Wearable Recognition Systems

When we build computers, cameras, microphones and other sensors into a person's clothes, the computer's view moves from a passive third-person to an active first-person vantage point (see Figure 4) [3]. These wearable devices are able to adapt to a specific user and to be more intimately and actively involved in the user's activities. The field of wearable computing is rapidly expanding, and just recently became a full-fledged Technical Committee within the IEEE Computer Society. Consequently, we can expect to see rapidly-growing interest in the largely-unexplored area of first-person image interpretation.

Face recognition is an integral part of wearable systems like memory aides, remembrance agents, and context-aware systems. Thus there is a need for many future recognition systems to be integrated with the user's clothing and accessories. For instance, if you build a camera into your eyeglasses, then face recognition software can help you remember the name of the person you are looking at by whispering their name in your ear. Such devices are beginning to be tested by the US Army for use by border guards in Bosnia, and by researchers at the University of Rochester's Center for Future Health for use by Alzheimer's patients (see http://wearables.www.media.mit.edu/projects/wearables & http://www.futurehealth.rochester.edu).

  

Figure: Multi-modal Person Recognition System