29-10-2012, 11:27 AM
Wearable Computers
Wearable Computers.pdf (Size: 1.17 MB / Downloads: 66)
ABSTRACT
•Wearable computers are computers that are worn on the body.
•They have been applied to areas such as behavioral modeling, health monitoring systems, information technologies and media development.
•Wearable computers are especially useful for applications that require computational support while the user's hands, voice, eyes or attention are actively engaged with the physical environment.
•Areas of study include user interface design, augmented reality, pattern recognition, use of wearables for specific applications or disabilities, electronic textiles and fashion design.
•A wearable computer is a computer that is subsumed into the personal space of the user, controlled by the user, and has both operational and interactional constancy, i.e. is always on and always accessible.
•It is a device that is always with the user, and into which the user can always enter commands and execute a set of such entered commands, and in which the user can do so while walking around or doing other activities.
•The wearable computer is more than just a wristwatch or regular eyeglasses: it has the full functionality of a computer system but in addition to being a fully featured computer, it is also inextricably intertwined with the wearer.
Advantages of Wearable Computers
•Enhanced communication
•Wearable computers can be used to recognise a person in a high alerted area such as an airport.
•A personal wearable computer will facilitate the wearers needs
•Unlikely to be dropped or lost as they are embedded to the clothes as opposed to the handheld devices.
•Able to use wearable computers to complete daily tasks such as a computer which tracks the movements and habits of a person.
•Flexibility
•Freedom
History -Thorp and Shannon
•Professor Edward O. Thorp and Claude Shannon, father of Info Theory worked on it 1955-1962
•A computer to help predict the outcome of roulette wheel spins.
•Utilized timers in order to predict where the ball would fall on the roulette
•Consisted of:
oComputer with 12 transistors, size of a pack of cigarettes
oMicroswitches in the users shoes
oComputer transmitted musical tones to an ear piece
How it works
•The software utilizes special made 2d prints in order to track where the virtualization where begin
•2d prints are the optimal choice due to their generous error correcting built into the images
•Since the software has the image preloaded in, once it is found in the image provided by the camera it can extrapolate in real time the size, angle, and location the virtualization should occur in order to look natural in the photo
Current Limitations
•Currently the software does support the ability to use real time video streams in order to produce agmented reality
•However there exsists hardware limitations of the devices that we currently carry around with us
•For example many phones will not allow the external camera feed to be manipulated in real time
•Post processing can occur however