Wearable Computing as a Key Factor for Workplaces of the Future

1
Wearable Computing as a Key Factor for Workplaces
of the Future

• FP6 IP wear IT _at_ work
• Alexander GreisleUniversity of
  StuttgartInstitute for work science and
  technology management
• Diplom-InformationswissenschaftlerDiplom-Betriebs
  wirt (FH)
• eMail alexander.greisle_at_iao.fhg.dephone 49-711
  -970-5451

2
The IAT at University of Stuttgart

• Our Topics are new ways of working, for example
• Mobile work concepts
• Work environments for creative knowledge workers
• Technology and science parks
• Factory workplaces of the future
• Medical applications and emergency teams
• RD workplaces
• Our focus is on work science with topics like
• Ergonomic design of work environments
• Suitability of technologies and work processes
• Sustainable design of new work environments
• Impacts of new work concepts to business
  processes and vice versa
• Cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute
  forIndustrial Engineering, Competence Center New
  Work, with participation in different combined
  research projects.

3
Motivation
We address the gap between the organisational
view onwork processes on the one hand and the
technologicaltoolset which assists the user in
getting the work done on the other hand. Our
goal is to provide integrated and well designed
technological toolsets which fits the needs of
the work processes (as the main basis for
well-done business processes) as well as the
needs of the working staff. In a holistic
approach we want to address organisation as well
as technology, economic aspects as well as key
factors for better design of work process, and
ergonomic design criteria as well as health
impacts and protection in using wearable
technologies.
4
Main Application Contexts

• Providing new possibilities for medical
  applications and mobile emergency teams in
  mobile in-house work and support for emergency
  action under special circumstances,
• Providing advanced collaboration and information
  services to internal mobile users due to
  minimized wearable computers as basic
  technologies,
• Providing innovative, well adjusted and user
  friendly work environments and information
  services in research and development such as
  augmented reality, multi modal human computer
  interaction, and new ways of collaboration and
  accessing technology.

5
Potential Work Packages and Contributions

• Investigate application areas and identify
  criteria and strategies for a seamless
  integration of wearable computing in the
  mentioned application areas.
• Research on expectations, potentials and pitfalls
  for the users in an empirical study.
• Analysing and designing concepts for usability of
  wearable computing regarding user interfaces,
  software design and input devices.
• Identify soft-success-factors of wearable
  computing according to the new physical
  closeness between humans and computing
  technology.
• Study critical factors for healthiness due to
  work with wearable computing and find strategies
  to handle them (to be done in combination with a
  medical institute) .
• Implementation of prototypes into the Fraunhofer
  Office Innovation Center combined with some
  empirical and laboratory studies.

6
(No Transcript)