7/28/2010

For decades dorks have dreamed a “Life Recorder” the you can wear on your person to constantly take video and provide a positional GPS record your daily life for your personal entertainment, work, security or stalking. Think of it as a Twitter-on-Steroids Device^™. Now, Hitachi is making a half-assed try* at entering the market.

Hitachi Shows Off Low-priced Wearable Life Recorders
Nikkei Electronics — Tech-On! | July 26, 2010– Hitachi Ltd showcased watch-like life recorders for reference at Hitachi uVALUE Convention 2010…Equipped with a three-axis acceleration sensor, they can continuously measure and record the amounts of activities, etc. The company aims to set their prices at 30,000 yen (approx. $342 USD) ...more…

*Why do I say Hitachi is making a half-assed try?

In the above vague and garbled press release, Hitachi seems to say their ‘Life Recorders’ only records positional and GPS details as “waveform data of three months or more.” Meh. Hitachi does not mention a camera or audio so I guess they are just providing a GPS Tracking Device—These have been on the market for years for under $150 USD (brickhousesecurity.com).

Real ‘Life Recorders’ are still a decade or two away since batteries for 24/7 recording suck and a hi-def video collected would take tetrabytes of storage. I am looking forward to a life recorder (note the lower case) to use as a Twitter-on-Steroids Device^™ since Twitter feeds are being archived in the Library of Congress. There are plenty of skiiers like me who wear helmet cam for fun, and many people use automotive drive recorders to record their commute so if they are ever injured through someone else’s wacko driving (a real problem here in Japan) they have proof of their own innocence.

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UPDATE:
Although journalists forgot the tell the purpose of the Hitachi Life Recorder (the report forgot the “Why” of the Five Ws), a earlier Nikkei report revels that it is a medical device that, “….measures user vitals such as pulse, skin temperature and motion around-the-clock, 24 hours a day.” Since the Life Recorder it is a medical device, the reporter really screwed-the-pooch in reporting the “What” of the Five Ws too, sheesh.