Searching through the looking glass

If this concept Internet search device by designer Mac Funamizu takes off, the privacy advocates will be out in force to protest. It's like having Wikipedia wherever you go, but way cooler and far more advanced. The artist's idea is for this portable device to have a touch screen, built-in camera, scanner, Wi-Fi connectivity, Google Maps, and Google Search capabilities, among other features. The screen would probably double as the camera viewfinder, so it would be like looking through a piece of transparent glass. And when you point it at an object, the screen would show more details about it, such as the name of an insect, a car model, or food on the table. With existing technologies, we suppose it would use the onboard Wi-Fi to grab information off the Web. A concept like this isn't new--we've actually written about it before--but Funamizu's rendition takes it up a few notches. However, while it would be great to have such information at our fingertips, it wouldn't be so fun if someone were to point the device at us.Tuvie