Enter Geordi Laforge

One of the first things that come to mind when one thinks of 'Wearable Computing' (besides the dorkiness of the person wearing one) is the Head Mounted Display.

The HMD is central to the 'NetWear Philosophy' (another term I just made up) in that it's always there. You don't have to take it out of your pocket- the info you need is right in your field of vision.

I've read up on alternate methods of "display", like audio cues and such, but I'm a visual person and I'd like to see my Data laid out in front of me, even if it is an outdated paradigm that's due for a shift.

With HMD's today, you have two options when buying one- pay a lot, or pay A LOT.

First off, as this will basically be an external computer monitor, VGA resolution is important. That narrows down the options, as most commercial HMD's are 320x240. I found the perfect full VGA monocle display over at TekGear.com. Unfortunately, it's $6,500- a little outside my price range.

Next up is the VR1 over at VRealities.com. It's a lot more bulky, but is "only" $1,299- expensive, but doable with my income if I budget it and save for a couple of months. If my El Cheapo solution doesn't work, this will be my backup choice.

So finally I decided on the recently released Myvu Crystal. Myvu has made video goggles for iPods for a couple of years now, and the Crystal is one of their newest releases, featuring a 640x480 VGA display. I'm going to give this one a shot, as they feature a 30 Day Money Back Guarantee.

Another plus is the supposed "Glance Down" technology that the Crystal uses, ensuring you maintain some awareness of your environment. In other words, the design is such that it doesn't completely block your field of vision- useful when you're, say, crossing a street.

At $300 it's not exactly cheap, but still a bargain in the HMD market. If it doesn't work, I'll return it and start saving up for the VR1.

As the Crystal accepts Composite inputs, I'll also need to buy a VGA to Video adapter, something I found for $70 over at SVideo.com.

Hehe, I'm pretty excited. Science!