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Smart clothing

The idea of having a process (e.g. combination of physical devices, computer programs, and the like) that can be operated, perhaps without much conscious thought or effort, or certainly while doing something else (whether that be playing roulette, standing in line at the bank, or walking down the street) suggests for a new conceptual framework for computing.

A related concept, person-worn computing, has also been explored[2][3], and in fact, there are now several companies manufacturing computers that can be worn. The utility of person-worn computing is quite obvious to anyone who's tried to type on a laptop while standing up. Even if one does manage to find a place to sit down and plug in a cellular phone and modem, most likely, the connection was erratic and, due to the large brightly backlit display (which is necessary to be able to see the screen in bright sunlight) the batteries would often run down before you were able to finish making a connection.





Steve Mann
Wed Feb 14 23:28:15 EST 1996