The Oculus folks -- no longer a single man, but now a company of around 20 employees -- worked with Epic Games on getting the source code up and running for the hardware prototype, though it's unclear if it'll ever actually be released to developers or the general public.

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Gesture UI is a combination hardware-software prototype that the Japanese carrier is showing at this year's CEATEC showcase in Japan.

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First, the cost of hardware in a prototype like this is not a good predictor of the costs of the eventual finished product.

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Atheer, another wearable computing startup, debuted its software and prototype hardware, which amounted to a bulky pair of glasses that allowed the user to switch between maps, newspapers and games with gesture controls.

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Before I get into detail, allow me a short disclaimer: The hardware I played with was a prototype, not a finished production model, and the games I played with were essentially proof of concept demos, not necessarily software under development.

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The hardware we got to see was a crude prototype built for demo purposes only, but the software platform shows promise and Epson's got a version two Moverio headset in the works -- so perhaps you can see a bit of the future of smart glasses in the video after the break.

ENGADGET

We got to spend a little bit of time with a prototype ZTE model, and found the hardware to be solid for a hand-built unit.

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In September it posted new guidelines: In addition to providing background information, hardware creators are now required to submit a manufacturing plan and a prototype.

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With traditional IT models, a decision to prototype a new system generally involves the procurement and installation of expensive hardware, with the associated checks and delays that conventional purchasing requires.

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Teusink adds that the prototype slide hijacker he built has a range of only 30 feet, but that other publicly available hardware would allow a hacker to scan for wireless presenters within a full kilometer.

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