Kunal Ganguly CS898t - Wireless/Mobile Communications Dr. Chang Semester Paper Project Proposal Topic: ------ A Study on Wearable Computing Major Goals: ------------ * What is Wearable Computing? Definition, examples. * Why Wearable Computing? Need and justification (Still an area of research) * Technology behind wearable computing o Hardware o Software o Design (Ergonomics) o Overview * Current research * Consumer point of view, consumer benefit * Devices in the market (or very near to it) Scope: ------ This paper will introduce wearable computing, which, some predict, is destined to be the next generation of computing technology. The concept of wearable computers attempts to bridge the obvious "interaction-gap" between the computer and a human. Typically a majority of user-computer interaction is limited to using a keyboard/touchpad and staring at a screen - desktop, laptop or PDA, only for a limited time during the day. Wearable computing promotes devices that should be as natural to the user as wearing sunglasses or clothes. Without going into too much detail, this paper will also analyze the hardware being put to use for wearable computers (heads-up displays, unobtrusive input devices, etc), software being employed (intelligent agents, productivity software, network connectivity, context-sensing and communication tools), design - which has to take into consideration factors like gender, age, etc and most of all comfort to the user, and finally how these elements meld into one another. Wearable computing is an extreme area of research with lofty goals; hence, this paper would not be complete without a discussion of the current research in this area, what the future holds for wearable computing and most importantly - the perceived impact on the user. In conclusion, the paper will introduce some of the devices currently available to the consumer. References: ----------- Bodine, K. and F. Gemperle. Effects of Functionality on Perceived Comfort of Wearables.In Proceedings of the Seventh IEEE International Symposium on wearable Computers, White Plains, NY, Oct. 2003. Chou, Paul, et. al. BlueSpace: Creating a Personalized and Context-aware Workspace. IBM Research Division, Thomas J. Watson Research Center. 2001. Darell, Trevor, et. al. Face-responsive interfaced: from direct manipulation to perceptive presence. MIT AI Lab. 2002. Dorsey, J. and D.P. Siewiorek. The Design of Wearable Systems: A Shift in Development Effort. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks (DSN-2003), San Francisco, CA, June 2003. (Originally appeared as Technical Report 18-01-02, Carnegie Mellon University Institute for Complex Engineered Systems, Pittsburgh, PA, Aug. 2002.) Dorsey, J. and D.P. Siewiorek. Online Power Monitoring for Wearable Systems. In Proceedings of the Sixth International Symposium on Wearable Computers (Handout), Seattle, WA, Oct. 2002. Gemperle, F., N. Ota and D. Siewiorek. Design of a Wearable Tactile Display. In Proceedings of the Fifth International Symposium on Wearable Computers, Zürich, Switzerland, Oct. 2001. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ** Note: most of the pertinent data for this proposal (except scope) was gotten from The Wearable Group (http://www.wearablegroup.org/), however the final report will cover much broader ground in terms of research.