Wearable hypermedium system

Details Wearable hypermedium system Wearable hypermedium system

1998-07-14

2002-09-24

Pan, Daniel H. (Department: 2783)

Data processing: database and file management or data structures

Database design

Data structure types

C707S793000, C707S793000, C345S008000, C348S115000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06457024

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the field of wearable computer-based systems, and more specifically, to a wearable hypermedium system, using hypertexted, animated, voice-synthesized, voice-activated information retrieval, for accessing, manipulating and displaying digitized information stored on a mass storage or other device, or otherwise rendered network-available. More particularly, the present invention relates to such a hypermedium system for “hands-free” operation where the user is able to access, manipulate, display, input and retrieve, with minimal inconvenience, information in hypertexted, animated, voice-synthesized, voice-activated wearable form. “Hands-free,” as used herein, refers to a unit that permits a user to operate virtually without the requirement that his hands to support the unit or to enter commands via a keyboard or other device.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. General Background
In the field of maintenance and repair of complex machines and facilities such as airplanes, ships and nuclear power plants, maintenance and repair persons access numerous, sometimes thousands, of manuals and hundreds of instructions that are typically available in printed medium bound and available in various locations. For example, the maintenance manuals of a Boeing 747 would fill the entire space of itself and, one small nuclear power plant involves 4,000 manuals and 8,000 procedures. Moreover, paper-based manuals are seldom located where they are needed the most, and the procedures embodied in these manuals themselves produce unmanageable paperwork. Paper documentation is heavy, bulky, and costly to maintain. Even if the maintenance manuals are stored in an electronic media, they are still not, in most instances, conveniently available where they are needed most—with the maintenance and repair persons in the field repairing the equipment. Moreover, electronic storage has proceeded along the same lines as manual storage, although the electronic medium has the capacity of showing at most a few pages at a time.
In the sales and service industries, persons dealing with customers often have to meet the conflicting requirements of mobility and ready access to detailed information concerning inventory. There has long been a need for a convenient data retrieval system, displaying images and being capable of speaking to the user in an ordinary language. There is also a need for a mechanism by which a sales or service person, may at the same time, record orders or other related information to be input into the database maintained at company headquarters.
The world's information has been doubling in every three years and it seems that the speed of information accumulation continues to accelerate. With the advent of CD-ROM technology, much of this information is available to any user of a personal computer with a CD-ROM drive. A single CD-ROM disc costs less than $2 to produce but holds information equivalent to that of 500,000 pages of printed materials, such as an airplane maintenance manual, which could cost $2000 to produce. By way of example, one CD-ROM disc contains the equivalent of an 80-foot-high stack of text reports on paper using up the equivalent of eight adult trees. To date, CD-ROM is the only logical choice for large-scale information storage, distribution, and publishing and, digital information provides substantial benefits in search, retrieval and manipulation over printed or microfiche data. As technologies develop, however, other mass storage devices will likely emerge (e.g., zip drives and the introduction of DVD-ROM), or, in the alternative, wireless communications (e.g., portable satellite connections) all of which falling within the scope of this invention.
While notebook computers and other portable devices allow trained users to access databases in the field, such machines are not adapted for speech decoding and require a high level of training by the user. They require the use of both hands by the user and typically a desk top or other surface to hold the apparatus, and are often difficult or impossible to see in bright lights or natural daylight. These inconveniences arise as a consequence of a collision between typical information retrieval (via text) and computer-available information (via a screen).
As expected, the design of most electronic documentation today falls into the same trap as that of the first-generation cars. Most “electronic manuals” are designed in a “linear form”—very much like the printed manual, which is in many instances so inappropriate for electronic information as the “horseless carriage” design was for the modern automobile. In fact, a computer screen is a poor medium to convey text. Consequently there is a danger of misreading words on a screen, especially when attention is divided between the screen and focusing on the equipment being repaired.
For background purposes, the instant invention, directed to a hand-free, mass-storage based wearable computer and a system for creating hypermedium information to the wearer through the device, liberates maintenance and repair persons from cumbersome manuals and desk-bound delivery systems that have made impossible the availability of massive amounts of critical information in the field. The instant invention allows a user to comfortably wear on his body massive amounts of maintenance and repair information out into the field while his hands are free to carry tools and perform repairs. A heads-up display can easily be flipped to the side of the headset so that the user's eyes can be unimpeded for close inspection of work in progress. The display can be easily flipped back in front of one eye for checking on repair instruction.
One important aspect of this invention is its ability to display information in a hypermedium form, through the use of hypertexted, animated, voice-synthesized, voice-activated wearable information design. A 1990 U.S. Government study found that a multimedia delivery of information is 40% more effective than traditional text-based instruction. Studies of training sessions using multimedia aids showed a 30% increase of retention rate and a learning curve that showed a 30% increase in speed over the traditional training methods.
Another imperative for delivering information in hypermedium form is the mindset of the generations who have been fed much information via television. These generations are much more graphically oriented and will better understand ideas and instructions conveyed in a multimedia form as the U.S. Government study shows.
Furthermore, repair manuals are seldom written in plain language. Many people would avoid reading a maintenance manual if someone could instead be found to demonstrate the maintenance or repair. Through the use of hypertexted, animated, voice-synthesized, voice-activated wearable information design, manual information in this invention “shows” the user how to perform a repair in much the same way as an experienced mechanic. The display of information in hypermedia forms—dynamically linked text, animation, speech synthesis and graphics, allows the user to proceed at his own pace, choose the mode from which he learns best and to repeat instructions when necessary without bothering any other workers.
Another overwhelming burden to many industries is the volume of paperwork generated or demanded by government regulations. Much of the paperwork on inspections and repairs must be filed by maintenance workers following checklists, etc. Procrastination and neglect are more common than compliance with these government regulations. For example, the persistent problems of inadequate maintenance records has led the Federal Aviation Administration to levy millions of dollars of fines against various airlines and to even shut some of them down. The smart card capability of this invention eliminates the need for paperwork as the records are input into a computer via mouse commands or voice synthesis at the same time as the inspections or repairs are performed.
2. Hypermedium-Format including Hypertext and hype

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