Windows on a Wearable

Choosing an Operating System

Deciding what operating you want on your wearable computer can be a tough decision. Here are some things to remember when making a decision.

  • You should check to see if the specific hardware used in the wearable is supported by the OS. If not then you may find yourself wasting precious time writing drivers. If you are doing this for Win NT use the DDK to save time. There are also tools similar to the DDK for Linux*.
  • The operating system should be robust, but also manageable; maintenance can be a pain.
  • You should be comfortable with how the system works and how it fails. Remember that in most cases a wearable is just a small computer and hence fails like one - become an expert at being able to fix it.
  • If you are an expert at programming in UNIX and suck at Windows, then Linux might be the way to go. General rule of thumb is that at some point you will have to start writing apps for your wearable to customize it. Comfort in the development environment will usually lead to more robust apps with significant functionality.
  • Realize that in general windowed GUIs are a bad interface model for wearable computing for several reasons. If Windows 95/NT is used custom GUIs may have to be written. Using DirectX you can add a nice interface to your wearable application. GUI developers for Xwindows* are also widely available.

If You Choose Windows

Here is listing of some interesting things to note about the use of the Microsoft Windows family of operating systems in wearable computing.

  • All Windows version since Windows 3.x require a minimum of a VGA adapter for full application space functionality. This means that if you are running Netscape Navigator (requires VGA) for example, you need to have VGA or you must fool the system into thinking that a VGA display adapter is present. A company called VenturCom has developed an embedded version of Windows NT, which also include a Null VGA adapter. VenturCom offers the package free of charge to not-for-profit organizations (mostly universities.)
  • Windows 3.x can be run using the Private Eye (HUD) with the use of a CGA driver (problem above still applies.) The CGA driver can be downloaded from Microsoft; the file to look for is CGA.EXE.
  • The Twiddler (corded keyboard) can be used with Windows 95/NT, by using drivers found here (courtesy of Jeff Levine.)
  • Power Management
    • Windows 3.x
        • Sucks - has the same bug as MS-DOS that causes the system to gas guzzle.
    • Windows NT
        • Will fully utilize BIOS level power management.
        • Intel Power Monitor can be used to fix power hungry applications
    • Windows 95 (best power management)
        • Will fully utilize BIOS level power management. InstantOn is a Windows 95 applet developed by Intel labs to support advanced "always available" PC usage models (enhances power management on Pentium based machines.)

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Travell Perkins
MIT Media Lab
tperkins@media.mit.edu

* For more information about Linux and XWindows the Linux Documentation Project is an excellent source.