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Wearable gizmos

“Can't decide between a netbook, a smartphone, ultramobile PC or some other piece of mobile gadgetry? It won't be a decision bothering you for much longer.

According to Lee Williams, director of mobile OS organization the Symbian Foundation, hardware roadmaps are heading in a new direction altogether – and in the not-too-distant-future too. “

BusinessWeek

"Digital "sixth sense" for humans"

"Students at the MIT Media Lab have developed a wearable computing system that turns any surface into an interactive display screen. The wearer can summon virtual gadgets and internet data at will, then dispel them like smoke when they're done."

"The prototype was built from an ordinary webcam and a battery-powered 3M projector, with an attached mirror -- all connected to an internet-enabled mobile phone. The setup, which costs less than $350, allows the user to project information from the phone onto any surface -- walls, the body of another person or even your hand.

Maes showed a video of her student Pranav Mistry who she describes as the brains behind the project. Mistry wore the device on a lanyard around his neck, and colored Magic Marker caps on four fingers (red, blue, green and yellow) helped the camera distinguish the four fingers and recognize his hand gestures with software that Mistry created.

The gestures can be as simple as using his fingers and thumbs to create a picture frame that tells the camera to snap a photo, which is saved to his mobile phone. When he gets back to an office, he projects the images onto a wall and begins to size them."

Wired

The smart nTAG conference badge

The MIT Technology Review Conference recently used nTAG badges for its attendees and its event management.

The interactive name badges (Click graphic to expand) communicate bi-directionally with other name badges (via infrared) and with a central server (via 802.15 wireless protocol). The solution includes software applications (including attendee networking, session attendance analysis, real-time audience polling, digital agendas, interactive event maps) database management, and reporting via a web browser, accessible by meeting organizers and attendees.

Stretchable Circuitry

"In a technological advance that opens up new possibilities in the fields of robotics and wearable computing, researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed a stretchable, rubbery material that conducts electricity and can be incorporated into electronic devices."

Pink Tentacle, courtesy of Dennis Howlett

Solar-Powered Clothing

Flexible solar cells, which can be incorporated into jackets, trousers and any other garments, are only a year away, says Fujitsu Siemens. The cells work like solar panels, converting light into energy. The wearer would plug in gadgets such as phones or MP3 players to a special pocket on the garment, which in turn connects to the solar cells.

The Observer

WearIT@Work

With 36 partners, the European research project wearIT@work is currently the biggest organized research effort in the area of wearable computing. Wearable computing describes the application of hardware and software which is worn like or integrated in clothing and not carried like a cell phone or PDA."

Wearable computers are being tested in 4 test studies Healthcare, Emergency Rescue, Aircraft Maintenance and Production Management and Training.