I’ve been thinking that wearable computing, ubicomp, and augmented reality won’t be very useful for existing computing tasks (designing, typing, book-keeping, data analysis, etc.) but will be useful in previously un-computerized jobs such as carpentry, bike messaging, and cooking. Wouldn’t it be useful for a carpenter’s goggles to calculate measurements and so forth while they worked? And wouldn’t it be nice for a cook to be able to see a recipe dangling in their field of vision instead of having to glance at a recipe? FedEx drivers or truckers would have the benefit of dash-based navigation systems, and existing GPS based handhelds would be adequate for foot-based delivery, but a bike messenger would have greater utility for a wearable navigation system.
For instance, here’s an activity that doesn’t usually involve computers: a wearable computing device for fisherpeople (via boing boing)
And by the way, here’s Microsoft’s new, ugly, always-on camera neckless:
I love the idea, but it’s even uglier than the MSN direct watch. Via 21f
