Introduction to Wearable Computing: Project Possibilities

Class projects should be viewed as an opportunity to explore in depth some aspects of wearable computing that are of particular interest to you. It is fine to work in groups of any size as long as each individual's contribution is clear. Ideally, as a class, we will be able to design a common project to which we can all contribute components.

Projects do not have to rely upon the existing WearTools suite or be implemented in perl. However, I encourage you to make use of these tools where they make sense.

Important Dates:

• Feb 27th: 1/2 page project proposal is due. You will also be expected to give a 5 minute (1-2 slide) presentation to the class on your plans. This class period will be dedicated to discussing all of the projects and to coordinating efforts across project components. (4% of class grade)

• March 11th: Design review. Be prepared to describe the details of what you intend to implement and how it relates to others in the class. Expand your written proposal to 2 pages. (5%)

• March 27th: Prototype I. Be prepared to demonstrate and describe a component of your project in a 10 minute presentation. At this stage, you should have approximately half of the project completed. (7%)

• April 10th: Prototype II. Demonstrate and describe your working project (again, 10 minutes each). Also - please hand in a 1/2 page description of your user evaluation plans. (7%)

• April 29th: User Evaluation. Recruit three test subjects (other than yourself) to evaluate your project. Questions you are trying to answer include: how easy/hard is your system to use? How does your system improve (or detract) from the user's ability to perform a task (e.g., time, accuracy)? How should your interface/system be improved. On this day report on your findings, discuss planned improvements (10 minutes), and turn in a 1-2 page document on your findings. (7%)

• May 13th: Demonstration and presentation of complete system. A draft of your final write-up is due (this will consist of a synthesis of what you have written already and an extended outline of the remaining material). You will also be expected to give a 30 minute presentation to the class on this day. (10%)

• May 23rd: Final write-up is due by 5pm (postscript is fine). Your document should be on the order of 10 pages/person and should cover what you have done, why it is important, how it relates to the existing literature, and the details of what you have accomplished. (10%)

Possible Projects

1: Outdoor Navigation Assist System

Components include:

• Building maps from GPS data

• Respond to a human query by giving audio instructions to a location.

• Augmented reality environment building tool. Through keyboard/vocal/GPS input, provide an interface that makes it easy to construct 3D models by placing objects and specifying walls.

• Use the 3D augmented reality system to convey a path to a desired location.

• Use the 3D AR system to make other information available about the space.

• Use the 3D AR system to develop a spatial adventure game (e.g., see non-linear story telling).

2: Tools for Technomages

• Twiddler keyboard training system.

• Develop a communication system for wearable users that takes advantage of the available I/O modalities. Look toward the Zepher or instant-messaging models.

• System for filtering phone calls in a context-dependent manner. One possible starting point: Gnome-o-Phone.

• Face detection and recognition for identifying user context.

• Informational avatars: wearable broadcasts web pages, etc. for other local wearable or other users to view. Can we do this in an interesting, context-dependent manner?

• Look paintings: the fusion of multiple images taken at different orientations into a single panoramic view (cf Steve Mann or Zhigang Zhu).

• Context-based messaging: the delivery of messages to a user in very specific contexts.

Project Suggestions from Last Year

• General speech interfaces for wearable computers. How to switch between different applications in an easy and clean manner? How to communicate the state of the interface to the user? How to handle interruptions from other applications?

• System for filtering phone calls in a context-dependent manner. One possible starting point: Gnome-o-Phone.

• Face detection and recognition for identifying user context.

• High-level control of multi-robot systems. Design a user interface that effectively manages the flow of information gathered by many robots to the user, displaying a synthesis of the available and relevant information. The user should be able to also post goals for the set of robots.

• Augmented reality: overlay of images and/or sound on top of reality. Use GPS/compass system and/or a 6-axis accelerometer to determine position of the head.

• Augmented reality cont: Interface to Doom/Quake or VRML-based environment.

• Adventure game. Utilize position and other user inputs to drive evolution of game state.

• Adaptive mechanisms for mapping context to document retrieval.

• Informational avatars: wearable broadcasts web pages, etc. for other local wearable or other users to view.

• Vision-base place recognition for contextual input.

• 3D audio systems (cf nomadic radio).

• PEDnet Networks of low-cost devices in which wearables play a role in the transport of communication packets.

• Java-based library implementation of the existing WearTools (and do some interesting things with it).

• Java/Jini implementation of the WearTools. Addition of fixed-location services. How to automatically construct maps of ``closest'' resources?

• Mechanisms for interaction between wearable users. Audio and visual techniques.

• Interactive tutoring systems.

• Tour guide. Enhancement of the existing UMass system (cf Ben Alamed). Tour guide content for campus or Amherst.

• Development of a general I2C interface for bringing in large numbers of sensors.

• Gestural recognition via vision or accelerometers. Understanding the activities that the user is engage in based upon observed gestures in the context of various manipulated objects.

• Look paintings: the fusion of multiple images taken at different orientations into a single panoramic view (cf Steve Mann or Zhigang Zhu).

• Body networks: the transmission of power and data through the skin.

• Context-based messaging: the delivery of messages to a user in very specific contexts.

• Visual enhancement (e.g. IR-enhanced based vision or panoramic vision).

• EMG interfaces as alternative mechanisms for providing direct input into the wearable.

fagg@cs.umass.edu

Last modified: Wed Jan 30 13:39:08 2002