The 8680i is a small 2D scanner that can be mounted on the back of a glove and is triggered by touching your thumb against the back of your middle finger. You can see the contacts on the glove:
The scanner connects to the glove mount by snapping it together, allowing it to break away if needed.
The scanner’s radio supports Bluetooth (standard) and 802.11 WiFi (advanced). The advanced scanner includes a software development kit that allow an application to send and receive data to the scanner through a socket connection. The scanner has a small display that can show two lines of text. This picture doesn’t do it justice, it’s really pretty bright and readable:
Put together, it looks like this:
The scanner can also connect to a computer or handheld via Bluetooth, but I think the best use of this device is using the 802.11 radio with an application directing a user through a pick list. We will be testing out this feature in the near future as well as the range of the 802.11 radio.
You’ll need Honeywell’s EZ Config utility to set up the scanner, version 4.5.27 or better. This can be downloaded from Honeywell’s tech support FTP site.
The glove and scanner are pretty comfortable, the scanner works well, and the finger trigger feels natural. This is a very nice set up and may redefine hands free picking.