Thunderbolt
SOC-12
I humbly submit my design for a hand computer:
http://www.cambrianmoons.com/vue-taschen-computer.htm
http://www.cambrianmoons.com/vue-taschen-computer.htm
Hand Computer
- Thread starter Thunderbolt
- Start date
Nice design.
Incredible rendering.
Good to see Windows is still alive and well in the Far Future.
Thunderbolt
SOC-12
Nice design.
Incredible rendering.
Good to see Windows is still alive and well in the Far Future.
The icons are from BeOS, a great media operating system that faded away a few years ago. I would have used Mac icons but you know what Apple can be like when it comes to suing...
Supplement Four
SOC-14 5K
It's a little "Star Trek: TNG" looking, but I dig it. Fantasitic work.
You should have the pic available for download. I know I like to find things like this on the net, print them out, then use them as visual aids during a game. "You see this clutched in the corpse's hand..."
I'm sure I'm not the only GM that does that.
(I wonder what it would look like with a chrome body?)
You should have the pic available for download. I know I like to find things like this on the net, print them out, then use them as visual aids during a game. "You see this clutched in the corpse's hand..."
I'm sure I'm not the only GM that does that.
(I wonder what it would look like with a chrome body?)
Ya I like the design, I always figured that there should be a Small PC like that. In my games it has an option where you can have a holographic screen and holographic keyboard for use. Where you are able to sit down and do more work or game. Yes I made a list of games for compuiters in Traveller even made some of them mmorgs type games.
The dual screen from the initial post actually could be useful: my son's Nintendo DS has the dual screen, one a touch screen (and he won't let me play with it - mean 7 year old!). Controls on one screen and an unobstructed screen on top for viewing the action. Very similar to the initial picture and I can see how that would be very useful. Heck - that's why I've dual monitors - there is never enough screen space!
A few years back there was a TV show that MCI obviously paid a bit for: the phones had a roll-out screen that always had the MCI logo. You essentially had a cell-phone sized device that, with the extended screen turned into something almost paperback sized so that you could actually see the things on the screen.
My current phone looks pretty much like the more traditional one, and while great for a lot of things, the screen size is not great for reading docs (and I've tried a few pocket PC PDF viewers as well as the MS Reader and the built-in Office stuff). In the future the whole rollable e-paper thing (similar to what the Sony & the Amazon book readers use) should allow for a larger viewing area when needed. Add in projection holographics and that should solve the output part of a pocket PC.
The input side is also problematical, although there is at least one projection keyboard for various Palm devices out there (projects a LED keyboard on a flat surface, and using 2 motion detectors figures out where on the 'keyboard' you are typing. I've read once you get used to it is it pretty good). The slide-out qwerty keyboard on my phone works for small things, but I would not like to create any large documents that way - my thumbs get tired!
Bottom line for a UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC) is the problems in getting data in & out for people. The devices today are incredibly powerful (my phone has more computing power than the individual computers for the Apollo missions, although not nearly as finessed in programming technique!) but we run into the issue of display size versus portability.
But I digress - I really liked the computer!
A few years back there was a TV show that MCI obviously paid a bit for: the phones had a roll-out screen that always had the MCI logo. You essentially had a cell-phone sized device that, with the extended screen turned into something almost paperback sized so that you could actually see the things on the screen.
My current phone looks pretty much like the more traditional one, and while great for a lot of things, the screen size is not great for reading docs (and I've tried a few pocket PC PDF viewers as well as the MS Reader and the built-in Office stuff). In the future the whole rollable e-paper thing (similar to what the Sony & the Amazon book readers use) should allow for a larger viewing area when needed. Add in projection holographics and that should solve the output part of a pocket PC.
The input side is also problematical, although there is at least one projection keyboard for various Palm devices out there (projects a LED keyboard on a flat surface, and using 2 motion detectors figures out where on the 'keyboard' you are typing. I've read once you get used to it is it pretty good). The slide-out qwerty keyboard on my phone works for small things, but I would not like to create any large documents that way - my thumbs get tired!
Bottom line for a UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC) is the problems in getting data in & out for people. The devices today are incredibly powerful (my phone has more computing power than the individual computers for the Apollo missions, although not nearly as finessed in programming technique!) but we run into the issue of display size versus portability.
But I digress - I really liked the computer!
Personally I like the Asus eePC as a template because it has a workable keyboard and useful sized screen. Its not quite a hand computer but as said above, there is a fundamental problem that a 'hand' sized computer isn't going to have a useful display/keyboard within its dimensions (I don't find a Blackberry useable for more than emails). Maybe some sort of projection apparatus?
I believe that Traveller Technology is assumed to have reliable voice recognition - keyboard unnecessary, bluetooth recommended.
unobrtrusive eyepeice that projects a virtual 'screen' directly on the retina and track where on that 'screen' the eye would be focused with a wink being the same as a click because blinking is often uncontrolled whereas a wink can't be done by accident. Voice recognition/command with something like comdots. The cpu unit fits in your pocket......
naw..... folks like to show off their shiny obvious gadgets for bragging purposes, and 'clicking' while looking in the general direction of a pretty female while her jealous husband is around could lead to a fight too.
Voice recognition is good, but in loud environments or vacuum, there may be issues. Bluetooth and any radio frequency can not only be jammed, but also you can get 'man in the middle' attacks, where someone could listen in/control your hand computer themselves.
I think for security you would want your basic biometrics system to access sensitive materials and a physical connection for I/O.
That and it is much more fun to show a fancy hand computer than someone winking and talking to themselves!
I think for security you would want your basic biometrics system to access sensitive materials and a physical connection for I/O.
That and it is much more fun to show a fancy hand computer than someone winking and talking to themselves!
Andrew Boulton
The Adminator
Thunderbolt
SOC-12
That looks very futuristic, does it run OSX ?
I have to admit, I was almost consciously down grading the technology in the hand computer because in Classic Traveller, computers are so quaintly large and heavy.
Also, I envisioned it being used out in the field, in hostile environments where there were no nice flat surfaces for it to rest on, hence the rubberised shell.
I have to admit, I was almost consciously down grading the technology in the hand computer because in Classic Traveller, computers are so quaintly large and heavy.
Also, I envisioned it being used out in the field, in hostile environments where there were no nice flat surfaces for it to rest on, hence the rubberised shell.
wonderful!
Since both keyboard & screen are projected systems, I suppose you could manipulate via the keyboard or the actual display. Depending on power/projection abilities you could have your wide-holoscreen take up your entire commons area. Strong enough to make fake walls a la one of the Star Trek episodes (a high-tech invisible cloak!) - there are some great adventure possibilities with a good enough holographic system!
Wonder about the tech levels - seeing as how computers have had an seemingly exponential increase in abilities with a concurrent decrease in size in the last 20 years...of course personal-level computing is entirely different than enterprise and starship, but there's already a thread for that!
But I like both computers and only wish I had the ability to come up with the stuff people do (and I got the early order bonus stuff from T5 and was glad to see Andrew's free trader & speculative traders in there: great stuff)
Since both keyboard & screen are projected systems, I suppose you could manipulate via the keyboard or the actual display. Depending on power/projection abilities you could have your wide-holoscreen take up your entire commons area. Strong enough to make fake walls a la one of the Star Trek episodes (a high-tech invisible cloak!) - there are some great adventure possibilities with a good enough holographic system!
Wonder about the tech levels - seeing as how computers have had an seemingly exponential increase in abilities with a concurrent decrease in size in the last 20 years...of course personal-level computing is entirely different than enterprise and starship, but there's already a thread for that!
But I like both computers and only wish I had the ability to come up with the stuff people do (and I got the early order bonus stuff from T5 and was glad to see Andrew's free trader & speculative traders in there: great stuff)
jfetters
SOC-14 1K
Like this?
Nice, Andrew!
Is the keyboard part of that from one of the devices out there that does desktop keyboard projection? If so, which one? I like the design!
Also - you should send that pic to Joshua.
G. Kashkanun Anderson
SOC-13
Wow. 3800 years since the invention of the typewriter and we're still using the QWERTY layout. Poor Dvorak! Even the Far Future don't give him no respect!
Also, that must be one helluva trip you've got planned if you've got all of Charted Space up on your handheld.
Also, that must be one helluva trip you've got planned if you've got all of Charted Space up on your handheld.
BlackBat242
SOC-14 1K
Well, the qwerty was designed to place the most-used keys under or near fingers, so as to minimize movement... thus maximizing typing speed.
How does Dvorak do for efficiency?
How does Dvorak do for efficiency?
chshrkt
SOC-12
Sorry to burst your bubble BlackBat, but the QWERTY key layout was actually designed to SLOW DOWN typists back in the day of manual type writers. If you typed too fast, you would jam the keys together. So they placed all the most common keys as far apart as possible.
The Dvorak was designed for optimal speed and ergonomic comfort. My buddy had a crazy keyboard that looked like two soupbowls with keys arranged along the concave parts back when I was a cubicle dweller and he typed like a Tazmanian Devil on speed... like 70WPM, plus he had some chorded macros for common phrases he used in coding.
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