Asking the ¡Èmissionary of wearable fashion¡É Mr. Masahiko Tsukamoto about a pleasant wearable life

Masahiko Tsukamoto

Coverage and article: AIKO MIYAZAKI

Every morning, we wake up, wash our faces, brush our teeth and wear clothes¡Ä A day will surely come in the future when ¡Èputting on a computer¡É will be added to the scene. Declaring so is the ¡Èmissionary of wearable fashion¡É Mr. Masahiko Tsukamoto, associate professor at Osaka University. In the middle of August, I visited Mr. Tsukamoto¡Çs laboratory to take a look at his famous wearable fashion and hear about a wearable life.

How to Show Wearable Devices as a Fashion

Mr. Tsukamoto appeared in decent clothes - a colored shirt and a tie. But his hair was dyed brown, was wearing blue contact lenses, and there was a small personal computer and a DVD drive fixed onto his waist. From his neck dangled a paperback size PDA, and on his head there was a HMD (head mount display) with a hair band like device. Also, there were mysterious blinking lights attached to his forehead.

At first sight, his appearance seemed bizarre since my life is far from wearable devices so I did not know where to look. However, his gentle manners and friendly face quickly smoothed the place. By the time we finished introducing ourselves to each other and sat in our seats, I was able to look at him straight without an odd feeling.

Mr. Tsukamoto says it has been almost a year and a half since he started to live wearing these devices. He had been studying mobile communications before transferring to the laboratory of Osaka University. As his research theme changed to mobile applications, he tried to figure out what ordinary people could do with these mobile devices by wearing them. Most of these devices are used for business purposes. In order to make these wearable devices widespread in the public, it is effective that the researchers themselves wear them first and see what they can do. Mr. Tsukamoto almost always wears them when he is outside the house. He thought it would only last for a few months or so, but ¡Èthere was a huge response and it was too large for me to quit,¡É he says laughing.

He states the recent purpose of this wearable life has greatly changed. The original purpose was to experiment many other uses of wearable computers in normal life. ¡ÈNow, the purpose has changed to showing these devices as part of a new fashion,¡É says Mr. Tsukamoto.

Sony once used young women in Harajuku for the demonstration of the Walkman to boot its sales. In order to spread the wearable fashion in the public, ¡Èmissionary¡É Mr. Tsukamoto thought he should demonstrate it in a fashionable way. Therefore, his concept is, ¡ÈThe devices are not Akihabara style but Harajuku and Shibuya style! They have to be smart!¡É But most time, people consider his appearance as a performance and not as what he planned.

¡ÈIn the beginning, I thought that several of my research partners would also start wearing devices in six months or so. But for some reason, there are no followers,¡É he laughs.

Wearable Devices are Recognized by Children

Mr. Tsukamoto says, ¡ÈWhen mobile devices appeared 10 years ago, I was impressed very much, and thought that a lot of things could be made real. In the same way, I feel that something new can be done by realizing wearable computing.¡É

As a matter of fact, he made these predictions in 1997.

(1) I will be wearing a computer by the year 2001.

(2) Young people wearing HMDs like sunglasses will increase in number, and half of the young people in Harajuku and Shibuya areas will be wearing computers in the year 2003.

(3) Babies will wear computers by the time they become a year old and early childhood education will be oriented on the computers in the year 2010.

As for (1), we can see that it has been fulfilled. However, it is difficult to believe that half of the young people in Harajuku will be wearing computers next year. Wearable computers are interesting tools that can do new things, but what are the actual problems for them to become widespread?

As for the hardware, the first problem is that it is not simple. It takes time to wear them, and cables connect the devices so they become interferences to our daily movements. The weight of these devices is the second problem. Making the devices smaller and lighter is the essential condition for wearable computers to become widespread. There are some devices that have been made lighter, but they are delicate and the durability is not enough for wearing them full-time. The batteries last only two hours in the present conditions. If you watch a DVD in a train, the battery time would become even shorter.

The biggest problem on the software side is that there seems to be no necessity of wearable computing for a general consumer since cellular phones have become so multi-functional. For the moment, Mr. Tsukamoto himself only uses the PDA as a clock and for schedule managing.

Furthermore, the devices are still expensive for general distribution.

As it can be seen, there is a mountain full of problems. But apparently, Mr. Tsukamoto can see a scenario for widespread use of wearable computers.

¡ÈThe next generation of wearable tools may spread from movies and comics. Actually, children already recognize these tools since there have been characters in TV animation programs that wear HMDs called ¡Æscouters¡Ç. Thus, if these tools are recognized as popular tools through comics or movies and further connected with a new kind of fashion, it will surely spread from a generation of young people or even a younger generation.¡É

As a Communication Tool That Provides Amusement

The use of wearable computing which Mr. Tsukamoto advocates is not only a personal leisurely use such as arranging data for work, watching DVD on a train, or playing games etc.

¡ÈWearable computers also have the aspect as tools for personal communication. Basically, neither cellular phones nor TV phones can be used alone. Wearable computers can be used without a partner. But with the presence of another user, the entertainment aspect would expand as a communication tool.¡É

To one¡Çs surprise, the agricultural field has taken particular notice in that aspect. It is said that monotonous agricultural work fits together well with the wearable computer that enables us to do two things at a time. And it is just right to assist people working in distant fields to communicate with each other.

Mr. Tsukamoto, who wants to advertise wearable devices for daily use rather than business use, actually focuses his attention on the entertainment aspect as an added value.

¡ÈFirst of all, we need to enrich applications so that it can be a tool which enhances our lives. For example, it can be used as a memory aid tool, such as dictionaries or English conversation study software, and a tool for communicating with others. For instance, this blinking light¡Ä¡É And so the real function of the mysterious light described in the beginning was to be revealed.

This card type device with blinking LEDs is, so to speak, a personal information transmitting equipment. The position and interval which a LED blinks are signals that can be read by the pattern recognition software developed by Mr. Tsukamoto¡Çs research group.

¡ÈFor instance, if the ID or URL of individuals is displayed by the blinking signals, we can refer to the data when we meet someone we know on the street and can¡Çt remember their names. We can obtain their information and perhaps connect to the URL in an instance to get more information about them. Moreover, if we take a photograph of people wearing this device with a web camera, an album can be made on the web. And by reading their ID from the blinking pattern, we can go to their personal web sites automatically. In addition, we can enhance our lives with music and images, by inserting drama-like sound effects during conversations with friends. Or we can show images while telling them what happened today. The society has changed since the appearance of cellular phones, but I think wearable computing will have a much larger impact.¡É

Undoubtedly, wearable computing has a great potential. It is probably difficult to fulfill Mr. Tsukamoto¡Çs prediction that young people in Harajuku and Shibuya will be wearing computers next year. But in the near future, an era will surely come when his predictions become real. I, on the other hand, leaning forward while listening to him, seem to have been totally fascinated by his own world. Finally, let me introduce Mr. Tsukamoto¡Çs most striking words.

¡ÈIf everyone carries a wearable computer which is a great tool for communicating with each other, more ways of communication may become possible. Wearable devices are not difficult things. They are tools to enhance our lives.¡É

The keyword for wearable computing to become widespread is the ¡Èplayful touch.¡É

When the playful heart and fashion style Mr. Tsukamoto advocates touch the heartstrings of young people, the computer environment that surrounds us will surely go through a drastic change. Not from the world of digitally processed images, but from the very realistic world¡Ä