryan
I wouldn't be reading Engadget if I didn't love...well...gadgets. But I kinda don't see the point in this.
I'm not all THAT avid a climber, but I know that many people who are serious climbers, do it in part to get AWAY from all the tech what all we've bound ourselves to. And for the majority, if they're out climbing (particularly on an expensive gig like Everest or K2) I think they want to focus on their climbing right at that moment.
Not to say they wouldn't want to chat or e-mail pics during their adventure, but that's probably more of a bivouac activity and not for while your scramblin' up the crags. Meaning that the hands-free-stuck-to-your-face feature is probably not necessary. Not to mention how distracting and hazardous it could be. Course it could possibly save sombodies life as well if they are injured and are largely unable to move with this rig still allowing them to summon help (assuming they can survive long enough for it to arrive).
This is kinda cool no doubt, but I think in the long run completely hands free/head-mount-display and haptic/voice/brainwave interfaced devices of the future will see mostly industrial and military usage.
Just my opinion...
awesome! i can't wait for oakley to jump on the cyborg bandwagon...
*insert rolling eyes emoticon here*
Actually there's a decent thesis behind this. It explores the realities of this concept, as well as some of the practical design issues - see http://people.interaction-ivrea.it/a.sehgal/thesis/Thesis%20Reports/ThesisReportHIRes_AnuragSehgal.pdf. It's worth a read.
I cant really see this thing taking off. Real climbers wouldn't use it.
The thing is that in the type of environment where you really need this kind of advanced kit you can't risk taking your gloves off to work the small buttons. Working a GPS or even a camera can be a nightmare in a tough environment at altitude let alone a built in computer.
And, then for the real gear freaks with the money to spend that are say, going for a stroll in the antarctic, I can't see them being happy unless they are loaded up with latest software.
this is an excellent thesis on mountain climbers' safety and it needs to be developed into a reality. perhaps people who criticise the thesis do not know the harsh realities of mountaineering at high altitudes. only the people who did high altitude climbings can appreciate it. i congratulate Anurag for his innovative thesis.