The School of Industrial Design was well represented at the International Symposium on Wearable Computers (ISWC) which was recently convened in Zurich, Switzerland, September 9-12.  Clint Zeagler, a research scientist in the School of Industrial Design, was a part of a team that was awarded “Best Paper” on a research project called “FIDO” and James Hallam, a graduate student in the School, won “Best Functional Design” at the design exhibition for his Haptic Mirror Therapy Glove.”  ISWC is a conference dedicated to cutting-edge research in wearable technologies, and is the premier forum for wearable computing and issues related to on-body and worn mobile technologies. Every year, ISWC brings together researchers, product vendors, fashion designers, textile manufacturers, users, and related professionals to share information and advances in wearable computing; this year, there were over 700 participants who registered for the conference. 

Clint Zeagler and his team presented a paper on their collaborative FIDO project (Facilitating Interactions for Dogs with Occupations) which addressed issues of wearable sensors for working dogs to aid their communication with their handlers.  Four different sensors were developed that could be integrated into dog vests that the dogs could activate.  Three assistance-trained dogs were used to test the on-body interfaces which used canine gestures, such as biting, tugging and nose gestures, to alert their handlers to visual or auditory signals of which the handler might not be aware.  The FIDO research team includes Zeagler, Thad Starner, Melody Jackson and Giancarlo Valentin.  In addition to his work as a research scientist, Clint also teaches a course on wearable product design in the School of Industrial Design. 

James Hallam’s “Haptic Mirror Therapy Glove” is an interactive mirror therapy glove for the treatment of a paretic limb following a stroke.  It allows the user to stimulate the fingertips of their effected hand by tapping the fingers of their unaffected hand using force sensing resistors to trigger linear resonance actuators on the corresponding fingers.  The glove may potentially be useful to stroke survivors and their therapists by encouraging the development of new multi-sensory rehabilitation exercises, which might better help recover lost sensation and strength in their fingers. This project was selected as the “Best Functional Design” during the four day conference.