Lesson17WearableComputingFAQ

(第十七課可穿戴計算機)

Vocabulary(詞匯)ImportantSentences(重點句)QuestionsandAnswers(問答)Problems(問題)ReadingMaterial(閱讀材料)

1Introduction

Wearablecomputersarecomputersthatarewornonthebody.Thistypeofwearabletechnologyhasbeenusedinbehavioralmodeling,healthmonitoringsystems,informationtechnologiesandmediadevelopment.Wearablecomputersareespeciallyusefulforapplicationsthatrequirecomputationalsupportwhiletheuser’shands,voice,eyes,armsorattentionareactivelyengagedwiththephysicalenvironment.“Wearablecomputing”isanactivetopicofresearch,withareasofstudyincludinguserinterfacedesign,augmentedreality,patternrecognition,useofwearablesforspecificapplicationsordisabilities,electronictextilesandfashiondesign.Manyissuesarecommontothewearables,mobilecomputing,Pervasivecomputing,Ambientintelligenceandubiquitouscomputingresearchcommunities,includingpowermanagementandheatdissipation,softwarearchitectures,wirelessandpersonalareanetworks.

Oneofthemainfeaturesofawearablecomputerisconsistency.Thereisaconstantinteractionbetweenthecomputeranduser,ie.thereisnoneedtoturnthedeviceonoroff.Anotherfeatureistheabilitytomulti-task.Itisnotnecessarytostopwhatyouaredoingtousethedevice;itisaugmentedintoallotheractions.Thesedevicescanbeincorporatedbytheusertoactlikeaprosthetic.Itcanthereforebeanextensionoftheuser’smindand/orbody.

WhilethisFAQpresentsaveryMIT-centeredviewofwearablecomputing,ithopestoactasanintroductionintothefield.Moreinformationandpointerstoothersimilarprojectscanbefoundonthewebpage.

/wearables/index.html.2WearableComputingOverview

2.1What’saWearableComputerAnyway?

Thefuzzydefinitionofawearablecomputeristhatit’sacomputerthatisalwayswithyou,iscomfortableandeasytokeepanduse,andisasunobtrusiveasclothing.However,this“smartclothing”definitionisunsatisfactorywhenpushedinthedetails.Amorespecificdefinitionisthatwearablecomputershavemanyofthefollowingcharacteristics:

Portablewhileoperational:Themostdistinguishingfeatureofawearableisthatitcanbeusedwhilewalkingorotherwisemovingaround.Thisdistinguisheswearablesfrombothdesktopandlaptopcomputers.

Hands-freeuse:Militaryandindustrialapplicationsforwearablesespeciallyemphasizetheirhands-freeaspect,andconcentrateonspeechinputandheads-updisplayorvoiceoutput.[1]Otherwearablesmightalsousechordingkeyboards,dials,andjoystickstominimizethetyingupofauser’shands.

Sensors:Inadditiontouser-inputs,awearableshouldhavesensorsforthephysicalenvironment.Suchsensorsmightincludewirelesscommunications,GPS,cameras,ormicrophones.

?“Attention-getting”:Awearableshouldbeabletoconveyinformationtoitsuserevenwhennotactivelybeingused.Forexample,ifyourcomputerwantstoletyouknowyouhavenewemailandwhoit’sfrom,itshouldbeabletocommunicatethisinformationtoyouimmediately.[2]

Alwayson:Bydefaultawearableisalwaysonandworking,sensing,andacting.Thisisopposedtothenormaluseofpen-based“PersonalDigitalAssistants”,whichnormallysitinone’spocketandareonlywokenupwhenataskneedstobedone.[BradRhodes]

2.2Whywouldyouusesomethinglikethat?

Manyofthedefiningfeaturesofwearablesaretherationalbehindwantingtowearthemfulltime:TheHMDallowsyoutolookatthescreenandalsoatsomethingintherealworld.Thisallowsyoutotakenoteswhilelookingattheprofessor,ratherthanconstantlyglancingbackandforthbetweenpaperandblackboard.Youcanbereadingemailandstillbeabletowalkdownthestreetwithoutrunningintopeople.Havingthewearablewithyouisequivalenttocarryinganentirereferencelibrarywithinstantaccess.Webster’sdictionaryandthesaurusarealwaysusefultohave,aswellasmapsandphonebooks.Withthejumpto5gigdrives,itwouldbetrivialtoputCompton’sencyclopediaontothewearableandhavereal-timeaccesstoatremendouswealthofinformation.[3]Allthenotesyouevertake-fromtrips,classes,businessmeetings—arealwayswithyou.Withafastsearchengine,youcanpullupneededinformationinseconds,ratherthanflippingthroughdustynotebooksstoredinyourattic.Youwillneverhavetogohuntingforapenorpieceofpaperagain,andneverworryaboutsearchingforthatmissingnapkinwiththenewsystemdesignscrawledonit.[4]InamannersimilartothedevelopmentofmultimediaPCs,allconsumerelectronics-MusicCDplayers,faxmachines,pagers,audiojournals—willbeintegratedintothewearabledesign.Onedevicewillbeabletohandleallformsofelectronicmedia,whetheritbeaudio,visual,orwirelessdigitalcommunication.Aseldomrealizedaspectofwearablecomputingisaugmentedreality:theseamlessintegrationofrealandvirtualworlds.Electronicallystoredinformationisextremelyusefulwhenoverlayedoveraviewoftheoutsideworld.Forexample:captionsdisplayedwithmuseumexhibits,namesoverfaces(viafacerecognition),wiringschematicsassociatedwiththecurrentproject.

2.3Howoftendoyouwearit?

Mostpeoplewithfunctionalsystemswearitabout16hoursaday,sevendaysaweek.Basically,allthetimeexceptduringsports,showers,sleep,andothersuchactivities.

2.4Wheredoyouuseit?

Sinceoneofthedefiningfeaturesofwearablecomputersistheirportability,wearablescanbeusedanywhereapersoncanworkcomfortably.With8-10hourbatterylifeanddigitalcellularmodemsprovidinginternetaccess,workingonawearableallowsthesamelevelofproductivityjustaboutanywhereasaconventionaldesktopstuckinanoffice.

2.5Whatdoyouuseitfor?

Mostofthetimespentusingthewearableisfoundinsideatexteditor—normallyemacs.Phonenumbers,schedules,classnotes,andprogramsallcanbemodifiedorsearched.WithInternetaccess,communicationbecomesveryeasy—everythingfromreal-timemessaging(zephyrs)tofullwebaccessusingNetscapeiscommonplace.Outsideofthis,thewearableisusedjustlikeyournormal(multimedia)desktopcomputer.Insomecases,thewearableisusedinsteadofhavinga‘main’computer.

2.6Whatdoyouuseforinput?

TextThestandardtextinputdeviceistheTwiddler,aone-handedchordedkeyboardandmousecombination.Itallowsfairlyrapidtyping(upto60wordsaminute)inanybodyposition.

VideoVideoinputhasbeenaccomplishedthroughawiderangeofvideocapturedevices.Forstillimages,theColorQuickCamhasbeenusedwithagreatdealofsuccess.Italsoworkswellforlowframe-ratemovie.

AudioMultipletypesofmicrophoneshavebeenusedforbothspeechandmusicalinput.

OtherAverydiversesetofinputdeviceshavebeenattachedtothewearables:GPSlocators,Affectivesensors(bloodpressure,GSR,heartbeat,EMG),infraredpositionalbeaconsandprobes,Digitalcellularmodems,Pilots&otherPDAs,etc.

2.7Whatdoyouuseforoutput?

DisplayThePrivateEye,madebyReflectionTechnology,isourprimarydisplay,abletohandle720x280monochromevideo.

AudioWehaveaSoundBlastercompatiblePC104board,andavarietyofspeakers.

OtherTonsofotheroutputdevicesarebeingplayedwith:Pilots,tactilefeedback,speech,justtonameafew.

2.8Whatspeedcomputerisit?Accessories?

Currently,thesystemsinuserangefrom486dx50’stoPentium133’s.ThenextgenerationthatisbeingtestedusesaPentium166processor.TheaccessoriesmostcommonlyusedaretheSierramodem,GPSsensor,andvideooraudioIO.3OperatingSystemsandSoftware

3.1Linux!

Foraresearch&developmentenvironment,Linuxwasanaturalchoicethatwouldtakefulluseofsystemresources.Notonlyisitefficientandflexible,butthesourceisavailableandwellsupported.

3.2Linux?!?WhynotWin95?

SomeofthesoftwearweuseisonlysupportedinWindowsNT/95.Ithasbeeninstalledononeofthewearablesandseemstobedealingwiththeunusualhardware.Formoreinformation,followthe“ChoosingandOS”undertheWindows95sectiononthemainwearablespage.4DisplayInformation

4.1PrivateEye

ThePrivateEye,manufacturedbyReflectionTechnology,isaLEDbaseddisplaythatcanproduceamonochromeimageat720-280resolution.Itusesavibratingmirrortocreatethisimage.

4.1.1Howcanyouseeadisplaythatclosetoyoureye?

WhenyoulookintothePE,youseetheequivalentofa15"monitoratabouttwofeetaway.

4.1.2Doesn’tthathurttouseforlongperiodsoftime?

ThePEisactuallyverycomfortabletouseforextendeddurations.Thefocuscanbeadjustedfrom10“toinfinity,allowingalmostidealviewingfocus.

4.1.3ThePEvibrates;doesn’tthisgetannoying?

AfterwearingthePEforafewhours,thenoiseandvibrationreallyisn’tnoticed.It’sequivalenttothehumofmostcomputermonitorsandthefannoise-youstopbeingawareofthemafterawhile.

4.1.4Howlonghaveyoubeenwearingthis?

Ouroldestsystemhasbeenwornfor5years.

4.1.5Haveyounoticedanyvisionproblems

No.Notafter5yearsofheavyuse.5InputInformation

5.1Twiddler

TheTwiddler,madebyHandikey,isaone-handedchordedkeyboardandmousecombination.Itallowsfairlyrapidtyping(upto60wordsaminute)inanybodyposition.

5.1.1Isn’titdifficulttolearntouse?

Ittakesaround5minutestolearnthealphabet,anhourtotouchtype,andaweekendtoreach10wordsaminute.Theentirekeymapiscompletelycon-figurable,givingtheusertheabilitytoaddaslittleasafewextramacrostoredefiningtheentiremappingofallthekeys.[5]

5.1.2Howcanyoutypequicklyusingonlyonehand?

TheTwiddlerisachordedkeyboard—thatis,itusesacombinationofkeyspressedatthesametimetoproduceagivenstringforinput.Thereareover4000suchcombinationsavailable,allowingforagreatvarietyofstringstobeencoded.ThestandardkeymappingontheTwiddlerincludeschordsforcommonlettercombinations:‘ing’,‘ed’,‘the’,‘ion’,etc.Thiscanbeexpandedtoallowasimplecombinationofkeystoreturncommonwords,yourentireemailaddress,ortheURLforyourwebpage.InadditiontotheshortcutsbuiltintotheTwiddlerkeymapping,manygoodtexteditingprogramsallowformacroandabbreviationexpansion.Mostofthetextinputdoneonoursystemsisdonethroughemacs,whichsupportswordcompletion(fromthefirstfewlettersofatypedword)andarbitrarylengthabbreviations(abbexpandstoabbreviation,orWHomeexpandsto/

projects/wearables)Takentogether,thisallowsone-handedtypingthatisfast.6So,youwanttobeacyborg.

6.1Iwanttobuildawearable—wherecanIgetthespecs?

FullspecsareonthemainMedialabwebpageat:

/projects/wearables)

6.2Isthereamailinglistforotherpeopledoingthis?

Yes.wear-hard@.Tosubscribe,pleasesendmailtowear-hard-request@withthetext“subscribe”includedinthebodyoftheemail.

6.3Howmuchdoesitcosttobuild?

Agoodstartingsystemcostsinthesamerangeasamediumtohigh-endlaptop.

1.?fuzzyadj.有絨毛的,模糊的,失真的。

2.?unobtrusiveadj.不唐突的,不多嘴的,客氣的,謙虛的。

3.?equivalentadj.相等的,相當?shù)?同意義的n.等價物,相等物。

4.?thesaurusn.辭典。

5.?gign.旋轉(zhuǎn)物v.乘輕便雙輪馬車。

6.?encyclopedian.百科全書。Vocabulary

7.?tremendousadj.極大的,巨大的。

8.?flippingadj.討厭之極的。

9.?atticn.閣樓,頂樓,[解剖](耳的)鼓室上的隱窩。

10.?napkinn.餐巾,餐巾紙,<英>尿布，<美>月經(jīng)帶。

11.?zephyrs西風的擬人格(希臘人認為西風是森林諸神中最溫柔者)。

12.?twiddlevt.捻起來,撫弄,玩弄,旋弄vi.玩弄n.捻。

13.?monochromen.單色，單色的。14.?compatibleadj.諧調(diào)的,一致的,兼容的。

15.?tactileadj.觸覺的,有觸覺的,能觸知的n.[心]觸覺型。

16.?durationn.持續(xù)時間,為期。

17.?vibratev.(使)振動,(使)搖擺。

18.?abbreviationn.縮寫,縮寫詞。

19.?arbitraryadj.任意的,武斷的,獨裁的,專斷的。

20.?specsn.眼鏡,規(guī)格。

21.?FAQ常見問題。

[1]Militaryandindustrialapplicationsforwearablesespeciallyemphasizetheirhands-freeaspect,andconcentrateonspeechinputandheads-updisplayorvoiceoutput.

軍用和工業(yè)用可穿戴計算機特別強調(diào)雙手自由，并且重視語音輸入和頭戴顯示器或語音輸出。ImportantSentences

[2]Forexample,ifyourcomputerwantstoletyouknowyouhavenewemailandwhoit’sfrom,itshouldbeabletocommunicatethisinformationtoyouimmediately.

比如說，若你的計算機想要你知道有一封新郵件和郵件的發(fā)送者，它應當能夠立即通知你。

[3]Withthejumpto5gigdrives,itwouldbetrivialtoputCompton’sencyclopediaontothewearableandhavereal-timeaccesstoatremendouswealthofinformation.

有著5千兆驅(qū)動器的支持，把康氏百科全書置于可穿戴計算機中就顯得微不足道了，并且能實時訪問到極大量的信息。

[4]Youwillneverhavetogohuntingforapenorpieceofpaperagain,andneverworryaboutsearchingforthatmissingnapkinwiththenewsystemdesignscrawledonit.

你將不再必須找一支筆和一張紙，也不需要擔心找不到你在上面畫了新系統(tǒng)設(shè)計草圖的那張餐巾紙了。

[5]Theentirekeymapiscompletelyconfigurable,givingtheusertheabilitytoaddaslittleasafewextramacrostoredefiningtheentiremappingofallthekeys.

整個鍵盤是完全可配置的，這就使用戶能夠增加幾個附加的宏來重定義整個鍵盤。

(1)?Themostdistinguishingfeatureofawearableis().

A.?itisalwayswithyou

B.?itcanbeusedwhilewalkingorotherwisemoving

around

C.?itiscomfortableandeasytokeepanduse

D.?itisasunobtrusiveasclothingQuestionsandAnswers

(2)?Whichofthefollowingisnotthefactthatsuppliesthetechnologyof“handsfree”?()

A.?Speechinput.

B.?Heads-updisplay.

C.?Voiceoutput.

D.?Facialmovement.

(3)?“Attention-getting”means().

A.?awearableshouldhavesensorsforthephysicalenvironment

B.?awearableshouldbeabletoconveyinformationtoitsuserevenwhennotactivelybeingused

C.?awearableisalwaysonandworking,sensing,andacting

D.?noneofabove(4)?TheHMDissomethinglike().

A.?TMD(TacticalMissileDefense)

B.?NMD(NationalMissileDefense)

C.?Heads-up-display

D.?Hand-Mastering-Dog

(5)?Thewearablecanactlike().

A.?aServer

B.?aClient

C.?aRouter

D.?aMulti-MediaComputer

(6)?AccordingtotheFAQ,augmentedrealitymeans().

A.?thevirtualworlds

B.?therealworlds

C.?therealandvirtualworlds

D.?theseamlessintegrationofrealandvirtualworlds

(7)?“namesoverfaces(viafacerecognition)”inthisarticlemeans().

A.?everypersonwritesthenameonhisface

B.?everyoneknowsthenameofeachothers

C.?namescanbewrittenonthefaceininkviafacerecognition

D.?thenameisvirtualdisplayontheface

(8)?Insection3,“OS”means().

A.?operatingSystem

B.?ofcourseSuccess

C.?officialService

D.?offlineSupply

(9)?Havingthewearablewithyou,youcancarryallthenotesyouevertakefrom().

A.?trips

B.?classes

C.?businessmeetings

D.?allabove(10)?PEinthepaperisnot().

A.?ALEDbaseddisplay

B.?thathurttouseforlongperiodsoftime

C.?thatusesavibratingmirrortocreateimage

D.?thatmanufacturedbyReflectionTechnology

Howtodefinewearablecomputer？Whatisthedifferencebetweenembeddedsystemandwearablecomputer?Problem

Wearablecomputersinaloosesensearecomputerspeoplecanweareffortlessly.Inastrictersense,wearablecomputersshouldruncontinuouslyandbeoperatedhands-free.Thisstricterdefinitionhelpsdistinguishwearablecomputersfromportableones.Forinstance,pocketwatchesarenotwearablecomputersinasensethatpeopleneedatleastonehandtoholdthemandsometimesanotherhandtoopenthecovers.Wristwatches,incontrast,canbeeasilyflippedoverandreadwhenbothhandsareengagingotheractivities.ReadingMaterial

Manysmalllaptops(Fig.1,left[5]),arenotwearablecomputerseither.Theydonotlastlongenoughtomeetthecontinuousrunrequirement.WearablecomputerslikeMIT’sLizzy(Fig.1,middleleft)canrunmuchlongerbecauseofcarefullyselectedpower-conservativecomponentsandefficientbatteries.

ThewearablesandsmalllaptopsdifferinI/Ofeaturesaswell.Tooperatehands-free,wearablesareusuallyequippedwithhead-mountoreyeglass-baseddisplays(Fig.2,left)andone-handkeyboards(Fig.2,middleleft)ormicrophonewithspeechprocessingsoftware.TwopicturesontherightofFig.1showaprototypeofIBMThinkPad560Xshrunkto10.5oz(300gram)andtoasizesmallenoughtofitintoregularpockets.Thisprototype,introducedinSeptember1998,consistsofa233MHzPentiumCPU,64MBDRAM,340MBIBMmicroharddisk,amicrohead-mountdisplay,andamicrophonewithspeechprocessingsoftware.

RelationshipwithUbiquitousComputing.Ubiquitouscomputers,inthepurestformofdefinition,arecomputersinvisiblyembeddedintheenvironmentandwirelesslycommunicatingwitheachother.S