CTIA: The wireless geek can be tres chic

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By Matt Hamblen

(IDG) -- Wireless computing strutted the fashion runway at the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association show here this week, drawing crowds several times each day.

"Geek is becoming more chic, and chic more geek," said Craig Jungwirth, a Los Angeles-based technology consultant who helped pick 25 technology devices worn by professional models. Most of the devices were still in concept, but a few are for sale.

Kathy Klingele, a fashion and technology consultant based in Los Angeles, said part of the purpose of the show was to give wireless industry geeks and executives a glimpse of the future and to show that practical technology can be fun.

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Among the fashionable technologies were head-mounted displays (HMD) that allow a user to view a detailed Web site or e-mail from a device hung in front of one eye.

The head displays were shown with wires that run through special clothing and then connect to next-generation cell phones or handheld computers.

One model wore a Poma from Xybernaut Corp. in Fairfax, Virginia. A Poma is a multimedia appliance featuring an HMD connected to a lightweight CPU to deliver e-mail, Internet access, music, videos and games. The wires were secured in conduits inside a special black vest from Scott eVest LLC in Chicago. The 15-pocket black vest was designed to help geeks carry everything, similar to vests worn by fisherman and photographers.

Other HMDs featured wireless connections via Bluetooth to handheld computers.

Waltham, Massachusetts-based Foster-Miller Inc. is developing a product called the Powerbelt to give business travelers plenty of spare battery life for devices. The belt contains rechargeable batteries and can be connected to a wall adapter.

Douglas Thomson, business development manager at Foster-Miller, showed special fabric his company is developing with microscopic wire connectors woven inside to provide electronics connections for soldiers or other professionals who need to be wired. Called textile circuit boards, the first applications will provide connections for canvas artwork featuring small light-emitting diodes to highlight the artwork.

Other devices on display included the SenseWear Pro Armband from BodyMedia Inc. in Pittsburgh, which monitors body functions, and Raven Shoes from VectraSense Technologies Inc. in Beverly, Massachusetts, which feature embedded computers that monitor a jogger's level of activity and increase or decrease the support offered by the shoes.