"Wearable Computer Architecture and Applications"
By Doug Peterson
You know that wearable computers have arrived when they show up in a Dilbert comic strip, said Daniel P. Siewiorek, director of the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.
In the comic strip, Dilbert tells his dog, "I built a ring with a tiny computer in it. It only displays one character at a time." When the dog scoffingly responds with, "Then what good is it?" Dilbert says: "No time for chit-chat. I'm surfing the net."
Although equipping a ring with a computer that displays only one character at a time is comic-strip ludicrous, Siewiorek's job has been to find wearable computer applications that actually make sense in the real world. As part of CSL's Golden Anniversary lecture series, Siewiorek talked about some of those applications - the product of 10 years of research in Carnegie Mellon's Wearable Group.
For instance, Siewiorek brought along a VuMan 3, one of the research group's earliest wearable computers, dating back to 1994.
VuMan 3 consists of a small display monitor that is worn on the head and connects to a dial and selection-buttons worn on the waist. This wearable computer was designed for Marines as they inspected amphibious tractors.
The VuMan 3 replaced a clipboard, freed up the Marine's hands, and made it possible for one person, rather than two, to do the job. While wearing the computer, the Marine can squeeze beneath the equipment, maneuver in tight spots, and inspect the 600 different equipment items on the list.
As the Marine follows a checklist on the monitor (positioned just below the eye), he or she turns the dial and pushes buttons to report the equipment's status. What's more, this information automatically translates into written requests for repair and equipment orders. Under the old system, the hand-written checklist had to be keyed into a computer.
By making the entire process more efficient and by eliminating one Marine in the task, the VuMan 3 reduced inspection time by 70 percent.
According to Siewiorek, whenever they design a wearable computer system, they look for repeated patterns "And once we find repeated patterns, we're pretty sure what we want to build," he said.
Typically, their wearable computers are used to increase efficiency for mobile workers in doing any of three tasks: following procedures, issuing work orders, and interacting in real-time with other workers.
"We're trying to get the right information to the right person at the right place at the right time in the right language at the right level of abstraction," Siewiorek said.
In designing wearable systems, he also noted, they pay close attention to "two gold nuggets" - two key resources. The first is human attention. People can focus their attention on only so many things, so engineers need to make sure that the wearable computer doesn't overload the senses. This requires extensive testing with users.
According to Siewiorek, engineers have a tendency to create systems in their own image, forgetting the needs of the user. But at Carnegie Mellon, they live by the saying: "I am not the user." As he put it, "We have the user part of our design team. It's user-centered design."
The other key resource that they must constantly keep in mind is energy.
"Batteries rule the world, particularly in mobile devices," Siewiorek said. "People want 8-, 10-, or 24-hour shifts out of the systems we build. But keep in mind that batteries have half the density of dynamite. So you can't cram too much more into batteries if you want to feel safe when you're walking around.
"Motorola was wise," Siewiorek added. "When the first cell phones came out, they were big bricks that provided only 15 minutes of air time. But now you can get hours of airtime. That's because they took energy seriously."
By Doug Peterson
You know that wearable computers have arrived when they show up in a Dilbert comic strip, said Daniel P. Siewiorek, director of the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.
In the comic strip, Dilbert tells his dog, "I built a ring with a tiny computer in it. It only displays one character at a time." When the dog scoffingly responds with, "Then what good is it?" Dilbert says: "No time for chit-chat. I'm surfing the net."
Although equipping a ring with a computer that displays only one character at a time is comic-strip ludicrous, Siewiorek's job has been to find wearable computer applications that actually make sense in the real world. As part of CSL's Golden Anniversary lecture series, Siewiorek talked about some of those applications - the product of 10 years of research in Carnegie Mellon's Wearable Group.
For instance, Siewiorek brought along a VuMan 3, one of the research group's earliest wearable computers, dating back to 1994.
VuMan 3 consists of a small display monitor that is worn on the head and connects to a dial and selection-buttons worn on the waist. This wearable computer was designed for Marines as they inspected amphibious tractors.
The VuMan 3 replaced a clipboard, freed up the Marine's hands, and made it possible for one person, rather than two, to do the job. While wearing the computer, the Marine can squeeze beneath the equipment, maneuver in tight spots, and inspect the 600 different equipment items on the list.
As the Marine follows a checklist on the monitor (positioned just below the eye), he or she turns the dial and pushes buttons to report the equipment's status. What's more, this information automatically translates into written requests for repair and equipment orders. Under the old system, the hand-written checklist had to be keyed into a computer.
By making the entire process more efficient and by eliminating one Marine in the task, the VuMan 3 reduced inspection time by 70 percent.
According to Siewiorek, whenever they design a wearable computer system, they look for repeated patterns "And once we find repeated patterns, we're pretty sure what we want to build," he said.
Typically, their wearable computers are used to increase efficiency for mobile workers in doing any of three tasks: following procedures, issuing work orders, and interacting in real-time with other workers.
"We're trying to get the right information to the right person at the right place at the right time in the right language at the right level of abstraction," Siewiorek said.
In designing wearable systems, he also noted, they pay close attention to "two gold nuggets" - two key resources. The first is human attention. People can focus their attention on only so many things, so engineers need to make sure that the wearable computer doesn't overload the senses. This requires extensive testing with users.
According to Siewiorek, engineers have a tendency to create systems in their own image, forgetting the needs of the user. But at Carnegie Mellon, they live by the saying: "I am not the user." As he put it, "We have the user part of our design team. It's user-centered design."
The other key resource that they must constantly keep in mind is energy.
"Batteries rule the world, particularly in mobile devices," Siewiorek said. "People want 8-, 10-, or 24-hour shifts out of the systems we build. But keep in mind that batteries have half the density of dynamite. So you can't cram too much more into batteries if you want to feel safe when you're walking around.
"Motorola was wise," Siewiorek added. "When the first cell phones came out, they were big bricks that provided only 15 minutes of air time. But now you can get hours of airtime. That's because they took energy seriously."
Daniel P. Siewiorek
Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Carnegie Mellon University
Research interests: Wearable computers, fault-tolerant computing, reliable computing
Presentation Title: "Wearable Computer Architecture and Applications"
Delivered:
March 20, 2001
Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Carnegie Mellon University
Research interests: Wearable computers, fault-tolerant computing, reliable computing
Presentation Title: "Wearable Computer Architecture and Applications"
Delivered:
March 20, 2001
