|
|
********************************************************************
Wearable Computing Technology Map
********************************************************************
This document summarizes the key points we discussed in group,
about
the mapping of WC--Wearable Computing--related technologies.
-------------------------------------
The idea behind this map is to understand the complex nature of
WC
and how WC products can take computing as we know it, one step
further.
The map itself is built around two axes. The horizontal one goes
from
traditional (Left) to non-traditional (Right). The vertical one
goes from
Client-side (Top) to server-side computing (bottom).
To simplify the chart (for Mary's sake!), let me point out the
important points.
=>Traditional Technologies involved with WC are thus:
-Networks: Wireless Infrastructure, Internet etc.
-Graphical User Interfaces: cut down versions of Windows for
palmtop (Windows CE on the Palm Pilot or Psion etc.)
-New Input/Output--I/O--peripherals: Speech recognition, IR
interfaces,
webcam, head-mounted displays etc.
=>Non-Traditional Technologies:
-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 on an individual basis. 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
(a scaled down
version of Windows or a small JAVA platform) 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 such
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 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."
(I'll post something more consequent on the subject, at a later
time on the
web-site.)
-Augmented Reality: This goes with our earlier point about "intelligent
agents".
I found on an MIT web-site (I believe Ying and Alex have that
printout) the
following quote: "One of the key differences between a
wearable computer with
currently available palmtops is that wearable s 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."
Please note that Augmented Reality is tied to the broader term
"context-aware,
adaptive computers".
-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 (a bit like the Kinetic Seiko watch which
recharges with the
movements of the wearers wrists).
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.
Thus seeing the BROAD PICTURE is key.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submitted by Vincent Rochette, vrochette@hotmail.com on 27/01/00
Look out for new material added to the site!!!
http://go.to/wearcomputers/