Wearing your heart on your sleeve: a wearable computing primer (of sorts)

Alejandro Zamudio
Alejandro ZamudioInteraction Designer at Pegatron
Wearing your heart on your sleeve
Alejandro Zamudio




www.alejandrozamudio.com




                           A wearable technology primer (of sorts)
The contents of Steve Wozniak’s bag. Do we humans really need to carry this much stuff around? (photo by Gizmodo blog)
I. Gambling
Ed Thorp, Co-creator of the first Wearable computer in 1960. http://edwardothorp.com
The first wearable computer was shoe worn and was devised to inconspicuously calculate the outcome of a casino roulette wheel.
Close-up of the shoe computer.
Post PC era?
Yes, but...
TheWeight of the past...




Why does the present have to be labeled based on the technology that is dead or dying out?
Computing Eras


Mainframe        PC      Post-PC
    1960s        1980s   (Mobile?)
What will be next?




What will come after the mobile era? it can’t be the “post-mobile” era!
Place your bets...




Wearable computing could be an important ingredient in the next wave of computing, and a logical next step for mobile devices.
II. Landscapes
How a desktop computer sees us...




Diagram included in Physical Computing, the seminal Interaction design book by Dan O’Sullivan and Tom Igoe. (2004)
How a smartphone sees us...
How should a wearable computer see us?
How our brains see us




Somatosensory homunculous, first formulated by Wilder Penfield in the 1950s. This model shows what a man's body would look like if each part grew in proportion to the
area of the cortex of the brain concerned with its movement.
Where are our boundaries?
Personal Space


                                                                                   Intimate
                                                                                              Personal
                                                                                                    Social
                                                                                                             Public




In his work on proxemics, Edward T. Hall separated his theory into two overarching categories: personal space and territory. Personal space describes the
immediate space surrounding a person, while territory refers to the area which a person may "lay claim to" and defend against others. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Proxemics
What’s the largest organ
                                                   in the human body?




Image credit: Furryscale (license:CC BY-SA 2.0)
Living            Dynamic              Rich

                                                    Intimate
                                                          Personal

                                                  Surface     Social




Image credit: Furryscale (license:CC BY-SA 2.0)
Fluid surfaces




Everything has a surface. Surfaces are usually changing, fluid, dynamic, adaptive.
Image credit: lagohsep (license:CC BY-SA 2.0)
Interface




Interface: meaningful surface, or the space where 2 surfaces touch and exchange information.
Fabric




Fabrics are interesting in that they are almost nothing but surfaces in contact with our skin.
Image credit: ecstaticist (license:CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
SIXTH SENSE




                                                                                                               Sixth Sense

MIT’s Sixth Sense projects takes a literal approach to the “every surface is a potential interface” concept.
http://www.pranavmistry.com/projects/sixthsense/
III. Daemons
In Greek mythology, Daemons are invisible creatures that guide and help mortals, without intervening directly.
Eudaemons




The Eudaemons were a group of UCSC students who created (another) gambling-oriented wearable computer in 1979.
In his Nicomachean Ethics, (1095a15–22) Aristotle says that eudaimonia means ’doing and living well’. It is significant that synonyms for eudaimonia are living well and doing well. On the standard
English translation, this would be to say that ‘happiness is doing well and living well’. (Wikipedia)
Steve Mann




The father of wearable computing. Inventor, teacher and researcher. Full-time cyborg. further references: http://www.interaction-design.org/encyclopedia/wearable_computing.html
Eudaemonic computing


Inspired by the Eudaemons, Eudaemonic computing is about helping people lead better lives. (Computers as good spirits)
1980                      mid 1980s   early 1990s   mid 1990s   late 1990s




Evolution of Steve Mann’s wearable computer
A more recent version of Steve Mann’s wearable computer.
Operational modes


Constancy




Always on, always accessible
Operational modes


             Constancy




Left: Dome computer continuously records the wearer’s life. Right: Microsoft Research’s SenseCam is based on the same concept.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SenseCam
Operational modes


Augmentation




Augment intelligence and senses
Google’s project Glass is one of the most highly publicized examples of wearable computing with augmentation as a focus.
“The Borgs” from MIT Media Lab were wearable computing pioneers during the 1990s. Some of them are now working on Google’s Project Glass.
http://articles.boston.com/2012-07-15/business/32664324_1_microoptical-wearable-head-mounted-displays
Operational modes


Mediation




Encapsulate, filtrate, manage privacy
The walkman is one of the first examples of mass-produced mediating wearable technology.
Attributes


          Unmonopolizing
          Unrestrictive
          Observable
          Controllable
          Attentive


Basically, wearable computers shouldn’t get in the way. Wearer shouldn’t have to worry about the computing part at all.
Self expression




Wearable computing offers many opportunities for dynamic self expression (Image: LED jackets by Cute Circuit)
http://www.cutecircuit.com/category/videos/
Personal




Wearable computers are the real Personal computers, as intimate and close to people as underwear!
Quantify




Computers are obviously good at dealing with quantitative information. Wearable computers are already helping us quantify our daily activities.
Feedback loops




Using quantitative information to enable positive feedback loops is second nature to wearable computers. (Image: Nike fuel web interface)
What kind of (wearable)Daemons
         do we want?
IV. Body
Prosthesis
                                                                        Prosthesis



                                                            Enhancement, addition
                                                                              Enhancement, addition



                                                                                                      Some rights reserved by subsetsum




Prostheses aren’t just to replace missing limbs: Prescription eyeglasses are prosthesis too.
remixing senses




                                                                                                       RYOTA KUWAKUBO




                                                                                                    http://www.youtube.com


Ryota Kuwakubo: With Silifulin, the artist explores the feeling of limbs lost to evolution (tail)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck5K0A6RZgM&feature=player_embedded
remixing senses




                                                                                                                                  Stelarc




I think metaphysically, in the past, we've considered the skin as surface, as interface. The skin has been a boundary for the soul, for the self, and simultaneously, a
beginning to the world. Once technology stretches and pierces the skin, the skin as a barrier is erased."
-Stelarc
“The Human body is obsolete”
remixing senses
Oscar Pistorius



                                                                                                                                                copyright Washington Post



In the future it won’t be unusual to see people with some kind of body modification/enhancement that surpasses our bodies’ natural abilities.
Territories




Different parts of the body have specific sensations, different possibilities and meanings. Wearable computer designers need to to know this territory.
Territories




Really close to the hand but unrestrictive, the wristwatch occupies a prime “real estate” in the human body.
Pioneering aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont famously commissioned Cartier a wristwatch to make it easier to check time while piloting an airplane, at a time when
wristwatches were only seen as a fashion accessory for wealthy women.
Several wearable computers (specially watches) are in or about to hit the market. Is it a fad or the beginning of something bigger?
Ecosystems




Currently most wearable devices work as accessories or satellites to Smartphones. Will that change in the future?
V. Language
Superpowers




As wearable computers can enhance people’s senses, we need to understand what each sense can do.
Remix




Eyesight is the prevalent sense in contemporary culture, but other senses also offer lots of untapped possibilities...
Exploiting the brain’s plasticity
        Brainport




Brainport is a device for the blind that turns visual information into electrical pulses that can be sensed with the tongue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNkw28fz9u0
New ways of reading - RSVP




Rapid serial visual presentation is a method to serially display visual content (images, text) that could be applied to small screens (e.g. wristwatches)
Networking
                                                                                                       Personal area network

                                                                                                      Body area network




We can use the notions of personal space and territory to create new forms of networking and data transmission.
BCI-BBI




Brain-Computer interfaces or Brain-Brain interfaces are a long term possibility.
Flexible electronics




Our skin prefers soft, flexible materials (like fabric). Technology is starting to catch up with this need.
Image: http://2011.lope-c.com/en/picture_downloads/
Smart textiles




                                                                                                                                                 copyright Rachel Winfield




Another long term possibility is that computer logic, sensing and actuation can be carried out by the fabric itself without the need of external components.
Wearable Computing:
                             Uniforms, costumes or bespoke garments?




What is the most ethical choice? what do we want? we need to start thinking about this.
Thank you!



2012 Alejandro Zamudio | www.alejandrozamudio.com       Attribution Share-Alike CC BY-SA
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Wearing your heart on your sleeve: a wearable computing primer (of sorts)

  • 1. Wearing your heart on your sleeve Alejandro Zamudio www.alejandrozamudio.com A wearable technology primer (of sorts)
  • 2. The contents of Steve Wozniak’s bag. Do we humans really need to carry this much stuff around? (photo by Gizmodo blog)
  • 4. Ed Thorp, Co-creator of the first Wearable computer in 1960. http://edwardothorp.com
  • 5. The first wearable computer was shoe worn and was devised to inconspicuously calculate the outcome of a casino roulette wheel.
  • 6. Close-up of the shoe computer.
  • 8. TheWeight of the past... Why does the present have to be labeled based on the technology that is dead or dying out?
  • 9. Computing Eras Mainframe PC Post-PC 1960s 1980s (Mobile?)
  • 10. What will be next? What will come after the mobile era? it can’t be the “post-mobile” era!
  • 11. Place your bets... Wearable computing could be an important ingredient in the next wave of computing, and a logical next step for mobile devices.
  • 13. How a desktop computer sees us... Diagram included in Physical Computing, the seminal Interaction design book by Dan O’Sullivan and Tom Igoe. (2004)
  • 14. How a smartphone sees us...
  • 15. How should a wearable computer see us?
  • 16. How our brains see us Somatosensory homunculous, first formulated by Wilder Penfield in the 1950s. This model shows what a man's body would look like if each part grew in proportion to the area of the cortex of the brain concerned with its movement.
  • 17. Where are our boundaries?
  • 18. Personal Space Intimate Personal Social Public In his work on proxemics, Edward T. Hall separated his theory into two overarching categories: personal space and territory. Personal space describes the immediate space surrounding a person, while territory refers to the area which a person may "lay claim to" and defend against others. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Proxemics
  • 19. What’s the largest organ in the human body? Image credit: Furryscale (license:CC BY-SA 2.0)
  • 20. Living Dynamic Rich Intimate Personal Surface Social Image credit: Furryscale (license:CC BY-SA 2.0)
  • 21. Fluid surfaces Everything has a surface. Surfaces are usually changing, fluid, dynamic, adaptive. Image credit: lagohsep (license:CC BY-SA 2.0)
  • 22. Interface Interface: meaningful surface, or the space where 2 surfaces touch and exchange information.
  • 23. Fabric Fabrics are interesting in that they are almost nothing but surfaces in contact with our skin. Image credit: ecstaticist (license:CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
  • 24. SIXTH SENSE Sixth Sense MIT’s Sixth Sense projects takes a literal approach to the “every surface is a potential interface” concept. http://www.pranavmistry.com/projects/sixthsense/
  • 26. In Greek mythology, Daemons are invisible creatures that guide and help mortals, without intervening directly.
  • 27. Eudaemons The Eudaemons were a group of UCSC students who created (another) gambling-oriented wearable computer in 1979. In his Nicomachean Ethics, (1095a15–22) Aristotle says that eudaimonia means ’doing and living well’. It is significant that synonyms for eudaimonia are living well and doing well. On the standard English translation, this would be to say that ‘happiness is doing well and living well’. (Wikipedia)
  • 28. Steve Mann The father of wearable computing. Inventor, teacher and researcher. Full-time cyborg. further references: http://www.interaction-design.org/encyclopedia/wearable_computing.html
  • 29. Eudaemonic computing Inspired by the Eudaemons, Eudaemonic computing is about helping people lead better lives. (Computers as good spirits)
  • 30. 1980 mid 1980s early 1990s mid 1990s late 1990s Evolution of Steve Mann’s wearable computer
  • 31. A more recent version of Steve Mann’s wearable computer.
  • 33. Operational modes Constancy Left: Dome computer continuously records the wearer’s life. Right: Microsoft Research’s SenseCam is based on the same concept. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SenseCam
  • 35. Google’s project Glass is one of the most highly publicized examples of wearable computing with augmentation as a focus.
  • 36. “The Borgs” from MIT Media Lab were wearable computing pioneers during the 1990s. Some of them are now working on Google’s Project Glass. http://articles.boston.com/2012-07-15/business/32664324_1_microoptical-wearable-head-mounted-displays
  • 38. The walkman is one of the first examples of mass-produced mediating wearable technology.
  • 39. Attributes Unmonopolizing Unrestrictive Observable Controllable Attentive Basically, wearable computers shouldn’t get in the way. Wearer shouldn’t have to worry about the computing part at all.
  • 40. Self expression Wearable computing offers many opportunities for dynamic self expression (Image: LED jackets by Cute Circuit) http://www.cutecircuit.com/category/videos/
  • 41. Personal Wearable computers are the real Personal computers, as intimate and close to people as underwear!
  • 42. Quantify Computers are obviously good at dealing with quantitative information. Wearable computers are already helping us quantify our daily activities.
  • 43. Feedback loops Using quantitative information to enable positive feedback loops is second nature to wearable computers. (Image: Nike fuel web interface)
  • 44. What kind of (wearable)Daemons do we want?
  • 46. Prosthesis Prosthesis Enhancement, addition Enhancement, addition Some rights reserved by subsetsum Prostheses aren’t just to replace missing limbs: Prescription eyeglasses are prosthesis too.
  • 47. remixing senses RYOTA KUWAKUBO http://www.youtube.com Ryota Kuwakubo: With Silifulin, the artist explores the feeling of limbs lost to evolution (tail) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck5K0A6RZgM&feature=player_embedded
  • 48. remixing senses Stelarc I think metaphysically, in the past, we've considered the skin as surface, as interface. The skin has been a boundary for the soul, for the self, and simultaneously, a beginning to the world. Once technology stretches and pierces the skin, the skin as a barrier is erased." -Stelarc
  • 49. “The Human body is obsolete”
  • 51. Oscar Pistorius copyright Washington Post In the future it won’t be unusual to see people with some kind of body modification/enhancement that surpasses our bodies’ natural abilities.
  • 52. Territories Different parts of the body have specific sensations, different possibilities and meanings. Wearable computer designers need to to know this territory.
  • 53. Territories Really close to the hand but unrestrictive, the wristwatch occupies a prime “real estate” in the human body.
  • 54. Pioneering aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont famously commissioned Cartier a wristwatch to make it easier to check time while piloting an airplane, at a time when wristwatches were only seen as a fashion accessory for wealthy women.
  • 55. Several wearable computers (specially watches) are in or about to hit the market. Is it a fad or the beginning of something bigger?
  • 56. Ecosystems Currently most wearable devices work as accessories or satellites to Smartphones. Will that change in the future?
  • 58. Superpowers As wearable computers can enhance people’s senses, we need to understand what each sense can do.
  • 59. Remix Eyesight is the prevalent sense in contemporary culture, but other senses also offer lots of untapped possibilities...
  • 60. Exploiting the brain’s plasticity Brainport Brainport is a device for the blind that turns visual information into electrical pulses that can be sensed with the tongue. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNkw28fz9u0
  • 61. New ways of reading - RSVP Rapid serial visual presentation is a method to serially display visual content (images, text) that could be applied to small screens (e.g. wristwatches)
  • 62. Networking Personal area network Body area network We can use the notions of personal space and territory to create new forms of networking and data transmission.
  • 63. BCI-BBI Brain-Computer interfaces or Brain-Brain interfaces are a long term possibility.
  • 64. Flexible electronics Our skin prefers soft, flexible materials (like fabric). Technology is starting to catch up with this need. Image: http://2011.lope-c.com/en/picture_downloads/
  • 65. Smart textiles copyright Rachel Winfield Another long term possibility is that computer logic, sensing and actuation can be carried out by the fabric itself without the need of external components.
  • 66. Wearable Computing: Uniforms, costumes or bespoke garments? What is the most ethical choice? what do we want? we need to start thinking about this.
  • 67. Thank you! 2012 Alejandro Zamudio | www.alejandrozamudio.com Attribution Share-Alike CC BY-SA