Novice needs help with crazy project

Certainly possible with good waterproofing, but-

Even just walking around upright our eyes are bouncing up & down but we don't usually notice it. Ever played DOOM? They replicate the up-down motion on the screen. My eyes see movement but my inner ear doesn't feel it. They ask for a tie breaker vote from my stumoch who gets all confused, & we all know what happens when stumochs get confused :(. After about 15 minutes of play I have to either quit or throwup -

You're going to be in the position of a camera showing movement that doesn't gibe with what your inner ear says. NASA does this sort of thing in induce astronauts to throw up during training,, no real reason for it other than the humour aspect & something to bet on for the office pool :)

O.K. motion sickness aside, the picture is gonna be jumping all over the place as your head moves which means you'll cave to break concentration on maintianing your stroke as your mind tries to interpret the display to pull out the info you want, i.e. Wheres the &^$%(# Buoy?

Additionally, you'll need to source a supplier for teensie-tiny windshield wipers.

Probably a few other things to consider like drag & sore necks from swinging the extra mass back & forth

Not saying this is a bad idea or that it can't be done but I think you'll need some developement & a lot of practice with it before its going to be of benefit to you.

H.

"jerry" wrote in news:1174151068.228643.306840 @n76g2000hsh.googlegroups.com:

Cool idea, but.... realistically.... wearing this while you swim will slow you down...

First of all the drag with the water flowing around it (instead of your smooth head). Second, the mass will make it more difficult to swing your head over to take a breath. Third, trying to make sense of that jiggly image your display is showing you will break your concentration.

Better way: Train a fish to swim the course and just follow it. (Or build an artificial fish with an internal GPS that you program with the course.) Or a GPS mounted on your back that steers you by giving you electrical shocks in the ribs if you get off course.

Alternatively, a monitor with a bird's-eye view of you and the course markers (aloft on a big balloon or model airplane) would remove the optics and electronics from your body. Just build a receiver that straps on your back and gives you electrical shocks to the ribs when you're getting off course.

Say, can't you just follow the competitor in front of you? Aren't you all swimming exactly the same course?

Absolutely *NOT* true. It is OK for one to build a device for one's own use; what is protected is *selling* the devices without a licence from the patent owner.

You are correct (as usual).

I think you should check your facts.

Late at night, by candle light, John Fields penned this immortal opus:

A one-off for personal use is allowed.

- YD.

Late at night, by candle light, "jerry" penned this immortal opus:

Optical periscope. A tube with some lenses and mirrors.

- YD.

On Sun, 18 Mar 2007 10:46:24 -0300, YD Gave us:

One used to be able to make a "cable box" for "experimental purposes".

They still may, but using it on the cable line is where the felony theft of service comes in. Doesn't do much just sitting there without a cable hooked to it.

If I EVER made a "one off" of someone else's patented product or process, I would certainly be in correspondence with that person.

It is just plain good civil practice, and if you claim to be a member of civil society, you should have enough presence of mind to know the difference between an experiment and a rip off or avoidance of paying one's dues.

I tried using a mirror, but because of the angle I needed it produced way to much drag. I thought a small LCD could be mounted flater and produce less drag. A periscope would produce even more drag. But mayby some type of medical scope/device could be used? Anyway, thanks for the ideas.

Transporting a trained fish might be tricky. What if it doesn't come back? My dog doesn't even come when she's called.

Also, we usually have no access to the lake or the course prior to the start.

A spotter with a walky-talky was suggested but everyone in my wave will be wearing the same color swim cap and be hard to distinguish. Besides, I usually can't even get my wife to come to these things with me, so finding a spotter would be a problem.

And although there usually is someone in front of me - and drafting in the swim is legal - I've found that most people go off course as often as I do.

Thanks for the ideas! Please keep them coming!

On Sun, 18 Mar 2007 10:28:23 -0500, Jamie Gave us:

You are both quite lucky that we do not live in Old West Rules society any more.

Otherwise, you'd both be perched on an NYPD broomstick handle, in public, feeding the rats... The cannibals that they are...

--- Absolutely, totally, incontrovertibly wrong.

I posted these links before:

Didn't you bother to read them?

This subject has come up in these newsgroups before, and the last time it did I called the USPTO and talked to one of the people there about infringement and whether it was legal to copy a patent for one's own use and the answer was a resounding NO!

Makes sense if you think about it. What if you were an inventor and everyone made a copy of your invention for their own use. Where would that leave you?

-- JF

i thought it was his sister?

No, it is not.

Same person.

OOooo, I'm getting him closer to the edge! That's two threats. Come on Dimmie, you can hold on a little longer.

Yeth it is ;-)

But you may not profit from the "personal use".

There are some special cases that have been handled by additional law... for instance cable boxes, homemade, for "personal use", were legal until "theft-of-service" laws were written.

Why do you think so many schematics are labeled "for educational purposes only" ?:-)

...Jim Thompson