What I would be worried about is that bionic people would totally depend on a company: "Your iLeg 3 is broken? Too bad this version is not supported anymore. Upgrade to iLeg 6 for $6000 only!"

This is why you should use bionic implants based on open source hardware and software! :-)

And Google would release Cyborg, an "open source" firmware communicating with your GPS chip in your Android phone and... Oh wait! We're screwed o_0

The firefighters mask is pretty dang slick.

The video of it seemed simulated. The interviewee mentioned that they hope to have a "working" prototype soon, implying that the current version is not fully functional.

real or simulated - I just like the concept and design.

The concept is similar to the nanosuit upgrade options from Crysis 2:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ExftBi3eFbk/TduRFFcvGNI/AAAAAAAAAD...

The glove interface seems like a pretty good idea. When you're navigating a smoke filled building in a flame proof suit, it would get rather unwieldy to use a traditional keypad.

But does the headgear find the glove through optical detection? I mean, is there another way?

On another note, Ghost In The Shell -series has retinal UIs that no one should take example of. So much clutter!

I assume that there is some sort of transmitter inside the glove's fingertips and then a receiver on the front of the mask.

An alternative implementation could be to have a mechanical detector inside the glove, that only detected the fingers relative position. This wouldn't require a wireless transmitter and could still function as a hci. It obviously wouldn't allow the kind of overlay that we see in the demo video though, but it would probably be less prone to malfunction. Maybe they combine both methods?

More here:

http://spill.tanagram.com/2010/11/16/abc7-news-showcases-tan...

It seems they have RFID's in the glove.

Hopefully they'll include an IR overlay in the final version. I know some firefighters are using IR cameras in their helmets already.

I wonder how long till you can buy something similar that connects with your cell phone from Best Buy.

Bluetooth interface for browsing information and calling via the modem interface is already here. Connecting those devices should be pretty trivial. So the phone and right connectivity is here. The other device is not.

The video would be better without showing the same snippets from Deus Ex trailer over and over and over :)

is it odd that im waiting for the day when i can get bionic arms and legs?

You need to upgrade your spelling augmentation.