Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto

Your neighborhood network analyst Vince Seifert has been raising some eyebrows around the campus of CSUS lately. Strapped with the latest in computer technology, Seifert walks about the grounds wearing his xybernaut PC as he repairs the 4,000 computer networks around California State University Sacramento.

An electrical engineering major from the University of Hawaii, Seifert has been working for the CSUS Computing Communications and Media Services department for the past 10 years. In 1994 he was using a hand-held Hewlett-Packard 200LX PC to keep records. It was eventually outclassed as the Network here at CSUS continued to grow. He then switched to his newest tool of the trade.

The xybernaut is a laptop computer arranged in a different way which gives the appearance of a virtual display. Although it’s not wireless, the wearable computer allows Seifert to perform his job at a much quicker pace.

According to Seifert, the original idea for the wearable technology came from MIT engineers who built their own portable systems. Since it became a marketable product, the xybernaut device has been in high demand with consumers such as service technicians and military engineers.

“This is just another kind of computer, it’s just arranged in an unfamiliar fashion,” Seifert said. “It’s durable and hands free.”

Those unfamiliar with the xybernaut didn’t know what to think of the strange device.

“At first I thought it was a medical aid device equipment,” said international business student Fiona Dong. “And then I thought it was a Walkman or intercom.”

“I was over in the student union diagnosing a Saclink kiosk and people were going ‘what the heck is that,’ and I replied, it’s just a computer,” said Seifert.

The device itself is commercially distributed but the idea has been around for years. “People have been building wearable computers for themselves for the past decade,” Seifert said.

Anyone can purchase the xybernaut for about the same price as a high-end laptop. In the near future as the technology evolves, the device will take many different forms.

“What they’re working on now are things that weigh ounces instead of pounds,” Seifert said.

“One thing that the wearable computer people are on to is essentially a virtual display where your keyboard is hanging in midair and you have to wear gloves that register where your fingers are,” Seifert said. “So you can point and type without actually touching anything real at all.”

As for the presence of xybernaut equipment on the campus, Sefert believes the technology will soon catch on and that by next year we could possibly see this type of gear used in the classroom.

“It’s going to get smaller, it’s going to get cheaper and more commonly accepted,” Sefert said. “I’m hoping to have a much better version of this in five years.”

Anyone interested in more information on the wearable computer can check the Internet at www.xybernaut.com.