For most people, cell phones, personal digital assistants, and alphanumeric pagers are examples of technology that is small and unobtrusive enough to go anywhere. But attendees of the first-ever International Symposium on Wearable Computers won't be satisfied until you can step into your Pentium machine, button up your global positioning system, and slip on your liquid crystal display in the morning.
This week, 365 researchers in the nascent field of wearable computing are gathering in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to discuss progress, socialize, and visit with the small number of vendors that supply hardware and software for computer systems that fit the user like a well-worn pair of Levi's. In fact, one conference attendee was wearing a denim jacket embroidered with letters and numbers in metallic thread that actually served as a touch-sensitive keyboard.
Other attendees had bags slung across their shoulders that concealed small computers, handheld input devices that took the place of a mouse or keyboard, and microphones that processed spoken commands. Conference organizer Thad Starner even modeled a pair of normal-looking eyeglasses with an active-matrix liquid crystal display built into one lens.
"This is on its way to being consumer-grade stuff," said Starner, a researcher at MIT's nearby Media Lab. "We're seeing niche markets develop already, like repairs and maintenance, and navigation, but we're on our way to gaining more mindshare. That's one of the things this conference will do."
Presenters and attendees spoke glowingly of systems that could help a tourist negotiate an unfamiliar downtown, help an absent-minded businessperson match a face with a name, and even assist a dancer in recording choreography, with a pair of electrode- and gyroscope-studded Capezio sneakers.
Conference attendees all seemed aware that for the time being, wearable computing remains a zero-dollar industry. But most think that lightweight, ultra-mobile technology is the next big thing. There was even the publisher of a soon-to-be-launched magazine about the field in attendance.
"This isn't a fad, and the people here aren't part of an obscure community that will stay obscure," said Shelley Harrison, the Felton, California, publisher of Wearable Computing. "This is a market that's about to explode, and this conference is a pretty good indication - Xerox and Boeing are not fly-by-night companies."
Some attendees say that today's high adoption rates of technologies like cell phones, pagers, and PDAs are precursors to more comprehensive portable systems for communication, multimedia, and computation. "Within the next three to five years, people will start wearing more electronics on their bodies," said Mark Spitzer, president of the MicroOptical Corporation, which makes tiny eyeglass-mounted displays like those worn by Starner. "Eventually, all the devices we carry today will integrate, and our company wants to be ready for that."
Only a handful of first-day conference attendees - perhaps a half-dozen - were actually wearing computers.
The conference itself is a blend of science fair and trade show. One small room was filled with exhibitor booths. The vendors who were displaying products all agreed the market for wearable computers is still in its infancy, but they're gambling on rapid growth.
One booth featured a camouflage-design vest developed by Boeing and McDonnell Douglass that holds a low-voltage Pentium computer, operated by voice and attached to an electroluminescent head-mounted display. A Boeing representative said the company expected to deploy the vest, dubbed MARSS (for "Maintenance and Repair Support System") among its assembly and maintenance workers. MARSS can do things like display wiring diagrams and schematics while a repair person works. The MARSS research was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which funded much of the other research at the symposium and also bankrolled the computer network that eventually became the Internet.
Other vendors were using the symposium as a chance to fine-tune their marketing messages. Handykey Corporation, the maker of a 4-ounce handheld keyboard/mouse called the Twiddler, was testing a new slogan: "Twiddler: The Choice of Cyborgs." "The product has been around since 1992," said vice president of marketing Ian Lintault, "but we were only selling one or two a month for a while. Now, we're altering the course of the company to address the wearable market." He said Handykey is currently shipping as many as 40 of the US$199 units a month.
While most vendors are reluctant to admit it, the wearable computing field is still searching for a "killer app" that will pave the way into the mainstream consumer market. "People are still in the 'It's cool, but what does it do?' phase," said MicroOptical's Spitzer. "We need an application for consumers, perhaps something that evolves out of communication devices like cell phones and email and pagers. That's the missing piece right now."
Some of the applications demonstrated at the symposium were navigational systems that, using global positioning satellites, could help a utility worker find a particular manhole or transformer and pull up a service records; a voice-activated system aimed at providing maintenance people with documentation; a quality-assurance device that could be used at a food processing plant to gauge meat temperature; and an origami tutorial. The Lotus 1-2-3 of wearable computing, though, has not yet emerged.
And even some of the diehards, like conference chair Dan Siewiorek of Carnegie Mellon University, seemed less than won over by the current state of the technology. In delivering the symposium's opening remarks, Siewiorek wore a bulky gray headset, but instead of using it for his speaking notes, he referred to an old-fashioned sheet of paper on the podium. And he quickly removed the headset as soon as he left the stage.
But conference attendees were certain that the technology will improve and enter the mainstream. "It's easy to look at a small community that's excited about something and say that it's the next big thing," said David Covin, a wearable computing buff from Chicago. "But I believe this is the next big thing. It's just like PCs, or the Web when it first started."
The symposium continues Tuesday, and will be followed by a day-long demo-fest at MIT's Media Lab, which will feature a wearable computing fashion show and a presentation by Leonard Nimoy.
