WEARABLE COMPUTERS

What is a Wearable Computer ?

small portable computer designed to be worn on the body during use. Differ from PDAs designed for hand-held use. integrated into the user's clothing or wristband. integrated into everyday objects like a wrist watch or a handsfree cell phone.

AIM OF WEARABLE COMPUTING

To develop new interfaces that
mediate non-computer activities
Without interfering with the user's everyday tasks still a topic of research.

Commercialization of W.C.
Led by companies such as Xybernault, HandyKey, and ViA. Forced alliances with IBM and Sony in order to make wearable computing widely available. In 1998 Seiko marketed the Ruputer, a computer in a wristwatch, to mediocre returns. In 2001 IBM developed and publicly displayed two prototypes for a wristwatch computer running Linux, but the product never came to market.

Wristwatch Computer Videophone

Dick Tracy style watch Created by Steve Mann, a professor at U of T, 2000

Combination wristwatch and imaging device

Send and receive video over short distances Release date???

HOW IT WORKS

use keyers and trackballs as input device.

Many try to use more intuitive means of input like gesture, speech recognition or context awareness. The output may be presented through displays, lights, sound or even haptic interfaces. Some mediated reality systems can also be considered wearable computers.

Evolution of Wearable Computers

W.C. in the MEDICAL FIELD

Wrist worn medical monitoring devices

Body Temperature Control for Wearable Soldier Health Monitoring Systems

OTHER WEARABLE COMPUTERS

UnMasking Mr. X Game Computerized Clothing ex. Business Suit easily accessible to the internet and important documents Help the visually impaired Space exploration Motor Bike Racing Crew Pit Head and Shoulder Cameras Sign Language Glove

WEARABLE PERFORMANCE
Flavia Sparacino, Alex Pentland and Glorianna Davenport in MIT MEDIA LAB

Offer street performer powerful tools to create innovative experiences for the audience Free performance from the indoor stage, bringing a new adaptive richness to the mobile world of street theatre Motivated by the need to bring performance art to the people rather than people to the theatre Street performers are skilled craftsmen of their own props and often have the desire to introduce technological skills

Computing can contribute to street performance in 3 ways: Reduce the amount of stuff

Augment and enrich the performance by adding digital actors Allow for new types of street performances 5 categories of performers:

1) Entertainers 2) Animators Provocateurs 4) Communicators 5) Performance Artists

3)

 Create a performance that the public is to enjoy as a semantic transformation of story fragments acted by the mime through the use of COMPUTER GRAPHICS OBJECTS Examples: - Water turned into fire - Simple objects become dangerous - Mime wearing small wearable computer in packpack - Flat panel display is connected for audience to use The Communicator: The Networked News Teller

The One Man Orchestra

IS THERE SPACE FOR W.C. ?

The image of humans interacting with a wearable computer has been found all over science fiction Practical? - Size- Power Consumption Constraints Expectations falling short works in progress

- Real Design