Back to the Future with the CAIVman

The CAIVman — short for Computer Audio Interactive Video Manipulator — is a handheld, multimedia disc player, a non-working prototype of a device that would project digital information from compact laser discs into binocular-like eyepieces. Earphones would pick up more information from the computer disc soundtrack, and a computer mouse-like ball attached to the top would enable students to call up yet more detail. The CAIVman was designed in response to Sony introducing its small “hypermedia” discs in 1989, intending them only for bulky computer monitors. With his CAIVman design, Chris Conley won Sony's national Design a Visio contest, which seeks innovations in electronics for children.