The Ben Heck Show

Xybernaut Portable Wearable Windows 98 Computer (9x8)

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The Xybernaut Mobile Assistant was one of the earliest attempts at wearable computers--way back in the 1990s! It was an interesting feat of engineering for the time, but technological limitations, a high price tag, and contemporary interface design conventions stood in the way of mainstream success. Matt ran across one of the later models--the MAIV--that was dead-on-arrival, but wanted to add it to his retro computer collection. So with very little documentation available (The Xybernaut corporation went bust in the early 2000s after several commercial flops and some financial chicanery), he tore it down to see what powered it and set about to rebuild it with modern components. Was the Xybernaut a viable platform in hindsight? Is Minesweeper playable on a 2" head-mounted display? Why didn't arm-mounted keyboards catch on? These and more questions will be answered in this week's element14 Presents!