Fundamentals of Wearable Computers and Augmented Reality, 2nd Edition

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Wearable Computing

Meeting the Challenge

Thad Starner

Wearable computers and head-mounted displays (HMDs) are in the press daily. Why

have they captured our imaginations now, when the technology has been available

for decades? While Fitbit’s tness tracking devices are selling in the millions in

2014, what prevented FitSense (see Figure 2.5) from having similar success with

such devices in 2000? Since 1993 I have been wearing a computer with an HMD as

part of my daily life, and Reddy Information Systems had a commercial wearable

with Reection Technology’s Private Eye HMD in 1991 (Eliason 1992). Yet over

20years later, Google Glass is generati ...