Advantages of Wearable Computers

Left: Wearable audio navigation for the visually impaired. Right: xybernaut corp.'s lightweight head mounted display with keyboard independent touch typing and data input glove

Soldier with wearable computer and military zypad wr1100 wrist wearable computer

The potential advantages for organizations to use wearable computers are:

• Wearable computers are becoming more simpler, smaller and less cumbersome.
  
• User's needs are satisfied and not hindered by the device
  
• Constant attention and interaction are not required


• It is unobtrusive and unrestrictive to the user
  
• Users can be invloved with another activity simultaneously such as jogging, walking, catching a bus, talking to a person face to face whilst using the wearable device.


• They provide significant contribution to maintaining health and well being. E.g. Monitoring devices are embedded in "smart" clothing, measuring heart rate, blood pressure, body temperatur...etc; Prosthetics offer enchancement of users' physical movements.


• Commercial users will be attracted to wearable computers' hands-free operation and their ability to instantly update any information stored in the database.


• The marines are using this technology to repair equipment on the battlefield


• Instead of carring bulky service manuals, mechanics can use the wearables to view a transparent image of a vehicle's broken part, analyze how to repair it, update its serive records and still have both hands free to fix the broken part.


• Some art museums in Netherlands are using wearable computers developed by MIT Media lab to deliver audiovisual narration adapting to the user's interest based on the path in the museum and the length of stops


• Architects are using them to develop see-through buidling plans that reveal the exact locations of electricial wires, pipes, and framing hidden behind walls. If a pipe is rerouted, the plans could be instantly updated for the next repair person.

Different kinds of wearable computers showcased at the 11th International Symposium on Wearable Computers 2007
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DNXLAogM7Q&feature=player_embedded

Reference:
http://wiki.media-culture.org.au/index.php/Wearable_Technology

http://discovermagazine.com/1994/feb/awearablecompute340/

http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/16/view/5586/wearable-computers.html

http://www.archimuse.com/mw2008/papers/wang/wang.html