14 Nov 2004 International Symposium on Advanced Technologies in Education, November 2004, Athens,Greece 1 Wearable Computers in Education: The Lab of Tomorrow Project Theodoros N. Arvanitis, RT, DPhil, CEng, MIEE, MIEEE, FSIM Senior Lecturer in Distributed and Complex Adaptive Systems Distributed & Complex Systems Lab Human Interface Technologies & Educational Technology Research Groups Department of Electronic, Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, United Kingdom

14 Nov 2004 International Symposium on Advanced Technologies in Education, November 2004, Athens,Greece 2 Wearable Computing in Education: The Challenge Bridging the gap between pedagogy and front-end technology Introducing innovation in learning and computational tools The Lab of Tomorrow project is a European project primarily concerned with capturing sensor data from the local environment, for transmission to some control computer or computers. This is then be used for analysis during science school classes (e.g. high-school physics) Introducing the concept of wearable computational and on-body sensing devices Combining the use of “toys” for activity-based learning An elaborate system of distributed computation, embedded-sensing devices, positioning calculation, and data analysis. IST

14 Nov 2004 International Symposium on Advanced Technologies in Education, November 2004, Athens,Greece 3 Lab of Tomorrow: The Vision To contribute towards the connection of science with everyday life activities

14 Nov 2004 International Symposium on Advanced Technologies in Education, November 2004, Athens,Greece 4 Lab of Tomorrow: The partnership ICCS/NTUA (Greece) – Co-ordinator University of Birmingham (UK) - SensVest National Technical University of Athens (Greece) - Axion Ball and LPS ANCO (Greece) - Radio Network and SensBelt University of Dortmund (Germany) - Pedagogical Framework COREP (Italy) – Interface software Ellinogermaniki Agogi (Greece) – Coordination of implementation and dissemination 5 European Schools Ellinogermaniki Agogi (Greece) Pininfarina School (Italy) Helene Lange School (Germany) Phoenix Gymnasium (Germany)

14 Nov 2004 International Symposium on Advanced Technologies in Education, November 2004, Athens,Greece 5 Wearable Computing: Our Perspective A new form of an embedded- computing: Computing paradigm in contrast to the desktop model Integrating computers into our everyday activities Wearable (a definition): Portable while operational On-body, embedded in clothes, hands-free Sensing the environment Supporting activity in a ubiquitous manner Always-on (…depending on energy capacity)

14 Nov 2004 International Symposium on Advanced Technologies in Education, November 2004, Athens,Greece 6 Wearable Computing: Distributed Embedded Systems Baber, et al., IBM Systems Journal, Vol 38, No 4, 1999

14 Nov 2004 International Symposium on Advanced Technologies in Education, November 2004, Athens,Greece 7 Activity-Based Computing In the past 5 years we have questioned whether the contemporary approach to the design of computer applications can be sustained for future technologies. Norman proposes that future computers will offer restricted function sets (activity-related), and that people will select the function set most appropriate to their defined requirements. LoT: Activity-based, user-centred approach in design

14 Nov 2004 International Symposium on Advanced Technologies in Education, November 2004, Athens,Greece 8 Design process Prototype Technical Evaluation Wearer Evaluation Usability Evaluation Refinement Pedagogical requirement and technology constraints

14 Nov 2004 International Symposium on Advanced Technologies in Education, November 2004, Athens,Greece 9 SensVest Design Objectives Develop a wearable system that will measure aspects of real world human performance that can be used to form the basis of a physics lesson Specifically, measure aspects of energy expenditure and movement What would be interesting to measure?

14 Nov 2004 International Symposium on Advanced Technologies in Education, November 2004, Athens,Greece 10 Types of Activity Measures Heart rate Commonly used measure of assessing energy expenditure. linear relationship between oxygen uptake and heart rate at moderate to high intensities of exercise (Astrand & Rodahl, 1986). Temperature >75% of the energy utilised during physical work is converted into heat (Astrand & Rodahl, 1986). Core body temperature increases linearly with oxygen uptake in exercise with the arms and the legs (Nielsen, 1938). Accelerometry Can measure the accelerations of body segments (e.g. arms and legs individually). Can also be used to give a measure of energy expenditure.

14 Nov 2004 International Symposium on Advanced Technologies in Education, November 2004, Athens,Greece 11 Ergonomics Be easily mounted in a shirt Safe to wear Cause minimal disruption to movement Simple to set-up Reliable and produce consistent output Comfortable

14 Nov 2004 International Symposium on Advanced Technologies in Education, November 2004, Athens,Greece 12 Fitting Technology to the Body Heart rate measured with pulse meter (microphone, pressure) Temperature sensor Accelerometers (body, arm, leg) Processor Display Radio module

14 Nov 2004 International Symposium on Advanced Technologies in Education, November 2004, Athens,Greece 13 SensVest evolution

14 Nov 2004 International Symposium on Advanced Technologies in Education, November 2004, Athens,Greece 14 Electronics LCD display Select sensors & sampling frequency Shows heart rate and temperature Calibrate accelerometers Embedded-system Mitsubishi M16C microprocessor 5V power supply – rechargeable Battery life >16hours RS232 serial comms Sensors

14 Nov 2004 International Symposium on Advanced Technologies in Education, November 2004, Athens,Greece 15 Trials

14 Nov 2004 International Symposium on Advanced Technologies in Education, November 2004, Athens,Greece 16 Abseiling Body acceleration recorded when abseiling Accelerometer trace used to tell a story of physical activity

14 Nov 2004 International Symposium on Advanced Technologies in Education, November 2004, Athens,Greece 17 Abseiling

14 Nov 2004 International Symposium on Advanced Technologies in Education, November 2004, Athens,Greece 18 SensBelt ANCO Smaller Wireless Belt

14 Nov 2004 International Symposium on Advanced Technologies in Education, November 2004, Athens,Greece 19 Wearability

14 Nov 2004 International Symposium on Advanced Technologies in Education, November 2004, Athens,Greece 20 Usability Comfort rating Failure Modes Effects & Criticality Analysis Standard engineering approach to define potential for failure Adapted to human error Novel application to usability evaluation

14 Nov 2004 International Symposium on Advanced Technologies in Education, November 2004, Athens,Greece 21 Social Acceptance: Current Issues Will the use of wearable computers become a symbol of elitism or will they become accepted as part of the daily routine? Is the integration of computer equipment into the body more acceptable than a wearable computer module?

14 Nov 2004 International Symposium on Advanced Technologies in Education, November 2004, Athens,Greece 22 Conclusions Wearable technology used to study human performance and physical laws Integrated within the curriculum of test school sites Development approach bridged the gap between technology and pedagogy Socially accepted: Teachers and students adopted the final design and created new scenarios of use Further dissemination was encouraged

14 Nov 2004 International Symposium on Advanced Technologies in Education, November 2004, Athens,Greece 23 Thank you