GBTV #0339 (small) | GeekBrief.TV

GBTV #0339 (small) | GeekBrief.TV
Brief 339 is all about research, baby! I LOVE shiny, happy tech coming to market today, but much more that that, I love getting a look at the raw science and engineering that will make it's way into ordinary products of tomorrow. That's been our goal since the beginning and those few episodes where we've been able to bring future tech to the Brief have been my favorite.

In Las Vegas, I met Thad Starner. He's doing stuff as amazing as Dean Kamen, but he's not quite as well known...YET. He was walking around all day looking kind of like Mad-Eye Moody with his futuristic wearable display. It's an expensive prototype that includes an oQo computer running Ubuntu, a battery pack, a wearable VGA display that clips to his glasses and a one-handed input device called a Twiddler.

A Twiddler is a combination keyboard and mouse that weighs 4 ounces and fits in the palm of one hand. They've been on the market for 14 years, so I hope Twiddler enthusiasts will leave comments to share their experiences.

I also talked to Maribeth Gandy about her Augmented Reality research using Second Life. In just the last three months, she and her team have built an application that overlays second life on top of reality. I explain it here, but both she and Thad explain their research better on the videos I shot live on Qik. Click over if you want to learn more.

Thanks to everyone supporting the Big Trip by buying pixels at PaidByPixels.com and thanks to everyone who supports the Brief by buying Nokia N810s using promo code "geekbrieftv". Nokia Internet Tablets will be major players in the world of augmented reality, so it's a good idea to get your hands on one now.