Steven J. Schwartz

The wearARM modular, low-power computing core

The wearARM computing core for wearable applications uses highly miniaturized, mechanically flexible electronic packaging technology. Used with the MIThril platform, the system supports high-performance, low-power, user configurable wearable computing with wireless connectivity and local mass storage.

Wearable phased arrays for sound localization and enhancement

We present the idea of a flexible phased array of microphones for wearable computers. We show how such an array can be used for both source localization and signal enhancement. As a result, it can help to solve two fundamental problems for audio input to wearables: determining who is speaking when (user commands vs. nearby speech, who is speaking in a conversation, etc.) and obtaining high-quality audio without the use of a headset microphone. We describe methods for learning the mapping between phase delays and world coordinates without specifying the array geometry and requiring minimal effort from the user. Last, we describe an implementation we have built of such an array using low-cost microphones and show some preliminary results for source localization and speaker-change detection.

The WearARM: modular, high performance, low power computing platform designed for integration into everyday clothing

Describes a low power high performance wearable computing platform, specifically designed for easy integration into everyday clothing. It combines a heterogenous, distributed, user reconfigurable system architecture, advanced power management features and highly miniaturized, mechanically flexible electronic packaging technology. As a result the WearARM system offers high performance for a wide range of application in a form factor that allows it to be worn without in any noticeable way interfering with your look and comfort.

Is there space for wearables

The integration of man, a protective suit, and computer has been an integral part of the vision presented in science fiction movies and books since long before the Borg strode across the Star Trek screen. It is easy to envision using computers in countless ways to augment human perception, recall, and reactions to provide huge gains in personal safety and capability. However, the reality for todays space walker falls well short of these visionary projections. Once the confines of the Space Shuttle or Space Station is left behind, computer support is pretty much limited by the throughput of a simple one line text display and the bandwidth of a human voice relay channel. Practical issues of device size and power consumption, environmental tolerance, and display and control interface compatibility with the real design constraints of space suits have frustrated multiple attempts over the past 20 years to make the envisioned possibilities real. NASA and industry efforts to produce advanced EVA computer task support systems using heads up displays, wrist mounted displays, and modifications of the current chest mounted display and control system have fallen short in the demanding environment of NASAs space missions. So far, the correct balance of utility, reliability, compact size, and weight, has eluded developers and space has remained the unconquered frontier for wearables. Undaunted, the faithful have continued the quest, and with the dramatic advances in hardware and software systems we have seen over the past decade, the path to achieving the vision seems, at last, to be clearing. Key elements in this development are the emergence of display technologies that make it practical to rapidly present large amounts of information to a suited crew person in space, advances in processing capability and speech recognition software that offer the potential for a flexible EVA control interface, and the combination of high density storage and wireless network technologies multiplying the amounts and kinds of information upon which the EVA astronaut can draw. Together with emerging visions of exploration missions that will demand complex interactions and unprecedented real time support, these developments lead to the conclusion that there will, and must be, space for wearables and wearables for space.

Fast P(RMNE): Fast forensic DNA probability of random man not excluded calculation

High throughput sequencing (HTS) of DNA forensic samples is expanding from the sizing of short tandem repeats (STRs) to massively parallel sequencing (MPS). HTS panels are expanding from the FBI 20 core Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) loci to include SNPs. The calculation of random man not excluded, P(RMNE), is used in DNA mixture analysis to estimate the probability that a person is present in a DNA mixture. This calculation encounters calculation artifacts with expansion to larger panel sizes. Increasing the floating-point precision of the calculations allows for increased panel sizes but with a corresponding increase in computation time. The Taylor series higher precision libraries used fail on some input data sets leading to algorithm unreliability. Herein, a new formula is introduced for calculating P(RMNE) that scales to larger SNP panel sizes while being computationally efficient (patent pending).