Gumstix-based wearable Linux computer packs WiFi, digital compass

Tempt you with a difficult-to-pronounce acronym, sir? No? Well how about a wireless head-mounted embedded Linux wearable computer? The work of Pascal Brisset, the WXHMD takes a pair of Vuzix VR920 video eyewear and straps to them a Gumstix Overo Fire computer-on-module stick, making for – with some wireless networking, a battery and a few other gizmos – a self-contained heads-up display ideal for telepresence work and augmented reality guidance.

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Thanks to the VR920 there’s stereoscopic 640 x 480 video, together with stereo audio, and the Gumstix adds a 600MHz Texas Instruments OMAP3530 chipset, WiFi and Bluetooth. There’s also a 3D tilt sensor, digital compass and a microphone, despite the whole thing weighing just 180g and drawing 1 amp at 3.7V.

Altogether it’s less than $1,000 worth of components, which sounds like a lot until you remember exactly how much NEC are asking for their own wearable computer. The only concern Brisset has about ongoing use is the safety factor of having all that wireless tech strapped to your forehead.

[via Hack a Day]

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