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SECTION 3: Technology Description
3.0 From PC to WC
Personal Computer, also known as PC. Let us reflect on these two words for a second; quickly one question arises. What's so personal about today's computers? On the hardware side a PCs is like a "black box" for the average user, with its mystical powers and magical tricks. On the software side, a PC is more like a jungle, complete wilderness through which only seasoned adventurers are able hack to their way with machete blows--actually resembling more Microsoft chainsaws.
In the end, a PC is as personal as a bathroom, opened, in the middle of Time Square.
That's precisely when Wearable Computing--which we also short to WC--takes all the meaning; no joke intended.
As discussed by a Research Group (University of Oregon) for the Symposium on Wearable Computing:
"As the call for this workshop rightfully points out, wearable computing goes beyond the traditional mobile or desktop computer idea. By combining ideas from mobile and ubiquitous computing with advanced userinterface technologies such as gesture or voice recognition, wearable computing promises to radically change the way we use computers." (Position Paper; please read notes in the appendix.)
WC is Personal with a capital P. In fact Personal means…
…Practical: WC be ergonomic and function in the most user-friendly way.
…Portable: WC should carried around painlessly, without any restraining cables.
…Perceptual: most uniquely, WC is transparent to the human perceptory senses. It interfaces with eyesight, audition, speech, or touch to extend human capacity.
…Powerful: WC should be powerful enough to resolve quickly complex calculations; low energy consumption should make it possible to work long hours without recharging.
…Persistent: it doesn't switch off like a normal digital device would; instead it would go into a limited-operational state, whereby limiting power drainage, yet allowing constant monitoring of defined parameters.
…Purpose-Oriented: WC should tackle very specific industrial or not, situations and answer very precisely needs of operators, engineers, technicians, researchers etc.
…Private: since WC is so close to the human-level that privacy is a key issue, only loosely defined in the case of ordinary PCs.
…People-ware: WC should be an integral part of broad network systems. It should offer connectivity to collaborative, groupware applications.
However, Personal does not mean…
…Passive: WC should not be just a computer awaiting human input. It should actively interpret human reactions, feelings, physical movements, etc.
…Public: again, such a device should not be publicly viewed. Information stored is confidential and would be treated with caution.
…Policing: WC should not dictate human behaviour but facilitate and assist actions and reasonning.
…Piecemeal: WC should not be treated as another "hype" and remain technologically isolated the way cell-phones were in the 80s.
…Perturbing: WC should not be distractive.
…Priceless: WC should be made available on a democratic basis.
Overall Technological Description
So far we have defined the "soft" characteristics of WC technology. Each of the issues outlined in the earlier paragraph, have found technological answers. Some of these solutions have been developed, marketed and constitute elements of current computing products; some others remain in a conceptual form. We shall address both subsequently.
As of now, it is possible to shop around, and pick pre-packaged technologies, patch them together and come up with a working, commercially viable, wearable computer. Strictly speaking, that is correct, it is a wearable computer; however a wearable computer, in our sense --and in the sense of MIT engineers--is much more than just a computer that you can wear.
3.11 WC Technology Map (Simplified)
A convenient method of grasping the "big picture" is to map all relevant technologies that have to do with WC onto a two-axis chart. For the purpose of simplification we won't include any second/third level technologies, meaning that we are interested, for the moment being, in parent ones.
Figure 3.111, The WC Technology Map.
The resulting map gives us information on two things: what particular technologies are linked (directly or not) to WC, and where they are positioned, given their respective relation to the user and level of innovation. The chart is similar to space-time diagram seen in Physics, but applied to Computer-Science. Space here actually represents the location of the technology on the client-server architecture. Time--although not indicative of time horizon--is linked to technological 'continuity', in other words, to what extend WC elements break with traditional computing patterns.
3.12 Traditional Technologies Involved with WC.
The term, 'traditional' refers to computing technologies that follow standardized development, programming and marketing approaches. One may draw a concise list what they are--though we won't contend to be exhaustive.
-Networks: Wireless Infrastructure, IP Networks etc.
-Graphical User Interfaces: cut down versions of Windows for Palmtops (Windows CE on the Palm-Pilot or Psion etc.)
-New Input/Output--I/O--peripherals: Speech, recognition, IR interfaces,
webcam, head-mounted displays etc.
3.13 Problems of Traditional Computing
Shouldn't all this be enough? The question has a merit, but makes abstraction of a larger context. A wearable computer cannot simply be a pocket-sized PC for simple technical and functional reasons which we'll detail further in Section 4. We may already realize that problems such as resource limitations forces engineers to point in atypical directions.
3.14 Non-Traditional Technologies.
Going back to the chart 3.111, a number of boxes remain open and practically empty. It should not strike the reader to come at odds over the inclusion of these so-called technologies into WC. As far as research is concerned there is no doubt that non-traditional technologies will unavoidably become real and prevalent; their use doesn't necessarily echo present needs.
-Intelligent agents: pieces digital codes that surf on the internet to retrieve the information one requests. They may do other automated tasks like remind you of meetings, potential problem areas etc. This enables the WC device to act autonomously, while the user/wearer performs delicate engineering/maintenance tasks.
-Software on-demand: the defined trend towards "network computers", a technology developed by companies like Oracle, affirms the need to make current computing technologies more rational, faster, and most importantly, easier to maintain. Today companies have to administer PCs individually. IT people have to determine what software to install, when to update it; that makes it very cumbersome to manage. The solution is then to create a completely new hardware platform which in many ways resemble current web-enabled services like popular site, "Hotmail". Here the idea is to install only the core elements on the device (Windows CE or JAVA) and then transfer the necessary applications over a wireless networks, as needed.
For instance if a worker at Boeing needs a precision-measuring application to verify certain airplane parts then he or she will request that application from the server (or alternatively the intelligent agent will take care of that) and the application will be uploaded to the device, reside in memory, then be removed when not used anymore.
-PAN, Personal Area Network: PAN is about what TG Zimmerman(an IBM, Research Division staff member) calls "near field intra-body communication". Essentially what it does is that a device placed against or near the human body can exchange digital information through the human body. The example of the business car handshake is particularly illustrative. Two businessmen or -women meeting would be able to send each other "digital" business cards with a simple handshake. That system uses a low frequency carrier--less than one megahertz to minimize remote eaves-dropping and interference by neighboring PANs.
In his paper, in the IBM Systems Journal, VOL35, 1996, Zimmerman says that: "Clearly Privacy is a big issue in such scenario. Privacy is both a right and a
commodity. To maintain privacy control, a wearer must determine when the identification beacon is activated and what type of information can be transmitted.[...] Near field communication offers an alternative to congesting airwaves with data."
-Augmented Reality: This goes with our earlier point about "intelligent agents".
"One of the key differences between a wearable computer with currently available palmtops is that wearables are alwars operational, tend to have sensors into their environment, and tend to have the ability to get information to the wearer even when the wearer doesn't expect it. This opens the door to a whole range of augmented memory applications specifically for wearable computers" (MIT website, name of author not disclosed).
Augmented Reality is one of the key aspects of WC. Practically, AR uses "heads-up" displays and earphones to enhance the functionality of modern GUIs. Text, graphics, sounds are superposed onto physical objects or people, visually or audibly perceived. Please note that Augmented Reality is tied to the broader term "context-aware, adaptive computers". It works with intelligent agent technology to bring "Remembrance Agents".
-Parasitic Power Harvesting in Shoes: finally, how could all this technology be powered most efficiently? The answer is to "harvest" residual parasitic power we generate while walking. This would involve special devices built into shoes to pick up the electrostatic power or a system of shoe-mounted rotary magnetic generator (similar to the Kinetic Seiko watch which recharges with the movements of the wearers wrists).
3.12 Implications
All right, all this is interesting but where does this lead us?
1)the AI-VR, 'Integration'.
Two main "technological goals" will fuel non-traditional computing efforts. The first one on the server side is AI aka "artifical intelligence". The second one on the client side is "vitual reality". It means that servers should in the end become more intelligent and think by themselves; whereas clients (small WC devices plugged to a head-mounted display for instance) would push for VR. This distinction makes the strong assumption that clients do not need AI applications for the simple reason that clients are humans, and humans by definition are intelligent. It's a matter of building on our intellectual capacity and have systems reacting to our senses and thoughts.
2)Integration of technologies
Unless non-technologies are regrouped and packaged for WC use, wearable computers will merely look like "miniaturized", "gadgety" PCs or alternatively "enhanced cellphones". The trick is to find the path running straight in the middle. Naturally, non-traditional computing technologies are not yet available. But firms like IBM and Microsoft are researching hard for commercial applications. For the moment, however, much of it remains in the hands of Universities like MIT, which regularly spins-off companies dealing in specific areas of the problem.
Applications and Target Users
A Boeing workshop conducted on WC classifies user groups in two categories: Industrial and Individual users (CF Note). The term 'individual users' does not seem to fit exactly into our description, and we shall preferably call them 'consumers', as opposed to commercial/professional users, the reason being the broad nature of WC technology.
3.21 Professional Users.
Within that category we may distinguish two kinds of potential WC customers: Industrial and Service-related companies. In the former case, companies demanding high-precision, hands-free operations are valuable, high-margin, early adopters--seen through the lens of the adoption diffusion model, more on that later.
Xybernaut, the leading Wearble Computer manufacturer (we could argue that its products don't fully comply to our earlier definition of WC, and we advise the reader to treat given information with great caution) has developed state-of-the-art products for precision tasks like measurement, qualibration, field data collection etc. It is employed in very diverse industries, from aerospace manufacturer to firefighters, or wholesalers.
However, in the context of a surging E-conomy, we shouldn't forget that a bulk of the market, broadly understood as the tertiary sector, has widely different needs. We can imagine dot com retailers using this technology to demonstrate the quality of a certain product upon request of the online consumer. A similar idea is currently used at one French site, whereby a shop assistant skates through the store, carrying a portable computer with a webcam responds to the virtual client's interactions.
In both cases, data transmission requirements are fairly high and necessitate the deployment of a substantial network infrastructure if the WC potential is to be maximized. Boeing specialists noted that : "when the communication infrastructure is not present, then the machine becomes a rock. We clarified, that not all the functionality had to be there, but the wearable computer must still provide useful functionality without the communications infrastructure".
Consumer Users
The Boeing workshop also looked at the consumer side, it was indicated that: "the individual users who will be the early adopters are the mobile executive, the physical fitness enthusiast, children, and the upscale suburban home owner. The individual users will not require the 400mhz pentium processor. Rather the wearable computer for these individual will meet the basic requirements of power, functionality, and cost."
Here the emphasis is placed on the product's specific purpose. So far, we have implied that a Wearable has one definite form is capable of satisfying multiple purposes. Regarding consumers, WC may come under different forms, shapes and sizes, depending on the personality, gender, age, occupation. It is not as simple as looking at mobile phones and realize that cellphones constitutes a one-stop solution to every computing resources available. Marketing undoubtedly plays a key role, articulating WC Technological Strategies to Overall Business Objectives.
Research suggests that the overwhelming variety of WC consumer devices is illustrated by the "Smart-" concept. Attach any household/wearable-item word to the "Smart-"prefix and you find a potential use for WC. Clothes easily become "Smart-Clothes", watch, smart-watch, and so forth.