WEARABLE SYSTEMS 07- 08

INTRODUCTION

With computing devices becoming smaller and smaller it is

now possible for an individual to do such a device like a hat or
jacket. It is clear that this technology will enable us to extent the
desktop resources (including memory computation and
communication) to anywhere in travel. Also this constant access,
augmented by a battery of body mounted sensors will enable a
computer to be sensitive to the activities in which we are engaged
and thus allow the computer to participate in an active manner as
we perform our tasks. This area includes computer science,
computer engineering and psychology.
Other than being a portable computer, a wearable computer
must be an adaptive system with an independent processor. That is
the system must adapt to the whims and fancies of the user instead
of the user having to adapt his lifestyle for the system. The system
must be perpetually on and must provide seamless information
transfer whenever the user requires it.

Department of E & C, Dr AIT, Blore 1

WEARABLE SYSTEMS 07- 08

HISTORY

The concept of wearable computing was first brought forward by

Steve Mann, who, with his invention of the ‘WearComp’ in 1979
created a pioneering effort in wearable computing. Although the
effort was great, one of the major disadvantages was the fact that it
was nothing more than a miniature PC. Absence of lightweight,
rugged and fast processors and display devices was another
drawback.

The 1980s brought forward the development of the consumer

camcorder, miniature CRTs etc. brought forward the development of
the eyeglass mounted multimedia computer. With the advent of the
internet and wireless networking technologies, wearable devices
have developed a great deal.

The following figure shows the evolution of steve mann’s

invention.

Department of E & C, Dr AIT, Blore 2

WEARABLE SYSTEMS 07- 08

What is a wearable system ?

A wearable system 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. Most notably, 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 most salient aspect of computers, in general, (whether
wearable or not) is their reconfigurability and generality e.g. that
their function can be made to vary widely, depending on the
instructions provided for program execution. With the wearable
computer (WearComp), this is no exception, e.g. 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. This is what sets the wearable computer apart from
other wearable devices such as wristwatches, regular eyeglasses,
wearable radios, etc.. Unlike these other wearable devices that are
not programmable (reconfigurable), the wearable computer is as
reconfigurable as the familiar desktop or mainframe computer.
Wearable computing will now be formally defined in terms of its
three basic modes of operation and its six fundamental attributes.

Why Wear?
• Computing in the wild
– Hands, eyes, ears or brain is busy
– Secondary and support tasks

Department of E & C, Dr AIT, Blore 3

WEARABLE SYSTEMS 07- 08

• Always on / continuous use

– Constant recording (medical, environmental)
– Monitoring & alert (military, medical, phone)
• Instant and integrated use
– Integrated with real-world task
– Time-critical
– Minor, secondary tasks

AIM OF WEARABLE COMPUTING

• To develop new interfaces that mediate (augment,

deliberately diminish, or otherwise modify) non-computer
activities
• Without interfering with the user's everyday tasks
• The design of wearable computers is still a topic of research,
and a variety of user interfaces are being proposed.

Operational modes of wearable computing

There are three operational modes in this new interaction between
human and computer:

• 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. The signal flow from human to computer,
and computer to human, depicted in Fig 1a runs continuously to
provide a constant user--interface.

Department of E & C, Dr AIT, Blore 4

WEARABLE SYSTEMS 07- 08

Fig 1a

• 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. The signal flow
between human and computer is depicted in Fig 1b.

Fig 1b

• Mediation: Unlike hand held devices, laptop computers, and

PDAs, the wearable computer can encapsulate us (Fig 1c). It
doesn't necessarily need to completely enclose us, but the
concept allows for a greater degree of encapsulation than
traditional portable computers.

Fig 1c

There are two aspects to this encapsulation:

o Solitude: It can function as an information filter, and

allow us to block out material we might not wish to experience,
whether it be offensive advertising, or simply a desire to replace

Department of E & C, Dr AIT, Blore 5

WEARABLE SYSTEMS 07- 08

existing media with different media. In less severe

manifestations, it may simply allow us to alter our perception of
reality in a very mild sort of way.
o Privacy: Mediation allows us to block or modify
information leaving our encapsulated space. In the
same way that ordinary clothing prevents others from
seeing our naked bodies, the wearable computer may,
for example, serve as an intermediary for interacting
with untrusted systems, such as third party digital
anonymous cash ``cyberwallets''. In the same way that
martial artists, especially stick fighters, wear a long
black robe that comes right down to the ground, in order
to hide the placement of their feet from their oponent,
wearable computing can also be used to clothe our
otherwise transparent movements in cyberspace.
Although other technologies, like desktop computers,
can help us protect our privacy with programs like Pretty
Good Privacy (PGP), the achilles tendon of these
systems is the space between us and them. It is
generally far easier for an attacker to compromise the
link between us and the computer (perhaps through a
so-called trojan horse or other planted virus) than it is to
compromise the link between our computer and other
computers. Thus wearable computing can be used to
create a new level of personal privacy because it can be
made much more personal, e.g. so that it is always
worn, except perhaps during showering, and therefore
less likely to fall prey to covert attacks upon the
hardware itself. Moreover, the close synergy between
the human and computers makes it harder to attack
directly, e.g. as one might peek over a person's shoulder
while they are typing, or hide a video camera in the
ceiling above their keyboard. Furthermore, the wearable

Department of E & C, Dr AIT, Blore 6

WEARABLE SYSTEMS 07- 08

computer can take the form of undergarments that are

encapsulated in an outer covering or outerwear of fine
conductive fabric to protect from an attacker looking at
radio frequency emissions. The actual communications
between the wearer and other computers (and thus
other people) can be done by way of outer garments,
which contain conformal antennas, or the like, and
convey an encrypted bitstream.

Because of its ability to encapsulate us, e.g. in embodiments

of wearable computing that are actually articles of clothing in direct
contact with our flesh, it may also be able to make measurements of
various physiological quantities. Thus the signal flow depicted in Fig
1a is also enhanced by the encapsulation as depicted in Fig 1c. To
make this signal flow more explicit, Fig 1c has been redrawn, in Fig
1d, where the computer and human are depicted as two separate
entities within an optional protective shell, which may be removed
or partially removed if a mixture of augmented and mediated
interaction is desired.

Fig 1d

Wearable computing is a framework for enabling various degrees of

each of these three fundamental modes of operation. Collectively,
the space of possible signal flows giving rise to this entire space of
possibilities, is depicted in Fig 2.

Department of E & C, Dr AIT, Blore 7

WEARABLE SYSTEMS 07- 08

While individual embodiments of wearable computing may use

some mixture of these concepts, the signal path depicted in Fig 2
provides a general framework for comparison and study of these
systems. The signal paths typically each, in fact, include multiple
signals, hence multiple parallel signal paths are depicted in this
figure to make this plurality of signals explicit.

The six attributes (six signal paths) of

wearable computing
There are six informational flow paths associated with this
new human--machine synergy. These signal flow paths are, in fact,
attributes of wearable computing, and are described, in what
follows, from the human's point of view:

1. UNMONOPOLIZING of the user's attention: it does not cut you

off from the outside world like a virtual reality game or the
like. You can attend to other matters while using the
apparatus. It is built with the assumption that computing will
be a secondary activity, rather than a primary focus of
attention. In fact, ideally, it will provide enhanced sensory
capabilities. It may, however, mediate (augment, alter, or
deliberately diminish) the sensory capabilities.
2. UNRESTRICTIVE to the user: ambulatory, mobile, roving, ``you
can do other things while using it'', e.g. you can type while
jogging, etc.

Department of E & C, Dr AIT, Blore 8

WEARABLE SYSTEMS 07- 08

3. OBSERVABLE by the user: It can get your attention

continuously if you want it to. Almost--always--observable:
within reasonable limitations (e.g. that you might not see the
screen while you blink or look away momentarily) the output
medium is constantly perceptible by the wearer.
4. CONTROLLABLE by the user: Responsive. You can grab control
of it at any time you wish. Even in automated processes you
can manually override to break open the control loop and
become part of the loop at any time you want to (example:
``a big Halt button you want as an application mindlessly
opens all 50 documents that were highlighted when you
accidently pressed ``Enter'' would make a computer more
CONTROLLABLE. Infinitely--often--controllable: the constancy
of user--interface results from almost--always observability
and infinitely--often controllability in the sense that there is
always a potential for manual override which need not be
always exercised.
5. ATTENTIVE to the environment: Environmentally aware,
multimodal, multisensory. (As a result this ultimately gives the
user increased situational awareness).
6. COMMUNICATIVE to others: Can be used as a communications
medium when you want it to. Expressive: allows the wearer to
be expressive through the medium, whether as a direct
communications medium to others, or as means of assisting
the production of expressive media (artistic or otherwise).

Aspects of wearable computing and personal

empowerment
There are several aspects and affordances of wearable computing.
These are:

Department of E & C, Dr AIT, Blore 9

WEARABLE SYSTEMS 07- 08

• Photographic memory: Perfect recall of previously collected

information.
• Shared memory: In a collective sense, two or more individuals
may share in their collective consciousness, so that one may
have a recall of information that one need not have
experienced personally.
• Connected collective humanistic intelligence: In a collective
sense, two or more individuals may collaborate while one or
more of them is doing another primary task.
• Personal safety: In contrast to a centralized surveillance
network built into the architecture of the city, a personal
safety system is built into the architecture (clothing) of the
individual.
• Tetherless operation: Wearable computing affords and
requires mobility, and the freedom from the need to be
connected by wire to an electrical outlet, or communications
line.
• Synergy: Rather than attempting to emulate human
intelligence in the computer, as is a common goal of research
in Artificial Intelligence (AI), the goal of wearable computing is
to produce a synergistic combination of human and machine,
in which the human performs tasks that it is better at, while
the computer performs tasks that it is better at. Over an
extended period of time, the wearable computer begins to
function as a true extension of the mind and body, and no
longer feels as if it is a separate entity. In fact, the user will
often adapt to the apparatus to such a degree, that when
taking it off, its absence will feel uncomfortable, in the same
way that we adapt to shoes and clothing to such a degree that
being without them most of us would feel extremely
uncomfortable whether in a public setting, or in an
environment in which we have come to be accustomed to the
protection that shoes and clothing provide. This intimate and

Department of E & C, Dr AIT, Blore 10

WEARABLE SYSTEMS 07- 08

constant bonding is such that the combined capabilities of the

resulting synergistic whole far exceeds the sum of either.
Synergy, in which the human being and computer become
elements of each other's feedback loop, is often called
Humanistic Intelligence (HI).
• Quality of life: Wearable computing is capable of enhancing
day--to--day experiences, not just in the workplace, but in all
facets of daily life. It has the capability to enhance the quality
of life for many people.

Following figure shows the examples of wearable computers

Wrist Wearable Computer

Department of E & C, Dr AIT, Blore 11

WEARABLE SYSTEMS 07- 08

The Zypad™ WL 1000 is a wrist-wearable computer flexibly

designed to give the user instant access to computing capabilities
while carrying out non-computer tasks in the field. Featuring hands-
free operation, robust wireless capabilities, and built-in GPS
tracking, this versatile wearable computer serves as an ideal tool
for emergency search and rescue, healthcare, homeland security,
maintenance, law enforcement, logistics, transportation, and
defense applications.

Specification
Processor AMD Au1100 400MHz 32-bit MIPS
Memory RAM - 64MB non-volatile Flash
ROM - 64MB non-volatile Flash
Expansion slot (Mini SD)
Wireless WLAN: Wi-Fi IEEE802.11 b/g with integrated antenna
WPAN: Bluetooth class 2 (32 feet)
GPS Integrated L1 band 12-channel GPS receiver and helix
antenna
Display 240 x 320 3.5" TFT LCD 256K color touchscreen with
automatic contrast adjust
Activity 1 Power On / Charge LED
Indicators 1 WLAN Activity LED
1 WPAN Activity LED

Department of E & C, Dr AIT, Blore 12

WEARABLE SYSTEMS 07- 08

Audio 2.5mm stereo audio jack and speaker

Keyboard 11 Backlit tactile response keys (On/Off, Enter, Esc,
Left, Right, Down, F1, F2, F3, F4)
USB 1 x USB1.1 Master Port, 1 x USB1.1 Device Port
Power 2200mAh 3.6 V Li-ion removable battery pack
External universal power supply (sold separately)
Car adapter power supply (sold separately)
Battery External universal power supply, multiple battery
Charging charger, USB cable connection for PC, and vehicle
battery charger
Ingress Meets IP54 (NEMA 4) specifications (Dust and Water
Protection Resistant)
Humidity 95% relative humidity non-condensing
Operating -10°C to +50°C (14°F to +122°F)
Temp
Storage Temp -20°C to +50°C (-4°F to +122°F)
Weight 10.23 ounces (290.02 grams) with battery
Kit Contents WL 1000 PC with strap and battery pack, stylus pen,
power supply, AC power cord, quick reference guide
(printed), CD with manual and software Development
Kit (SDK)
Accessories: USB master, additional battery pack, multiple battery
charger (2 batteries), vehicle power supply, earphone
cable, earphone Bluetooth, pen assembly (3 pieces),
and display protective film (3 pieces)

Product Features
Operating Standard platform supports Windows CE 5.0 or Linux
System based on Kernel 2.6
Display 3.5" TFT touchscreen with automatic contrast
adjustment via ambient light sensor
Wireless Bluetooth, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
GPS Integrated GPS receiver and antenna
Audio Stereo speaker and headphone jack for external
headset to support multimedia applications
Battery Life Average 8+ hours of operation
Expandabilit Mini Secure Digital memory slot and USB ports (Master
y & Device)
Acceleromet Tilt and Dead Reckoning System allows to determine
er whether or not the user is moving (GPS supplies the
position)

Department of E & C, Dr AIT, Blore 13

WEARABLE SYSTEMS 07- 08

Keyboard Backlit buttons

Ergonomic Designed to comfortably fit the user's wrist, under or
Design over clothes, for hands free operations
Pen Device Integrated stylus connected to the strap

Wrist Watch

In this picture, Eric Moncrief is wearing the watch, and

Stephen Ross is pictured on the XF86 screen as a 24 bit true colour
visual. (Wristwatch Computer designed and built by Steve Mann.)

A SECRET function, when selected, conceals the videoconferencing

window by turning off the transparency of the oclock, so that the
watch then looks like an ordinary watch (just showing the clock
filling the entire 640x480 pixel screen). The OPEN function cancels
the SECRET function and opens the videoconferencing session up
again.

Applications
• Wearing a computer at work
• A watch to measure your stress

Department of E & C, Dr AIT, Blore 14

WEARABLE SYSTEMS 07- 08

• The Coach in Your Hand

• 22Moo offers sub-$200 35-inch video glasses
• Wearable voice-based computer
• InHand Electronics Announces e-ink military Soldier Flex PDA
(SFPDA)
• The moving finger
• Wearable GPS helps shutterbugs log pics by locale

 Wearing at computer work

The European Union has funded an ambitious project related

to wearable technology. This project, named WearIT@work will end
in one year and was funded with 14.3 million euros of EU money,
even if the total project cost is expected to exceed 23 million euros.
For mobile workers, the goal is to replace traditional interfaces, such
as screen, keyboard or computer unit, by speech control or gesture
control, without modifying the applications. This wearable system is
currently being tested in four different fields including aircraft
maintenance, emergency response, car production and healthcare.

 A watch to measure your stress

Department of E & C, Dr AIT, Blore 15

WEARABLE SYSTEMS 07- 08

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and the

University of Pittsburgh are using a wrist-mounted watch to
measure stress. This watch, which is in fact a wearable computing
system, contains several sensors that gather information about the
user and his environment. Now it will be used to conduct 3-minute
interviews of its wearers every 45 minutes for 5 days (even during
their sleep?). It will ask them questions such as ‘Working hard?’ or
‘Happy?’ and wirelessly transmit the answers to a central computer.
The study, which is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health
(NIH), is expected to reveal correlations between environmental
factors that we encounter every day and which may increase the
risk of certain diseases such as heart attacks or strokes..

 The Coach in Your Hand

Department of E & C, Dr AIT, Blore 16

WEARABLE SYSTEMS 07- 08

Now, researchers at the Accenture Technology Labs are

working to turn the phone into something more intelligent. A team
headed by Alex Kass, senior researcher at the lab in Palo Alto, Calif.,
has put together a platform that transforms the phone into what
Kass describes as “an angel on your shoulder.” The “angel” is the
Mobile Personal Services platform, which is capable of running a
number of personal coaching applications to help someone be more
effective both at home and on the job. Kass and his team have
developed a prototype application, called the Personal Performance
Coach (PPC), to demonstrate the platform’s capabilities. The
application can use the handset in combination with wearable
sensors and a personal area network employing Bluetooth, as well
as connecting to servers to do the heavy analytics lifting. It also can
use GPS or Wi-Fi for location. The first module Accenture has built
for the application is designed for salespeople as they interact with
co-workers or sales contacts...

 22Moo offers sub-$200 35-inch video glasses

22Moo has unveiled a new range of video eyewear and

Bluetooth accessories for Apple's iPod and iPhone that includes a

Department of E & C, Dr AIT, Blore 17

WEARABLE SYSTEMS 07- 08

pair of sub-$200 35-inch video glasses, a 3D supported portable

DVD player with video glasses, Star-Trek-inspired high resolution
video eyewear, and an A2DP dongle bundle with a stereo Bluetooth
headset for iPod and iPhone owners. The Argo MP/3G-2 is a new
type of compact personal display that uses a unique optical system
to offer the equivalent of a 35-inch screen at a six foot distance,
boasting 0.3 megapixels (320 x 240) of resolution designed to
compliment a video iPod or Microsoft Zune with a direct connection.
The device works with numerous other gadgets that support an AV
output, including game consoles like the Sony PlayStation and
Microsoft Xbox or the Nintendo Wii. The MP/3G-2 is lightweight, and
features a detachable light shield as well as earphones. 22Moo's
Argo MP/3G-2 eyewear is priced at $200.

 Wearable voice-based computer

LXE has substantial experience with wearable and voice

activated, enabled and/or controlled computers. The company's HX2
is a small arm- or waist-wearable that's voice enabled, but it still has
a display. The new HX3, introduced in September of 2007, does
away with the display altogether. It is a completely hands-free
voice-operated computer for use with voice-directed logistics
applicatons, even if they take places in freezers with temperatures
down to -40 degrees Fahrenheit. The handy HX3 measures just 4 x
3.5 x 1.4 inches and weighs less than ten ounces. It's powered by a
400 MHz Marvel PXA255 processor and runs Windows CE 5.0

Department of E & C, Dr AIT, Blore 18

WEARABLE SYSTEMS 07- 08

Professional Plus. The battery is mounted next to the HX3 and you
have your pick from a standard 12-hour pack or an extended 24-
hour pack.
 InHand Electronics Announces e-ink military Soldier Flex PDA
(SFPDA)

InHand Electronics Announces e-ink military Soldier Flex PDA

(SFPDA). The Soldier Flex PDA (SFPDA) has been successfully
demonstrated at the Future Force Warrior’s On-The-Move (OTM)
exercises in Fort Dix, NJ. Whereas the electronics for most PDAs are
challenged to run under 1W, the entire SFPDA has typical power
consumption well under 1W, including the display and InHand’s
PXA270-based Fingertip4 CPU board, along with Ethernet, USB,
Bluetooth, and keypad interfaces. This reduced-power consumption
is due to the unique low-power characteristics of electronic paper
displays and InHand’s patented BatterySmart system software. The
result: a ruggedized handheld with over 6 hours of run-time
weighing in at less than one pound.

 Wearable GPS helps shutterbugs log pics by locale

Department of E & C, Dr AIT, Blore 19

WEARABLE SYSTEMS 07- 08

For hikers, tourists or just about anyone who likes to travel

with a light load while taking digital photos, Sony has come up with
a wearable GPS tracking device that'll help you keep track of where
you've been. The 3-1/2 inch GPS-CS1 weighs in at only 2 ounces and
attaches to your belt with a carabineer. It records your time and
location every 15 seconds. By synching the GPS clock with the
timestamp on a digital still camera or camcorder, your journey is
archived, step by step.

Wearable computer now

Department of E & C, Dr AIT, Blore 20

WEARABLE SYSTEMS 07- 08

Wearable computer future

Department of E & C, Dr AIT, Blore 21

WEARABLE SYSTEMS 07- 08

Future

Department of E & C, Dr AIT, Blore 22

WEARABLE SYSTEMS 07- 08

We currently lack quantitative measures for our evaluation.For

this a wearable computer that ordinary people will accept to use in
their everyday life is needed. It is believed that the PDA based
wearable that was mentioned earlier in this paper is that kind of
wearable computer and the plan is to do user test for some of the
scenarios that have been mentioned in earlier in the paper. There
are also plans to improve the prototype with more tools for
improving sharing of experience and knowledge.One thing that is
being worked on now is to incorporate a telepointer over the video
so distant participants can share with the wearable computer user
what they are talking about or what have their attention at the
moment.

Department of E & C, Dr AIT, Blore 23

WEARABLE SYSTEMS 07- 08

CONCLUSION
Wearable Computer has come a long way from the days of
the WearComp. Extensive research and development work at
various centers have ensured that these wonderful devices will
change our lives dramatically in the near future. Several
commercial vendors have started manufacturing and marketing
these devices.
The earlier devices were quite obtrusive and often made the
wearer ill at ease, but recently, such devices have been gaining
social acceptance. This is attributed partly to miniaturization and
partly to dramatic changes in people’s attitude to personal
electronics. This factor will soon disappear as the apparatus
disappears into ordinary clothing and eyeglasses. Clothing based
computing with personal imaging will blur all boundaries between
seeing and viewing and between remembering and recording.
Rather than living within our own personal information domain,
networking will enlarge our scope through shared visual memory
which enables us to “remember “something we have never seen.

With computers as close as shirts on our backs, interaction

will become more natural. This will improve the ability to do
traditional computing whiling standing or walking.

Within the next few years, we con expect entirely new modes
of human – computer interaction to arise. Wearable Computers will
help in the development of a cyborg – a system in which the
camaraderie between a human and machine becomes seamlessly
simple. This will bring forward a new set of technical, scientific and
social needs which will have to be addressed as we take the first
step towards coexisting with wearable computers.

Department of E & C, Dr AIT, Blore 24

WEARABLE SYSTEMS 07- 08

REFERENCES
 Recognizing User Context via Wearable Sensors by Brian
Clarkson, Alex Pentland, Kenji Mase .

 Issues in Wearable Computing for Medical Monitoring

Applications: A Case Study of a Wearable ECG Monitoring
Device by Thomas Martin, Emil Jovanov, Dejan Raskovic.

 IEEE Spectrum - Octrober 2000/ volume 37/ number 20 - The

PC goes ready to wear. by Steve Ditlea

Websites:
www.media.mit.edu/wearables

www.redwoodhouse.com/wearable

www.wearables.blu.org

www.arcom.com

www.tinmith.net/wearable

Department of E & C, Dr AIT, Blore 25