A Wearable Computer Suit You?
- by John Boyd-
Well-equipped business executives may soon be ditching their portable PCs for something even more fitting: a wearable computer. Currently, various exotic
devices are being worn by nerdy researchers at such famous computer centers in the US as MIT and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). But even straight-laced scientists at NTT research labs are beginning to sport wearable gear, while IBM Japan engineers expect to test-market a wearable PC this year.
Wearable computer research
actually goes back at least to the 1960s, when Americans Edward Thorp and Claude Shannon created a system to predict the likely outcome of spinning roulette wheels. By 1997, enough progress had been made for MIT, CMU and Georgia Tech to co-host the first international symposium on wearable computers.
But before going any further, why would anyone want to wear a computer? The brief answer is convenience. Consider a soldier or firefighter who can relay back scenes from the field, via rugged digital cameras embedded in their helmets; the surgeon conducting an operation while getting instant feedback on his progress; or a maintenance engineer out in the boonies who can talk up drawings right before her eyes. When you donıt need to fiddle with a keyboard and carry a 12-inch display around, the possibilities suddenly appear endless.
NTT, for one, is working to exploit the data transmission possibilities of the ailing wireless PHS (Personal Handyphone System) as a key technology for wearable computers. Last February, NTT tested a prototype PHS wristwatch equipped with voice-recognition technology at the Nagano Olympics.[See CJ June '98 issue - Ed.]
According to Takao Kakizaki, a supervisor at NTTıs Human Interface Labs, the current 32-Kbps PHS data transmission service will eventually be updated to 64-Kbps, and by using special uplink protocols to bridge two devices, this could be boosted to 128-Kbps: more than enough for transmitting video and accessing the Internet.
NTT researchers are also working on 'finger rings': special wireless sensors worn on the fingers that can interpret finger drumming on any surface, turning the vibrations into computer commands. Add a wireless earphone and a wristwatch PHS smart phone with a magnified display, and youıre ready to download e-mail on the Yamanote Line.
While many researchers are busy pioneering weird and wonderful new technologies that may or may not be easily mass produced, IBM Japan has gone for whatıs available here and now. At the Yamato Laboratory on the outskirts of Tokyo, Tetsune Toyokawa heads an eight-strong group of researchers that have cobbled together a convincing prototype wearable computer out of an IBM ThinkPad notebook PC.
The beauty of Toyokawaıs idea is its essential simplicity. "Our biggest challenge was finding out just how much miniaturization we could achieve, while still keeping the full PC specifications," says Toyokawa.
The team has managed to cram the
entire essentials of a 560 ThinkPad into a box the size of a Sony Walkman. The unmodified PC, running Windows 98 and powered by a 233-MHz Pentium chip, weighs just 300 gmand half that is accounted for by a lithium battery!
The display consists of a head-mounted tiny monocular optical screen that hangs just in front of your right eye. The display is both magnified and transparent. "So unlike typical headsets, you can see beyond the display, and even walk while using it," notes Toyokawa. The headset also contains headphones, while a small wireless controller for cursor guidance fits snugly in the hand or pocket. Everything together weighs barely 500 gm.
Miniaturization has been achieved using IBM's 1-inch 340-Mbyte Microdrive hard disk, plus a new type of high-density, multilayered printed circuit board (PCB). The special PCB technology (Surface Laminar Circuit) uses thin-film transistor know-how, which eliminates the need for drilling holes (thus wasting space) in the board, and has reduced the standard PCB size by 75%.
It took a little while for me to adjust to the optical screen and hand controller, but I was able to open a file and watch a video clip, and could even squint my way through a short text message. Toyokawa says that by next month theyıll be introducing a larger high-res color display, which should make viewing more practical.
This wearable system wonıt suit everyone, but IBM is already talking with certain customers to test-market a real product later this year. If you donıt mind being the object of curiosity while commuting, this is going to be one heck of a way to get through your e-mail and Internet downloads on the way to work. And no one else can see what youıre reading!
John says one day you might go to Burberrys to be fitted out for your latest computer. For freelancer John, though, he says heıs more likely to stick with off-the-pegware from Daiei. Send your comments to him via boyd@gol.com.
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