life-saver

Filed in archive Science , Technology on October 20, 2005

Will high-tech help to save the life of thousend of people? The worldwide german radiostation "Deutschlandfunk" writes about a real life test (german) of wearable computing with a fire brigade. The experiment is part of the european wearIT@work project, the largest wearable computing project in the world.

The job: close a chemical pipeline and fill it with coolant.

The tech:
- record every movement of the fireworker (video)
- replace analog with digital streaming communication technology
that works in buildings made of steel
- send pictures of broken parts and give an overview of the situation - feedback
is sent back to the display in the helmet of the fireworker
- tiny computer in the belt of the fireworker
- the glove "understands" the typical gestures fireworker use for communication

The challenge:
- bandwith is still to low
- technology is not 100% working (what's needed for a real mission)
- gesture recognition still not perfect enough
- replacement system is allways needed in case the technology failes