Wearable learning tools

In life people must learn whenever and wherever they experience something new. Until recently computing technology could not support such a notion, the constraints of size, power and cost kept computers under the classroom table, in the office or in the home. Recent advances in miniaturization have led to a growing field of research in ‘wearable’ computing. This paper looks at how such technologies can enhance computer‐mediated communications, with a focus upon collaborative working for learning. An experimental system, MetaPark, is discussed, which explores communications, data retrieval and recording, and navigation techniques within and across real and virtual environments. In order to realize the MetaPark concept, an underlying network architecture is described that supports the required communication model between static and mobile users. This infrastructure, the MUON framework, is offered as a solution to provide a seamless service that tracks user location, interfaces to contextual awareness agents, and provides transparent network service switching

Wearable learning tools

The world of telecommunications is being rapidly redefined by the Internet. Longer-term trends show that mobile, networked computers will form the basis of the future of personal communications. Not only is the telephone handset becoming mobile, by defauit, but the boundary between phone and computer is set to disappear. Networks for mobile devices are also changing fast, within the next five years the global mobile network will support megabit rather than the current kilobit connections. In summary most phones are becoming mobile, phones are becoming computers and the underlying network is becoming a fast global TCP/IP network

WearCom: A Wearable Communication Space

Wearable computers provide constant access to computing and communications resources. We apply traditional virtual reality techniques to develop a wearable body-stabilized space which allows multiple remote people to communicate with a wearable computer user. By combining communication and computing facilities we are able to use spatialised 3D graphics and audio cues to aid communication. The result is a portable augmented reality communication space with audio enabled avatars of the remote collaborators surrounding the user. The wearable user can use natural head motion to attend to the collaborators they wish to communicate with while being aware of other conversations, and remote users can freely connect or disconnect from the communication space. KEYWORDS Collaborative Wearable Computing, CVE, CSCW 1 INTRODUCTION One of the broad trends emerging in advanced human-computer interaction is the increasing portability of computing and communication facilities. With mobile phones and..

A Taxonomy for Enhanced Reality Systems

With virtual reality systems making heavy demands on many leading edge technologies, practical applications within real time environments are reliant on advances throughout science and engineering. Enhanced Reality (ER) describes an important set of systems in which technology is used to create and present information synthesised with the real world. The potential for computer ÔannotatedÕ reality enhancement is diverse and spans not only virtual reality but also machine vision, image processing techniques, auditory landscaping, as well as others. Network centered solutions utilising wearable computing platforms are recognised by the authors as enabling future collaborative working and telecommunications environments