From: ejp@world.std.com (Eric J Pierce) Subject: EVENT: BCS/VR-Group April Mtg-Wearable Computing & Augmented Reality Date: Fri, 29 Mar 1996 13:30:16 GMT Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA From: ejp@world.std.com (Eric J Pierce) ------------ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY------------ THE BOSTON COMPUTER SOCIETY VIRTUAL REALITY GROUP PRESENTS Wearable Computing and Augmented Reality by Thad Starner of the MIT Media Laboratory WEDNESDAY, April 3, 7:00 PM EST ROOM 054 (BASEMENT) MEDIA LABORATORY (BLDG E-15) MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS ______________________________________________________________________ NOTE: Check the date above! Usually, our meetings are the second Wednesday of every month. In April, it will be the first Wednesday of the month. ______________________________________________________________________ Join the Boston Computer Society Virtual Reality Group and Thad Starner of the MIT Media Lab for a discussion of Wearable Computing and Augmented Reality. -------------- To date, personal computers have not lived up to their name. Most machines are constrained to desktops and interact with their owners for only a small fraction of the day. Smaller and faster notebook computers have made mobility less of an issue, but the same staid user paradigm persists. Wearable computing hopes to change the premises of human-computer interaction. A person's computer should be worn, much as eyeglasses or clothing are worn, and interact with the user based on the context of the situation. With heads-up displays, unobtrusive input devices, personal wireless local area networks (Personal Area Network), and a host of other context sensing and communication tools, the wearable computer can act as an intelligent assistant, whether it be through automatic memory aids (Remembrance Agent), augmented reality, or intellectual collectives. Thad Starner is a doctoral student at the MIT Media Laboratory. Often called a "cyborg" due to his integration of computers into his daily life, his primary research is wearable computing. He was awarded the Master's degree for his work on "Visual Recognition of American Sign Language Using Hidden Markov Models." Mr. Starner is an Associate Scientist with the Cambridge-based firm BBN where he performed research on on-line cursive handwriting recognition. Previous MIT degrees include a Bachelor's in Computer Science and a Bachelor's in Brain and Cognitive Science. His current interests include augmented memory, augmented reality, intellectual collectives, and face recognition. MEETING DETAILS: --------------- When: Wednesday, April 3, 7:00 PM EST Location: MIT Media Lab (Building E-15) Room 054 (in basement) 20 Ames Street Cambridge, Massachusetts By T: Get off at the Kendall Square Station on the Red Line. When you come to the surface you will be at the end of Main Street where it is more like a wide bricked pedestrian area in front of the Marriot Hotel. Walking to the end of the block toward Central square, will put the Marriot on the right. The corner of the Marriot complex where Legal Seafoods is will be the corner of Main and Ames. Take a left onto Ames Street. The Media Lab is the only silver tiled building on the street and will be on your left. By Car: Ames Street runs between Main street and Memorial Drive, near Kendall Square in Cambridge. It is one-way going from Main to Memorial. Your best bet is to either look for parking near Kendall Sq. and follow walking instructions (By T) above. *OR* you could look for parking along Memorial Drive and walk up Ames Street the other way. If you're interested in coming and don't know how to get to MIT or even Cambridge, MA, instructions from all highways are available upon request via e-mail to ejp@world.std.com. ======================================================================== BCS VR Group - A Gathering of Minds for Cyberspace Development: The Group meetings are a great way to meet others who are "actually" developing Virtual Environments. Whether you have an intrest in the dicussions, would like to write code or somewhere in the middle there lots to do and talk about!!! BCS VR Group Philosophy: The purpose of the Boston Computer Society Virtual Reality Group is to provide an ongoing venue for developing virtual environments as well as a forum for bringing scientists and developers together with VR enthusiasts/potential users. Through actively exploring both the technology and its cultural implications, exposing each to the other's thoughts and ideas, and "learning from" and "sharing with" industry leaders, we can help shape the future of this medium. ====================================================================== Attention Researchers, Vendors & Others: ---------------------------------------- We have a growing membership of VR enthusiasts who would like to hear from you. Things you can do: - Put us on your mailing list, - Make a presentation at one of our meetings, - Send a video. Information received is put into our BCS monthly newsletter. Presentations need a two-month lead time for publicity. Meeting events are described in the newsletter, which goes out to several thousand BCS members. Videos are shown at each meeting. If you would like the opportunity to make contact with VR enthusiasts, contact Brenden C. Maher. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: ------------------------------ Program Director: Brenden C.Maher Speaker Requests: bmaher@media.mit.edu voice: (617) 621.3309 Join the Boston Computer Society - the oldest and largest computer user group! For info: The Boston Computer Society 101 First Avenue, Suite 2 Waltham, MA 02154 Voice: (617) 290-5700 Fax: 290-7544 Be Sure To Sign Up as a- "Virtual Reallity Group Member"