I see the future

[Arbu]

Binoculars that will identify the bird you're looking at for you. The Japanese have done it for flowers. Look here (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,175-1542378,00.html)
Not for a while, but I reckon one day someone will produce them.

[Otto McDiesel]

Binoculars that will identify the bird you're looking at for you. The Japanese have done it for flowers. Look here (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,175-1542378,00.html)
Not for a while, but I reckon one day someone will produce them.

Yes, i can see the utility of that when working a scientific survey. But when birdwatching, it defeats the purpose of birdwatching: have fun while finding birds and trying to figure out what they are.
Of course, there will be idiots buying them.

[Andrew Rowlands]

Other gadgetry that went on display for the first time yesterday included object-recognition binoculars created by NTT DoCoMo, Japan’s largest mobile phone company.

As users scan the surrounding area, the binoculars will recognise certain objects and details about them will appear in the eyepiece.

Fix on a passing plane, for example, and the machine will tell you the flight number and destination. Turn your attention to a flower, and it will tell you what variety it is.

The machine contains a 360-degree “radar” to point you in the direction of things that it knows it already has information on.

DoCoMo hopes to use the technology in camera-equipped handsets. With particular databases of information installed, the phones could be pointed at objects of interest and used to collect information. Waved past an item in a shop, for example, it might inform users where the same thing could be bought more cheaply.

Spooky!

Don't think I'd subscribe to that kind of technology. People start using this it might have a 'dumbing down' effect ("why should I learn that - my machine will tell me about it").

Kinda takes the 'fun' out of Googling for the best prices!

Andy.

[marcus]

I suppose that there would be some ornithologists who may feel they need it, but like Otto said, the fun in birdwatching is being able to identify a species with your own memory and knowledge. At least that's one of the funs.

[Atomic Chicken]

Greetings!

Wow... reading the title of this thread ("I see the future") I thought for a minute someone was actually seeing into the future through their binoculars! ;)

I can't tell you how much I would pay for a pair of binoculars like that... no price would be too high. After all, I'd make it all back next week in the stock market... after a bit of "future newspaper watching" ! ;)

Best wishes,
Bawko