Two wearable testbeds for augmented reality: itWARNS and WIMMIS

Personal applications employing Augmented Reality (AR) technology require ease of use and wearability. Progress in hardware miniaturization has enabled the development of wearable testbeds providing sufficient computing power for demanding AR tasks. RSC has assembled a wearable testbed for AR applications consisting solely of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware components. The system is worn as a jacket with hardware attached to a vest frame (Xybernaut) and cabling concealed under Velcro channels. Two possible configurations allow the system to be used either in a stand-alone mode ("itWARNS") or to be linked to a multi-modal user interface testbed ("WIMMIS"). The testbed employs wireless networking hardware and receives analog video and 3D audio signals over radio frequencies (RF), thereby achieving completely tetherless operation.