There are wear cams, and retina implants, gauntlets and more in addition to the more common headphones most often used to communicate via cell phone while driving in the car, riding a bike, etc. So, how exactly do we define wearable communications?
In the past it was defined as Thierry Donsez, Professor at Valenciennes University of France stated: see
http://www dele.imag.fr/~donsez/ujf/ricm3
/ea/wearablecomputing/.
Another definition is TechWeb’s tech-encyclopedia description of a body-worn computer: “A computer that is worn on the body and accessed via voice recognition and a head mounted display (HMD). The computer is a full PC with hard disk that is ruggedized for the natural abuse it will receive in the work environment. The HMD is worn like goggles and gives the illusion of a floating monitor in front of the user's face.” The only problem-- is most studies on wearable computing that formerly suggested wearable computing as defined above would be the wave of the future—never materialized. Apparently, the realization hit—most people really do not want to wear their computers. Wearable “ communications” on the other ‘hand,’ no pun intended, have become very popular.
One example is a wristlet worn and modeled in the CTIA Wireless IT and Entertainment 2005 fashion show by made by NetworkAnatomy. It is an example of where things are going. Motorola also has “personal communicator prototypes, including ‘wireless digital assistant’, heads-up display glasses, and even a central control hub for storing large amounts of audio and visual data,” Peter Aloumanis, vice president & general manager of US Markets Division iDEN Subscriber Group at Motorola, said "The idea is to provide a maximum level of connectivity and security without interfering with an individual's lifestyle.” Definitely not like wearing a computer. Motorola also has a Bluetooth® enabled ski or snowboarding jacket. The uses of wearable communications range from leisure and recreation to field work and search and rescue. There seems to be a large market attraction for the definition of wearable communications that does not interfere with style or fashion, and allows for the conveniences of cyber communications.
VDC research: VDC estimates the global market for general purpose computing or communications wearable systems is expected to exceed $170 million in 2005 and is expected to reach $270 million by 2007.
References:
[http://www.vdc-corp.com/mobile/reports/05/br05-04.html]
[http://www.networkanatomy.net/PDFS/Product%20Specifications05.pdf]
[http://wwwdele.imag.fr/~donsez/ujf/ricm3/ea/wearablecomputing/]
http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20030312-477.html
Gina Smith is Editor of OnLine-CTO, an e-magazine that focuses exclusively around ubiquitous, transportable and wearable communications solutions coupled with the use of integrated wireless access technologies in WIFI, WIMAX and the future in IEEE WRANs. Included in the e-magazine is access to an archive of proprietary content, linkage to published information and resources, on-line education in emerging access networks and a forum for experts and engineers to discuss issues, answer questions, and contribute solutions. contact editor at onlinecto@networkanatomy.com for a complimentary issue of OnLine-CTO.
www.networkanatomy.com [http://www.networkanatomy.com]
