What to Wear: Why Not a Computer?

Fashion shows are occasions for watching gorgeous models parade across stages in one-of-a-kind items that most of us would not be caught dead wearing.

By Manny Frishberg Wired.com

The one presented here last night at the sixth annual International Symposium on Wearable Computers was no exception.

The gear ranged from the sublime — a sleek hooded windbreaker from Germany’s Infineon Technologies AG with an implanted MP3 player — to the ridiculous: a Batman-styled belt with a rod holding a PDA at arm’s length from the models’ torsos. Also on display at the symposium were wrist-mounted scanners and PCs with wired and wireless finger controllers for data input.

This is not the first time that wearable computers have made their way down fashion runways. That has been happening since at least the 1970s. Still, with all the innovative approaches to staying connected while going out in the world, why do we really need this stuff?

One group of users that can benefit from the technology are disabled people, whether they are blind or deaf, face mobility problems or have brain damage that makes remembering things and functioning in the world more difficult.

In general, said Maribeth Gandy, who has been working with a team of researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, wearables are especially well suited for this because they are always there and available and — if designed correctly — are inconspicuous enough not to draw attention to the person’s disability.

Gandy’s group has been working on a protocol for a universal control interface that would allow cell phones, PDAs and wearable control systems that read simple hand gestures in order to control a wide variety of devices. It would be much like a universal remote control that can be programmed for a TV, VCR and a stereo.

Other focuses include small head-mounted visual displays to provide on-the-fly captioning to manage a variety of devices with wireless connections, and tele-health systems for monitoring real-time vital signs as patients go about their normal routines.

Another area of work is with so-called "way-finding systems," which use a global positioning system to help people with memory dysfunctions get where they want to go or to help others locate them if they wander off.

Describing a system that’s being developed to help two patients at the Shepard Center in Atlanta who have lost their short-term memory functions, she said the idea was to design "a cognitive prosthetic to help people find their car."

For the rest of us, note-taking and scheduling reminders are high on the list of possible uses for wearable computers. Georgia Tech’s Thad Starner, who first donned his customized wearable computer in 1993 during his grad student days at MIT, said these devices let people do things they wouldn’t think of doing otherwise.

"A wearable computer can actually know about the rest of your life," he said. Because it is always there and available without having to think about it or interrupt other activities, "it’s possible to have interactions with your computer that you don’t initiate. That’s the change that’s going to be so fundamental."

Eventually, he predicted, a single pocket-sized device will take the place of the laptop and notebook — and even desktop computers — just as mainframes gave way to PCs.

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