Wearable Computing FAQ Version 1.0 8/28/97 1 Introduction While this FAQ presents a very MIT-centered view of wearable computing, it hopes to act as an introduction into the field. More information and pointers to other similar projects can be found on the web page: http://wearables.www.media.mit.edu/projects/wearables 2 Wearable Computing Overview 2.1 What's a Wearable Computer Anyway? The fuzzy definition of a wearable computer is that it's a computer that is always with you, is comfortable and easy to keep and use, and is as unobtrusive as clothing. However, this "smart clothing" definition is unsatisfactory when pushed in the details. A more specific definition is that wearable computers have many of the following characteristics: Portable while operational: The most distinguishing feature of a wearable is that it can be used while walking or otherwise moving around. This distinguishes wearables from both desktop and laptop computers. Hands-free use: Military and industrial applications for wearables especially emphasize their hands-free aspect, and concentrate on speech input and heads-up display or voice output. Other wearables might also use chording keyboards, dials, and joysticks to minimize the tying up of a user's hands Sensors: In addition to user-inputs, a wearable should have sensors for the physical environment. Such sensors might include wireless communica- tions, GPS, cameras, or microphones. "Attention-getting": A wearable should be able to convey information to its user even when not actively being used. For example, if your computer wants to let you know you have new email and who it's from, it should be able to communicate this information to you immediately. Always on: By default a wearable is always on and working, sensing, and acting. This is opposed to the normal use of pen-based "Personal Digital Assistants," which normally sit in one's pocket and are only woken up when a task needs to be done. [Brad Rhodes] 2.2 Why would you use something like that? Many of the defining features of wearables are the rational behind wanting to wear them full time: The HMD allows you to look at the screen and also at something in the real world. This allows you to take notes while looking at the professor, rather than constantly glancing back and forth between paper and blackboard. You can be reading email and still be able to walk down the street without running into people. Having the wearable with you is equivalent to carrying an entire reference library with instant access. Webster's dictionary and thesaurus are always useful to have, as well as maps and phone books. With the jump to 5 gig drives, it would be trivial to put Compton's encyclopedia onto the wearable and have real-time access to a tremendous wealth of information. All the notes you ever take - from trips, classes, business meetings - are always with you. With a fast search engine, you can pull up needed information in seconds, rather than flipping through dusty notebooks stored in your attic. You will never have to go hunting for a pen or piece of paper again, and never worry about searching for that missing napkin with the new system design scrawled on it. In a manner similar to the development of multimedia PCs, all consumer electronics -Music CD players, fax machines, pagers, audio journals - will be integrated into the wearable design. One device will be able to handle all forms of electronic media, whether it be audio, visual, or wireless digital communica- tion. A seldom realized aspect of wearable computing is augmented reality: the seamless integration of real and virtual worlds. Electronically stored informa- tion is extremely useful when overlayed over a view of the outside world. For example: captions displayed with museum exhibits, names over faces (via face recognition), wiring schematics associated with the current project. 2.3 How often do you wear it? Most people with functional systems wear it about 16 hours a day, seven days a week. Basically, all the time except during sports, showers, sleep, and other such activities. 2.4 Where do you use it? Since one of the defining features of wearable computers is their portability, wearables can be used anywhere a person can work comfortably. With 8-10 hour battery life and digital cellular modems providing internet access, working on a wearable allows the same level of productivity just about anywhere as a conventional desktop stuck in an office. 2.5 What do you use it for? Most of the time spent using the wearable is found inside a text editor - nor- mally emacs. Phone numbers, schedules, class notes, and programs all can be modified or searched. With Internet access, communication becomes very easy - everything from real-time messaging (zephyrs) to full web access using Netscape is commonplace. Outside of this, the wearable is used just like your normal (multimedia) desktop computer. In some cases, the wearable is used instead of having a 'main' computer. 2.6 What do you use for input? Text The standard text input device is the Twiddler, a one-handed chorded keyboard and mouse combination. It allows fairly rapid typing (up to 60 words a minute) in any body position. Video Video input has been accomplished through a wide range of video capture devices. For still images, the Color QuickCam has been used with a great deal of success. It also works well for low frame-rate movie. Audio Multiple types of microphones have been used for both speech and mu- sical input. Other A very diverse set of input devices have been attached to the wearables: GPS locators, Affective sensors (blood pressure, GSR, heart beat, EMG), infrared positional beacons and probes, Digital cellular modems, Pilots & other PDAs, etc. 2.7 What do you use for output? Display The Private Eye, made by Reflection Technology, is our primary dis- play, able to handle 720x280 monochrome video. Audio We have a SoundBlaster compatible PC104 board, and a variety of speakers. Other Tons of other output devices are being played with: Pilots, tactile feedback, speech, just to name a few. 2.8 What speed computer is it? Accessories? Currently, the systems in use range from 486dx50's to Pentium 133's. The next generation that is being tested uses a Pentium 166 processor. The accessories most commonly used are the Sierra modem, GPS sensor, and video or audio IO. 3 Operating Systems and Software 3.1 Linux! For a research & development environment, Linux was a natural choice that would take full use of system resources. Not only is it efficient and flexible,but the source is available and well supported. 3.2 Linux?!? Why not Win95? Some of the softwear we use is only supported in Windows NT/95. It has been installed on one of the wearables and seems to be dealing with the unusual hardware. For more information, follow the "Choosing and OS" under the Windows95 section on the main wearables page. 4 Display Information 4.1 Private Eye The Private Eye, manufactured by Reflection Technology, is a LED based dis- play that can produce a monochrome image at 720-280 resolution. It uses a vibrating mirror to create this image. 4.1.1 How can you see a display that close to your eye? When you look into the PE, you see the equivalent of a 15" monitor at about two feet away. 4.1.2 Doesn't that hurt to use for long periods of time? The PE is actually very comfortable to use for extended durations. The focus can be adjusted from 10" to infinity, allowing almost ideal viewing focus. 4.1.3 The PE vibrates; doesn't this get annoying? After wearing the PE for a few hours, the noise and vibration really isn't noticed. It's equivalent to the hum of most computer monitors and the fan noise - you stop being aware of them after a while. 4.1.4 How long have you been wearing this? Our oldest system has been worn for 5 years. 4.1.5 Have you noticed any vision problems No. Not after 5 years of heavy use. 5 Input Information 5.1 Twiddler The Twiddler, made by Handikey, is a one-handed chorded keyboard and mouse combination. It allows fairly rapid typing (up to 60 words a minute) in any body position. 5.1.1 Isn't it difficult to learn to use? It takes around 5 minutes to learn the alphabet, an hour to touch type, and a weekend to reach 10 words a minute. The entire keymap is completely con- figurable, giving the user the ability to add as little as a few extra macros to redefining the entire mapping of all the keys. 5.1.2 How can you type quickly using only one hand? The Twiddler is a chorded keyboard -- that is, it uses a combination of keys pressed at the same time to produce a given string for input. There are over 4000 such combinations available, allowing for a great variety of strings to be encoded. The standard key mapping on the Twiddler includes chords for common letter combinations: 'ing', 'ed', 'the', 'ion', etc. This can be expanded to allow a simple combination of keys to return common words, your entire email address, or the URL for your web page. In addition to the shortcuts built into the Twiddler key mapping, many good text editing programs allow for macro and abbreviation expansion. Most of the text input done on our systems is done through emacs, which supports word completion (from the first few letters of a typed word) and arbitrary length abbreviations (abb expands to abbreviation, or WHome expands to http://wearables.www.media.mit.edu/projects/wearables) Taken together, this allows one-handed typing that is fast. 5.2 cameras 5.3 quickcam 5.4 sound 6 So.. you want to be a cyborg. 6.1 I want to build a wearable- where can I get the specs? Full specs are on the main Media lab web page at: http://wearables.www.media.mit.edu/projects/wearables) 6.2 Is there a mailing list for other people doing this? Yes. wear-hard@haven.org. To subscribe, please send mail to wear-hard-request@haven.org with the text "subscribe" included in the body of the email. 6.3 How much does it cost to build? A good starting system costs in the same range as a medium to high-end laptop. 7 Suggested Reading Some books that contain ideas that deal with wearable computing: [Fiction] Snow Crash [Neal Stephenson. Spectra, 1993. ISBN: 0553562614] Fire upon the Deep [Vernor Vinge. Tor Books, 1993. ISBN: 0812515285] Diamond Age [Neal Stephenson. Bantam, 1996. ISBN: 0553573314] Virtual Light [William Gibson. Spectra, 1994. ISBN: 0553566067] Across RealTime [Vernor Vinge.Baen Books, 1991. ISBN: 0671720988] Mirror Shades: The Cyberpunk Anthology [Bruce Sterling. Ace Books, 1988. ISBN: 0441533825] [Non-Fiction] Cyborg Handbook [Chris Hables Gray (ed). Routledge, 1996. ISBN:0415908493]