Case Studies List

During the ISWC conference, we will be hosting a number of case study talks, where speakers will discuss various real world problems and their experiences. See the conference schedule to find out the exact times for these.

Virtual Aids to Navigation (vATON): Using Augmented Reality to Increase Safety and Security of Ship Navigation
Authors: Sonny Kirkley (Information in Place, Inc.), Chris Borland (Information in Place, Inc.)

Information in Place, Inc. is partnering with the US Coast Guard Research and Development Center and the WorldBoard Forum at Indiana University to develop augmented reality ship navigation technologies. This work, begun in 1999, is prototyping systems that will increase safety and security in many maritime environments include increasing port security. In addition, we are prototyping augmented reality applications for general ship navigation, navigating in icy conditions, and navigating in low visibility. This presentation will cover the human factors and technical development associated with this mobile augmented reality project. A key component of this work is the backend system for delivering real-time data to the ship's mobile augmented reality system.

Enhancing Operator Feedback during Catheter-Deployed Closures of Cardiac Septal Defects Using a Head-Worn Confluent Display of Fluoroscopic and Echocardiographic Images
Authors: David Ormerod (Microvision, Inc.)

Many interventional cardiac catheterization procedures require either multiple observers or the simultaneous viewing of multiple images for proper positioning of interventional catheters, especially when multiple imaging modalities (e.g., ultrasound and fluoroscopy) are involved. The percutaneous closure of a patent foramen ovale (PFO) is such a procedure. The see-through head-mounted display (HMD) described utilizes a retinal scanning technology that places an image equivalent to a 19" computer monitor, 2 feet from the viewer. The transparency of the image allows the confluent views of not only the transesophageal echocardiogram of the PFO, including its anatomy, catheter/device relationships, and any transmission of bubbles, but also the fluoroscopic image of catheter/device position during deployment of the fabric seal.

Time and Time Again: Parallels in the Development of the Watch and the Wearable Computer
Authors: Tom Martin (Virginia Tech)

The watch long ago encountered many of the major issues confronting wearable computing today. This paper examines the parallels in the development of the watch and the wearable computer. It discusses how the locations where the watch was worn on the body has changed over time, examines a variety of user interfaces for watches, and looks at how the watch affected cultural concepts of time and time discipline. The lessons for wearable computing are that the physical wearability will be determined as much by fashion as by human anatomy, that the user interface will gradually become simplified as people become more acquainted with computers, and finally that the cultural impact will be a broadening of the definition of information, a rationalization of representing information, and an increasing synchronization of personal events.

Textile Integration of a Speech-Controlled Audio Player System
Authors: Stefan Jung (Infineon Technologies), Christl Lauterbach (Infineon Technologies), Guido Stromberg (Infineon Tehnologies AG), Werner Weber (Infineon Technologies)

The vision of smart electronic devices seamlessly integrated into textiles requires novel and unconventional approaches both on the electronics and textile side. Results are presented of a versatile electronic system based on a small audio processing microchip. An interconnect technology between electronics and conductive textiles, the feasibility of a speech-controlled MP3 player system, and its integration into clothing is shown.

Tinmith-Endeavour - A Platform for Outdoor Augmented Reality Research
Authors: Wayne Piekarski (University of South Australia), Bruce Thomas (University of South Australia), Rudi Vernik (Defence Science Technology Organisation), Peter Evdokiou (Defence Science Technology Organisation)

This paper presents a specially designed outdoor aug-mented reality backpack, known as Tinmith-Endeavour. This backpack uses a flexible architecture to allow users to make changes easily, which is a requirement with fast moving AR technology. We present the lessons learned from previous backpack designs and how these were used to construct this latest design.

Air-Larynx: The wearable and wireless speech production substitute
Authors: Toshihiko Oba (Dept. of Otolaryngol. School of medicine, Keio University)

Usual speech production substitutes do not rely upon vocal cord. And portable wireless communication by cellular phone is indispensable for our daily life. It is an objective of this system to provide the speech synthesis whereby persons with voice disorders are able to utter with their spontaneous wireless speech communication. Air-Larynx is made up of wearable computing system that contains speech synthesis system, keyboard system for single hand and Portable Handy-phone System to use Internet. Laryngectomized person could get the spontaneous speech and have wireless speech- conversation very easily. Size, weight and the speed of processing were indicated in Questionnaires. Wearable computing system is considered to be able to tone up our ability and recover our deficiency. Air-Larynx is the wireless speech production substitute using speech synthesis put to practical use by this system. At this point, this is the first report, to our best knowledge.

Usability Evaluation for Wearable Computer In the Field: Lessons Learned
Authors: Mika Röykkee (Nokia Research Center)

Traditional usability evaluation methods are valid also when testing usability with wearable computers in the field. However, there are also differences and challenges e.g. traffic and weather that create a need for tuning these methods for evaluating wearable computers. This paper points out challenges that we have faced when evaluating the usability of wearable computers in-field experiments during the last three years. The aim of this paper is to present guidelines that may help others to arrange out-of-office tests and to avoid the biggest traps that may distract the tests or, in the worst case, corrupt the whole test data. The paper illustrates that laboratory and out-of-office tests are both valid and do not exclude each other. Also, the guidelines show among other things how essential it is to make iterated pilot test before recruiting the real test subjects and how necessary it is to arrange more than just one time-slot for each participant.