Wearable Computers

Group 4: Antonio Pajuelo

Justin Fleurimond
Eric Gershman
Shane Fancy
 Wearable Computers

• Wearable computers are computers that are worn on the

body.
• They have been applied to areas such as behavioral
modeling, health monitoring systems, information
technologies and media development.
• Wearable computers are especially useful for applications
that require computational support while the user's hands,
voice, eyes or attention are actively engaged with the
physical environment.
• Areas of study include user interface design, augmented
reality, pattern recognition, use of wearables for specific
applications or disabilities, electronic textiles and fashion
design.
 Wearable Computers

• A wearable computer is a computer that is subsumed into the

personal space of the user, controlled by the user, and has
both operational and interactional constancy, i.e. is always on
and always accessible.
• It is a device that is always with the user, and into which the
user can always enter commands and execute a set of such
entered commands, and in which the user can do so while
walking around or doing other activities.
• The wearable computer is more than just a wristwatch or
regular eyeglasses: it has the full functionality of a computer
system but in addition to being a fully featured computer, it is
also inextricably intertwined with the wearer.
 Wearable Computers

• This is what sets the wearable computer apart from other

wearable devices such as wristwatches, regular eyeglasses,
wearable radios.
• Unlike these other wearable devices that are not
programmable, the wearable computer is as reconfigurable
as the familiar desktop or mainframe computer.
• There are three operational modes in this new interaction
between human and computer:
 Wearable Computers

1.Constancy: The computer runs continuously, and is 'always ready' to

interact with the user. Unlike a hand-held device, laptop computer, or PDA,
it does not need to be opened up and turned on prior to use.
2.Augmentation: Traditional computing paradigms are based on
the notion that computing is the primary task. Wearable computing,
however, is based on the notion that computing is NOT the primary task.
The assumption of wearable computing is that the user will be doing
something else at the same time as doing the computing. Thus the
computer should serve to augment the intellect, or augment the senses.
3.Mediation: Unlike hand held devices, laptop computers, and PDAs, the
wearable computer can encapsulate It doesn't necessarily need to
completely enclose us, but the concept allows for a greater degree of
encapsulation than traditional portable computers.
 Wearable Computers

• The six attributes of wearable computers:

1.Unmonopolizing of the user's attention
2.Unrestrictive to the user
3.Observable by the user
4.Controllable by the user
5.Attentive to the environment
6.Communicative to others
 Advantages of Wearable Computers

• Enhanced communication
• Wearable computers can be used to recognise a person in a
high alerted area such as an airport.
• A personal wearable computer will facilitate the wearers
needs
• Unlikely to be dropped or lost as they are embedded to the
clothes as opposed to the handheld devices.
• Able to use wearable computers to complete daily tasks such
as a computer which tracks the movements and habits of a
person.
• Flexibility
• Freedom
 Advantages of Wearable Computers

• Work from anywhere

• Convenience
• Surgeons can allow data to be transferred to their wearable
computers, saving time where the surgeons can look up
information helping to improve the efficiency of an operation.
History - Thorp and Shannon
• Professor Edward O. Thorp and
Claude Shannon, father of Info
Theory worked on it 1955-1962
• A computer to help predict the
outcome of roulette wheel spins.
• Utilized timers in order to predict
where the ball would fall on the
roulette
• Consisted of:
o Computer with 12 transistors,
size of a pack of cigarettes
o Microswitches in the users shoes
o Computer transmitted musical
tones to an ear piece
History - Steve Mann

• 1981 Steve Mann designed and built a backpack-mounted

6502-based computer to control flash-bulbs, cameras and
other photographic systems.
• "Predecessors like the wristwatch, the shoe-based gambling
timers, etc., were used for computation of specific tasks,
whereas Mann's invention was a general-purpose field
programmable computer inserted into the visual reality
stream of all day-to-day tasks."
History - 90s to Today

• Early 90s brought the utilization of overlay displays

• In 1993 the University of Columbia created KARMA:
Knowledge-based Augmented Reality
o A display over one eye would result in an overlay effect
when looking through both eyes
o The system would overlay schematics and instructions
over whatever object the user was working with.
• "In October 1997, Carnegie Mellon University, MIT, and
Georgia Tech co-hosted the IEEE International Symposium
on Wearables Computers (IWSC) in Cambridge,
Massachusetts."
US Army's Land Warrior
Land Warrior
Breakdown
• A. Eye piece display
o Friendly Positions
o Maps
o Mission data
• B&C. Mic and Earphones
• D.Input device that acts as a
mouse.
• E.Laser range finder to send
data about targets to others
• F.Thermal Sight for night
vision
• G. Video Camera
o Send pics and clips
o Shoot around corners
Sixth Sense
 Hardware

• Web cam, a 3M pico

projector and a mirror, all
connected wirelessly to a
Bluetooth smart phone in
his pocket. Which only
comes out to be $350!!!
 Sixth Sense

• Pranav Mistry is the genius

behind Sixth Sense
• is a PhD student in the Fluid
Interfaces Group at MIT's
Media Lab. Before his studies
at MIT, he worked with
Microsoft as a UX researcher.
Mistry is passionate about
integrating the digital
informational experience with
our real-world interactions.
 Capabilities

• You hold up your left

hand, fingers pointing to
the right. The system
recognizes that you want
to make a call, and
projects a dialing pad
onto your fingers. You
tap the virtual keypad
with your right hand to
dial the call.
Capabilities- Wear Ur World (WUW)
WUW Video Demo
Metaio
Metaio AR

• Augmented Reality (AR) describes the fusion of 3D and real-

life imagery, achieved via the use of modern image-
processing technology.
• Developed as a modular, comprehensive technology
platform, Unifeye makes it possible for users in many
different fields to realize their innovative Augmented Reality
applications.
• Since it is based on established software and hardware
technologies, the result is a portfolio of innovative products
for both commercial and industrial customers.
How it works

• The software utilizes special made 2d prints in order to track

where the virtualization where begin
• 2d prints are the optimal choice due to their generous error
correcting built into the images
• Since the software has the image preloaded in, once it is
found in the image provided by the camera it can extrapolate
in real time the size, angle, and location the virtualization
should occur in order to look natural in the photo
Current Limitations

• Currently the software does support the ability to use real

time video streams in order to produce agmented reality
• However there exsists hardware limitations of the devices
that we currently carry around with us
• For example many phones will not allow the external camera
feed to be manipulated in real time
• Post processing can occur however
Future of metaio

• Interactive Advertisments
• True 3d print media
• 3d visualizations
 Sources
• "At TED ." Wikipedia.org. 11Febuary 2009. 15 April 2009.
<http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/11/at-ted-virtual-worlds-collide-with-
reality>
• "Land Warrior." Wikipedia.org. 2 April 2009. 19 April
2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_Warrior>
• Mann,Steve. ""Wearable Computing". 21st Century. Article Copyright 2000. 14
April 2009.
<http://www.21stcentury.co.uk/technology/wearable_computing.asp>
• “MIT's 6th Sense device” 9 Febuary 2009. 15 April 2009.
• <http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10159601-1.html >
• "The Army's New Land Warrior Gear” May 2007. 19 April 2009.
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/military_law/4215715.html?pag
e=1 >
• Thorp, Ed. “The Invention of the First Wearable Computer” 19 April 2009.
<http://graphics.cs.columbia.edu/courses/mobwear/resources/thorp-iswc98.pdf
>
• "Wearable Computers." Wikipedia.org. 2 April 2009. 14 April 2009.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wearable_computer>