3 ms·

Thanks for sharing this. So you don't run Xorg at all, right? And you don't carry around any persistent video output? I am running Raspbian Desktop on RPi0w,

Thanks for sharing this. So you don't run Xorg at all, right? And you don't carry around any persistent video output? I am running Raspbian Desktop on RPi0w, using Vufine+ head-mounted display and Twiddler 3 as a keyboard. It is cool, it can even run heavyweight web stuff like Slack in Chromium, and VLC with 720p video. Has some reliability issues with graphical stuff - have to restart lightdm sometimes after such heavy exercises. I wouldn't imagine RPi Zero could do that much with so little, but the man always want more, so I am considering more powerful computing core for my wearable computer. Trimming down use of GUI apps is another venue for progress, of course.

FerretFred 7y ago
No, I tried Xorg but on the Zero is was a no-hoper, and I must say that the lack of persistent display was a major bugbear to me. However, I kept reminding myself that this was a bare-bones machine that I could take anywhere, so as long as there's a display I can plug into, it works for me. So now I run everything text/character. I did a follow-up at https://petergarner.net/notes/index.php?thisnote=20190205-Travels+with+a+Pi+%283%29 https://petergarner.net/notes/index.php?thisnote=20190205-Tr... in which I added an e-Ink display, for status rather than a terminal. All good fun, and still under 2Gb...
kingosticks 7y ago
> I am running Raspbian Desktop on RPi0w, using Vufine+ head-mounted display and Twiddler 3 as a keyboard. Wow! I had no idea you could get something like that. Can I ask what's your use-case? Do you us it when on the move, commuting maybe? Do you get a lot of stares? Can you realistically type on the Twiddler or is it more of a remote control for accessing some predefined shortcuts?
- andrey_utkin 7y ago
  Thanks for your interest. Yes, this is mind-blowing that you can do this today with affordable off-the-shelf devices. I did this after reading https://www.theverge.com/platform/amp/circuitbreaker/2017/7/27/16035508/diy-wearable-computer-google-glass-raspberry-pi-instructions https://www.theverge.com/platform/amp/circuitbreaker/2017/7/... Use-case... Original idea was to do whatever I like to do on my Linux laptops, carrying less weight on the go. I try it out on different things, like working on my calendar in web UI, writing a diary, being on Slack and Jabber, navigating with maps app (Marble), watching conference talks... I expect it will be pretty good for terminal apps like vim and mutt, but unfortunately I haven't found time to try out working with mail this way yet, and I am still slowly getting better at speed typing on the Twiddler, so I haven't wrote much text. By the way, there are great opportunities for text to speech and speech to text applications, just use a bluetooth earpiece. It is a nice ultra-portable general purpose computer, but I haven't found a strong "killer app" where such configuration beats both laptop and a smartphone. But I'm still exploring what I can do with it. One solid usecase for carrying RPi0W on me or in my backpack is getting calendar events notifications to my MiBand3. But this doesn't involve keyboard and HMD. There are constraints of all sorts - RPi performance, limited clearly visible area, level of brightness is not adaptable (unusable in darkness and in bright sunlight). It's hard to use this stuff, but it's fun to learn and master it. I hope this kind of computing grows its niche and we see new generations of hardware and software with this usecase in mind.
  - floren 7y ago
    It's pretty neat what you can do these days off-the-shelf. I've got a Twiddler 3 although I haven't used it much. The Vufine looks like quite a display for $200 compared to what you could get 10 years ago (when I last played with wearable computing). I vacillate between wanting a wearable computer and wanting absolutely nothing to do with a wearable computer. In my most optimistic moments, I envision a useful note-taking device and (given a camera) a way to document interesting things. In my less optimistic moods, I consider how I already waste so much time reading bullshit on my phone! I think the best way to do it would be to script up particular activities (take a picture and tag it, make a text / dictated note, refer to a wikipedia article) and make those easy, while making it as hard as possible to bring up Firefox :) How often do you wear it?
    - andrey_utkin 7y ago
      It's pretty much impossible to waste time reading bullshit on Vufine. Focusing on the display and moving the eyeball takes some effort. So it's tiresome to read on it for long time uninterrupted. But it is good for occasional glancing. Basically, it is a bad fit for content consumption (watching optimised videos from local disk is ok experience, tho), but is promising for other uses including writing text. Which is compelling to many HN people! I use it as rarely as 1-2 times a week, just so I explore the possibilities and practice a bit. Not much time to work on perfecting wearable workflows, but I have some plans.
      - floren 7y ago
        Interesting, I'm rather glad to hear the Vufine isn't suitable for reddit/youtube/other bullshit! Makes me more likely to buy one :) One more quick question, what do you use to power the RPi and the display? USB power bank?
        andrey_utkin 7y ago
        Yes. Look for one which sustains stable uninterrupted power output during charging and charger plugging and unplugging.
- jsjohnst 7y ago
  Can the Vufine be used for left eye rather than right? Not seen anything that clearly states so. I’m extremely left eye dominant and almost all the wearable displays I’ve owned or tried are right eye only and I really struggle to focus on them.
  - andrey_utkin 7y ago
    Yes, you just need to set rotation in your software. For RPi it is trivial to do so. I have done this in practice, wires go up rather than down, which could be argued to be even better as it can't rub against your cheek. I use Vufine's Pro mount, which has clips/ties for wires holding, so it doesn't matter which way wires go out of the device, forces balance doesn't change as you turn your head.
equalunique 7y ago
My corporate firewall blocked the OP's link. Tried looking up this gear combo online and found this: https://twitter.com/taisuke_fukuno/status/856009704350203904 https://twitter.com/taisuke_fukuno/status/856009704350203904 Seems like this is setup has a small measure of popularity.

FerretFred 7y ago

No, I tried Xorg but on the Zero is was a no-hoper, and I must say that the lack of persistent display was a major bugbear to me. However, I kept reminding myself that this was a bare-bones machine that I could take anywhere, so as long as there's a display I can plug into, it works for me. So now I run everything text/character. I did a follow-up at https://petergarner.net/notes/index.php?thisnote=20190205-Travels+with+a+Pi+%283%29 https://petergarner.net/notes/index.php?thisnote=20190205-Tr... in which I added an e-Ink display, for status rather than a terminal. All good fun, and still under 2Gb...

kingosticks 7y ago

> I am running Raspbian Desktop on RPi0w, using Vufine+ head-mounted display and Twiddler 3 as a keyboard. Wow! I had no idea you could get something like that. Can I ask what's your use-case? Do you us it when on the move, commuting maybe? Do you get a lot of stares? Can you realistically type on the Twiddler or is it more of a remote control for accessing some predefined shortcuts?

andrey_utkin 7y ago
Thanks for your interest. Yes, this is mind-blowing that you can do this today with affordable off-the-shelf devices. I did this after reading https://www.theverge.com/platform/amp/circuitbreaker/2017/7/27/16035508/diy-wearable-computer-google-glass-raspberry-pi-instructions https://www.theverge.com/platform/amp/circuitbreaker/2017/7/... Use-case... Original idea was to do whatever I like to do on my Linux laptops, carrying less weight on the go. I try it out on different things, like working on my calendar in web UI, writing a diary, being on Slack and Jabber, navigating with maps app (Marble), watching conference talks... I expect it will be pretty good for terminal apps like vim and mutt, but unfortunately I haven't found time to try out working with mail this way yet, and I am still slowly getting better at speed typing on the Twiddler, so I haven't wrote much text. By the way, there are great opportunities for text to speech and speech to text applications, just use a bluetooth earpiece. It is a nice ultra-portable general purpose computer, but I haven't found a strong "killer app" where such configuration beats both laptop and a smartphone. But I'm still exploring what I can do with it. One solid usecase for carrying RPi0W on me or in my backpack is getting calendar events notifications to my MiBand3. But this doesn't involve keyboard and HMD. There are constraints of all sorts - RPi performance, limited clearly visible area, level of brightness is not adaptable (unusable in darkness and in bright sunlight). It's hard to use this stuff, but it's fun to learn and master it. I hope this kind of computing grows its niche and we see new generations of hardware and software with this usecase in mind.
- floren 7y ago
  It's pretty neat what you can do these days off-the-shelf. I've got a Twiddler 3 although I haven't used it much. The Vufine looks like quite a display for $200 compared to what you could get 10 years ago (when I last played with wearable computing). I vacillate between wanting a wearable computer and wanting absolutely nothing to do with a wearable computer. In my most optimistic moments, I envision a useful note-taking device and (given a camera) a way to document interesting things. In my less optimistic moods, I consider how I already waste so much time reading bullshit on my phone! I think the best way to do it would be to script up particular activities (take a picture and tag it, make a text / dictated note, refer to a wikipedia article) and make those easy, while making it as hard as possible to bring up Firefox :) How often do you wear it?
  - andrey_utkin 7y ago
    It's pretty much impossible to waste time reading bullshit on Vufine. Focusing on the display and moving the eyeball takes some effort. So it's tiresome to read on it for long time uninterrupted. But it is good for occasional glancing. Basically, it is a bad fit for content consumption (watching optimised videos from local disk is ok experience, tho), but is promising for other uses including writing text. Which is compelling to many HN people! I use it as rarely as 1-2 times a week, just so I explore the possibilities and practice a bit. Not much time to work on perfecting wearable workflows, but I have some plans.
    - floren 7y ago
      Interesting, I'm rather glad to hear the Vufine isn't suitable for reddit/youtube/other bullshit! Makes me more likely to buy one :) One more quick question, what do you use to power the RPi and the display? USB power bank?
      - andrey_utkin 7y ago
        Yes. Look for one which sustains stable uninterrupted power output during charging and charger plugging and unplugging.
jsjohnst 7y ago
Can the Vufine be used for left eye rather than right? Not seen anything that clearly states so. I’m extremely left eye dominant and almost all the wearable displays I’ve owned or tried are right eye only and I really struggle to focus on them.
- andrey_utkin 7y ago
  Yes, you just need to set rotation in your software. For RPi it is trivial to do so. I have done this in practice, wires go up rather than down, which could be argued to be even better as it can't rub against your cheek. I use Vufine's Pro mount, which has clips/ties for wires holding, so it doesn't matter which way wires go out of the device, forces balance doesn't change as you turn your head.

equalunique 7y ago

My corporate firewall blocked the OP's link. Tried looking up this gear combo online and found this: https://twitter.com/taisuke_fukuno/status/856009704350203904 https://twitter.com/taisuke_fukuno/status/856009704350203904 Seems like this is setup has a small measure of popularity.