An overview of the international symposium on wearable computers 1998

October 19, 1998: Over 300 attendees converge on the Pittsburgh Sheraton Station Hotel for the annual, two day International Symposium on Wearable Computers (ISWC98). Registration opens, and a sense of enthusiasm can be felt as researchers greet each other and introduce new members of the community. Academia, industry, commercial vendors, government representatives, and the military mix as the audience forms for the opening session. Since attendees are encouraged to wear their latest wearable computer designs, spontaneous demonstrations already dot the hall. In some cases, the wearable computer is so subtly woven into an attendee's garb that it takes a practiced eye to know to ask for a demonstration. Fortunately, the researchers and, in some cases, independent inventors are proud of the year's accomplishments and seek to elicit the questions, criticisms, and compliments from the community at large. Pausch. The message from the general chair, Alex Peutland, prese6ts the goal of "improving intelligence ... by augmenting the items we wear all the time: glasses, wristwatches, clothes, and shoes." Paging through the conference digest shows the diversity of the wearables community, with paper presentations on augmented reality, power harvesting, design, recovering user context, wireless displays, and case studies, including one from a large commercial implementation. In order to properly review the submissions, the conference adopted the reviewing style of SIGGRAPH and UIST, calling on the skills of over 50 additional reviewers to supplement the nine person program committee. In addition to the paper sessions, ISWC98 consists of invited talks, poster presentations, paper sessions, an exhibition hall, and a panel session on privacy. As a "bonus" third day to the official two day track, Carnegie Mellon University offers special events and an insider's tour of their research laboratories, following a tradition started by last year's host, MIT.