Random idea
One of the main downsides to the iPhone's interface, and really the interface of most mobile devices, is that the keyboard is small and not particularly helpful when attempting to enter large blocks of text.
It might be interesting to have a glove-like interface system that was able to understand sign language. Nintendo's 1989 power glove more or less proves that the technology exists to do it, it'd mostly be a question of getting people to adopt the technology. Given that texting using a number-pad interface took off in a generation, that's not an incredible leap of faith, and there's already a well-connected community that knows sign language so a market exists to buy the first generation devices.
If nothing else, it'd be an amusing premise for a SFish story, in that it would create a world where deaf people have an advantage over normal people, if only in a specific area, but if mobile computing becomes the "norm" it would be meaningful. The problems with interface are all that stops portable computers from being totally replaced by handheld devices, and the "glasses as screen" option largely covers output.
One unusual quirk to the system would be that people could watch a user signing, and it would became as private as speaking.
It might be interesting to have a glove-like interface system that was able to understand sign language. Nintendo's 1989 power glove more or less proves that the technology exists to do it, it'd mostly be a question of getting people to adopt the technology. Given that texting using a number-pad interface took off in a generation, that's not an incredible leap of faith, and there's already a well-connected community that knows sign language so a market exists to buy the first generation devices.
If nothing else, it'd be an amusing premise for a SFish story, in that it would create a world where deaf people have an advantage over normal people, if only in a specific area, but if mobile computing becomes the "norm" it would be meaningful. The problems with interface are all that stops portable computers from being totally replaced by handheld devices, and the "glasses as screen" option largely covers output.
One unusual quirk to the system would be that people could watch a user signing, and it would became as private as speaking.