NAVY'S BOATLOAD OF GADGETS

Some of the Navy's top minds sailed into New York today, and brought with them a literal boatload of gadgets: spray-on armor; remote control rifles; camera phones that can read Arabic and Farsi; and this drone to the left, the Seaglider, which can swim for months at a time.
The Office of Naval Research docks its "Afloat Lab" on Manhattan's West Side each May, as part of the annual Fleet Week celebration here. It's a way to demonstrate to the taxpayers what Navy-funded scientists have been doing with their hard-earned lucre. This year, the 108 foot-long patrol craft is showing off nearly two dozen technology projects -- many of which are bound for Iraq, or have just returned from the Middle East.
My Wired News article has an article on a bunch of the gizmos on display. One device that didn't make it into the story, however, was a new-fangled headband.
Brian McClimens is working on ways for soldiers to hear their communications in 3D. Turns out that cross-chatter gets a whole lot more understandable when you separate out the voices, spatially. G.I.s can't wear headphones on the battlefield, though. So Brian's idea is to give a soldier a headband, with speakers on it. Sounds come out of the speakers, bounce of the helmet, and go into the grunt's ears spatially correct.
After a bit of soul searching, I decided not to publish the mildly embarrasing pictures of Brian wearing his invention. Appropriately grovelling e-mails may get me to change my mind, however.