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Technology: Wearables as a Platform
Wearables are slowly beginning to challenge the capabilities of smartphones. For example, researchers at the University of Alabama equipped a jacket with 10 Raspberry Pi computers and a small touch screen. The jacket provides a hands-free access to the cloud that is inexpensive and lightweight. The smartjacket was equipped with 10 gigabytes of RAM.
Ragib Hasan, assistant professor at UAB College of Arts and Sciences, said that “currently if you want to have a smart watch, smartphone, an exercise tracker and smart glasses, you have to buy individual expensive devices that aren’t working together. Why not have a computational platform with you that can support many forms of mobile and wearable devices? Then all of these capabilities can become really inexpensive. Our overall approach is to create a generic atmosphere or platform that users can customize to fit their needs. The wearable cloud can act as an application platform, so instead of modifying or having to upgrade hardware, this wearable model provides a platform, and developers can build anything on top of it.”
Hasan said that “with seven to 10 people wearing such a cloud together, they create what we call a hyper-cloud, a much more powerful engine. The jacket can also act as a micro or picocell tower. All of its capabilities can be shared on a private network with other devices via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. If a first responder is out in the field and doesn’t have complete information to act on a mission, but someone else does, it can be shared and updated through the cloud in real time.”
A similar project by Google in collaboration with Levi’s created a denim jacket that lets bicyclists communicate hands free while riding their bike. Other retail vendors like iMBrief are building electronics into briefcases and backpacks.
