Tech Convergence Will Spur Demand for New ADAS Technology

Microvision in Reader's Digest 1000th Issue



From 'Always On' by Seth Stevenson

Tune in, turn on, drop out? No way.
We gotta be connected.


I first realized I might have a problem while hiking in the Himalayas. There I was -- 11,000 feet above sea level, strolling narrow dirt lanes among wild cows and beatific Buddhist monks in saffron robes when I spotted a sign on a small strefront: "Internet access inside."

Soon, I was reading stupid jokes forwarded via e-mail by buddies back home, and tinkering with my fantasy baseball team. Then I felt a pang: What's wrong with me? I'm in maybe the most beautiful place on earth, yet I'm huddled in a musty room, staring at a computer monitor. Did I really trek all this way to do what I already spend too much time doing back home?

With cell phones already featuring Web browsers, e-mail and streaming video, being connected at all times is already appealing in a diabolical way. So what's next? Wireless networks will grow stronger and reach farther. And new devices will make it even more fun to connect from remote locations. A company called Microvision is developing portable displays that will change how we view information when we're away from our desks (if we even have desks). Company CEO Rick Rutkowski describes a future in which a pair of Microvision glasses projects high-definition images directly onto your retinas. (Painful as it sounds, Microvision says there are no adverse health effects.) Instead of surfing the Web on a two-inch cell-phone screen, put on Microvision's specs and download movies onto your eyeballs on the equivalent of a 100-inch big-screen TV.

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