A Brief Timeline of Wearable Computers 1961
MIT Professor Edward Thorp designs a device that is often recognized as the first wearable computer. Thorp used this simple computer, which was about the size of a pack of cigarettes, to improve his odds on the roulette wheel. Thorp is best known for writing “Beat the Dealer,” the best-selling Blackjack cardcounting manual.
1975
Pulsar introduces the first calculator watch. Several companies manufactured versions of the digital watch, which featured calculator keypads, but it was the Casio model that became the ubiquitous accessory of the 1980s.
AHEAD OF HIS TIME Tech Professor Thad Starner was about 20 years ahead of his time.
In 1993, just as most households finally accepted that desktop PCs were a worthwhile investment, Starner was already wearing a portable computer he designed himself. A student at MIT at the time, Starner’s motivation to create this unconventional computer was not fame or fortune. He simply wanted to create a way to better retain the complex material from his class lectures. He found that when he brought his laptop computer to class, he was able to take good notes—but he couldn’t look up from his screen while he was typing. If he instead focused on listening to the professor, he would understand the day’s lesson, but have trouble recalling the information later. So he designed a wearable computer that would allow him to do both. With an eye-level display, he could see both the classroom blackboard and the computer display in his field of vision. From the time he first completed this precursor to Google Glass, Starner was almost never without his personal wearable computer. In its earliest incarnation, the display attached to his eyeglasses obscured most of one eye from view. He carried the equipment in a heavy shoulder bag strapped around his chest, and typed on a one-handed keyboard called a Twiddler.
1979
A young Steve Mann, often called the “father of wearable computing,” designs a computerized welding mask. The idea was to use video cameras, displays and computers to modify what a welder sees in real time. The device included large rabbit-ear antennas worn on his head, but it was capable of wireless communication. Mann went on to create many more important advances in the wearable computing field. Today, he wears the Digital Eye Glass of his own creation at all times. In fact, it is literally attached to his head.
2000
The first mobile phone with Bluetooth technology hits the market. Headsets using Bluetooth connect wirelessly to mobile phones so you can talk without having to hold the phone up to your face.
2007
The FitBit is created. FitBits are worn around the wrist like a watch and utilize sensors and wireless technology to track fitness activity. These wearable devices allow you to know exactly how many steps you’ve taken, what distance you’ve covered, and how many calories you’ve burned. In case you were wondering.
2013
Google Glass is released for beta testing. This wearable device, which features a heads-up display mounted on a pair of eyeglasses, does pretty much everything your smart phone does, but there’s no device to hold onto. Glass projects everything directly into your field of vision so there’s no screen to look at. A consumer version of Google Glass is expected in late 2014.
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GTALUMNIMAG.COM VOLUME 90 NO.3 2014
- fig. 2 Google Glass Google Glass is the diva of the wearable computing world. Developed with guidance from Georgia Professor Thad Starner, Glass gained considerable buzz in 2013 during beta testing. Still only available as an experimental model, Glass is a glasses-mounted, hands-free computer that projects data and images right in front of your eyes, allowing you to walk and talk and compute while using it.