On Tuesday of next week, December 10, the Future Computing Environments
Group is honored to host a talk on wearable computers and augmented
reality. The guest speaker is Thad Starner from the MIT Media Lab.
Thad is truly unique and we welcome everyone to come see the talk.
The talk will be from 5-6pm in Room 102 of the College of Computing.
That's correct, Room 102, the new "classroom of the future." We don't have
all of the necessary furniture for the room yet (read: some may have to
sit on the floor or on a chair with no table) but that is a small price
to pay for innovation.) :) Apparently, in the future, we will all be much
more tolerant of these kinds of inconveniences to physical comfort. :)
And, as if that was not enough, Thad will be sticking around after the
talk to help us assemble a wearable computer from parts that he is
bringing with him from the Media Lab.
Thad is going to be visiting the College all day on the 10th, so if you
would like to have some time to meet with him, let Gregory or Irfan know
and we'll arrange a schedule. We are setting aside the time from
3-5pm for Thad to meet with various CoC/GVU/FCE students in the
GVU Conference Room.
We look forward to Thad's visit and hope to have a big crowd there to
welcome him.
Gregory
*******
Wearable Computing and Augmented Reality
Thad Starner, MIT Media Lab
To date, personal computers have not lived up to their name. Most
machines are constrained to desktops and interact with their owners
for only a small fraction of the day. Smaller and faster notebook
computers have made mobility less of an issue, but the same staid user
paradigm persists. Wearable computing hopes to change the premises of
human-computer interaction. A person's computer should be worn, much
as eyeglasses or clothing are worn, and interact with the user based
on the context of the situation. With heads-up displays, unobtrusive
input devices, personal wireless local area networks (Personal Area
Network), and a host of other context sensing and communication tools,
the wearable computer can act as an intelligent assistant, whether it
be through automatic memory aids (Remembrance Agent), augmented
reality, or intellectual collectives.
--------
Gregory D. Abowd, Assistant Professor Gregory.Abowd@cc.gatech.edu
College of Computing Phone: 404-894-7512
Georgia Institute of Technology FAX: 404-894-9442
Atlanta, GA 30332-0280
USA
URL http://www.cc.gatech.edu/fac/Gregory.Abowd