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Re: Wearable design fundamentals (was: wearhard is too hard.)

From: Pete Hardie <>
Date: Wed, 09 Dec 1998 08:46:31 -0500

Christopher Lambert wrote:
> 
> At 10:25 PM 12/08/98 -0700, Legacy 'Xunker' wrote:
> >If I may throw my hat into the ring, as it were, I think everyone would like
> >to hear about my design for a low-cost wearable that I'm designing.
> 
> I have been reluctant to bring a wearable into my life for several reasons,
> not the least of which is that I don't work in an environment where it
> would be well-received (a 3D/special effects house).  Living in Silicon
> Valley, I could get away with it as far as walking down the street goes.
> Still, I've been wondering about the social implications of a HMD, or in
> fact any (seemingly) obtrusive computer equipment, such as keyboard
> arm-straps, a Twiddler, etc.

Hmm.  I'd think that an effects house would be rather accomodating to
a wearable, seeing as they are doing all sorts of odd visual stuff all
the time.

> 
> In trying to incorporate these design considerations into a low-cost,
> inobtrusive (relative to the average full-functioned abstract wearable
> design most often tossed around this list) solution with the necessary
> performance, I found myself at a loss to strike a balance between the
> technology/convenience and the social ramifications.

I like your idea for multiple input/output modes - this dovetails into
the 
recent discussion of driving with a wearable.  Having an audio-only
mode would make this almost moot.

> Let me propose a comparison: a meeting at a place of work.
> 
> With conventional techniques:
> 
> One could listen to what was being said and participate,
> remembering/jotting down a single sentence for later reference.  Or one
> could pull out a record book, and take notes on relevant subjects.  One
> could even take minutes verbatim, for example at a conference.

Or, as is common around here, type notes into your laptop during the
meeting.

> 
> With such a wearable computer as mentioned above:
> 
> One could dictate, perhaps immediately following the adjournment of the
> meeting, a summary through the audio interface, or perhaps record one's own
> presentation or report.  One could use a hidden or non-obvious keyboard or
> pen interface to jot notes or even perhaps use the HMD (depending on the
> tolerances of one's co-workers ;) to compose a verbatim transcript of
> proceedings.  I believe that at the hypothetical conference, this would be
> completely accepted (as long as such transcripts were allowed, etc...).

A wearable would be less-obtrusive than a laptop, and probably a PDA,
given the
input modes of current PDAs.  The only big appearance problem is the
display.

-- 
Pete Hardie                   |   Goalie, DVSG Dart Team
Scientific Atlanta            |
Digital Video Services Group  |

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