(AKA Realtime version 2)
What is it?
Well, in a nutshell its a Classic Realtime board plus a kitchen sink. 
The Classic Realtime daughterboards provide two distinct functions- memory emulation and a standard consult connection. Both of these functions are provided via a single USB connection using a dual serial-to-USB chipset. What this means is when you connect the USB cable to the ECU you get two new virtual com ports- one for the emulation and one that is a standard consult port. The memory emulation is really the heart of the Realtime, and it does this flawlessly. On the Realtime daughterboard there is a microcontroller that can read and write to a block of memory that is shared with the ECU. All read and writes to this memory are totally transparent to each side, meaning you can upload changes 'realtime' as the engine is running. Slick.
…and thats where the (mostly) Open Realtime board comes in. When you aren't actively uploading changes to the emulator the microcontroller on the Realtime board is just hanging out idle. What if we put it to use during this time instead? What could we do with it? What extra stuff can we cram on the board? What if we let the ECU write to the same memory space too?
Thats what the (mostly) Open Realtime is all about.
Who is this daughterboard intended for?
This board is intended for two different types of people. Person one is someone with a really cool idea, who knows 'C' is more than just a letter in the alphabet, and has an itch to get into the down and dirty of embedded programming. Person two is someone who wants to use one of the existing applications of this board off-the-shelf, in a nice kit form with the correct firmware loaded and ready to go.
Person one-
On a fairly regular basis I get asked if I can do some cool function for someone's mad science experiment- everything from building a progressive nitrous controller to doing a traction control system. Well for all the mad scientists tinkering on 90's Nissans that are into embedded stuff, this daughterboard is made for you. Why?
The firmware is open.
Yep, thats just cool. Now you've got no excuse to bring that crazy idea to life! Ok, you've probably got plenty of excuses, but this is still a cool toy.
Person two-
To help people get the feet wet programming this board I'm writing a series of tutorials. Each tutorial will cover a common application. Each of these different applications will be available as an off-the-shelf kit ready to run right out of the box, with the firmware already loaded and ready to go. Think 'plug-and-play'. This is what I'm working on-
-Dual RPM window switches for VVL activation
-Using the analog inputs to add sensors to the consult stream
-Launch control
-Alcohol/water injection controller
-Nitrous controller
Whats this (mostly) stuff?
Its (mostly) because not everything is open. The firmware is open, the schematics for the 'kitchen sink' (i.e. all the extra I/O, etc) are open, but schematics etc for the rest of the board is still proprietary. So its (mostly), but the fun part is open for you to monkey with.
Do I really need one of these?
Really, can I answer that? :P
