The clothes make the person

Which of the following end users—a Parisian firefighter, an Austrian doctor, a Czech manufacturing worker, and a French maintenance worker—will show stronger objections to adopting innovative wearable computing technology? Surprisingly - the doctor. Behind the scenes of the European Union's wearable computing project

juicy songs *

Quite a few contradictions and surprises were discovered during the wearable computing research and development project (wearIT@work), which took place within the sixth R&D program of the European Union. The project, which began in 2004 and will end in May 2009, was one of the most complex projects carried out within the European Union. Its budget was 24 million euros, it included a combination of 42 researchers and developers from different disciplines and end users. All together created a "living laboratory", where prototypes of wearable computers were developed for different work environments.
Dr. Edna Pesher's company, the only Israeli company in the project, was also the only one to examine the socio-organizational-cultural impact of introducing innovative wearable computing technology into four work environments. As those who accompany organizations in innovation processes, our motivation to join the project stemmed from our interest in the future work environment and its effect on management, quality and the pace of work in the organization.
Upon entering the project, we were accompanied by several basic assumptions:
* Computers will become an integral part of our clothing, and in the future we will wear or wear them just like a watch and glasses.
* The wearable computing system will strengthen and strengthen the power of the mobile worker, either by shortening the visit time and making it more qualitative, in the case of the doctor, or saving lives in the case of the firefighter.

The name of the project, wearIT@work, emphasizes its goal - to create an integration of wearable ICT systems into work environments. When we use the term wearable computing, we mean a computerized information system that is worn on the employee's clothes, body, uniform, etc. The purpose of the system is to provide information to the employee in real time and free his hands to perform routine tasks. The uniqueness and innovation of the system is reflected in the sensors that are able to process the work environment and the course of the employee's activity, and therefore assist and guide him in work processes.

The idea underlying wearable computing is very different from that of conventional wireless systems (such as the smartphone). In the latest systems - the interface is between the user and the system, while in wearable computing - the interface is between person-system-environment, so that the user can be in contact with the system and the environment at the same time.
In the research work, two innovative methods were applied, which were tried on a large scale for the first time: "living laboratory", which means the examination of the prototypes developed during the life of the project in real work environments, as opposed to a closed and isolated laboratory. and user-centered design, which means placing the end user at the center of the process, with constant integration between the developers of the technology and the information system and between the users. This integration is reflected, among other things, in receiving constant feedback from the users about the development and its adaptation to their needs after they have tried it in real time. The users' responses were used by the developers to improve the technology in an interactive process.

Through the implementation of these two key concepts, an improvement in the acceptance of the technology and its use among the users is guaranteed. In any new IT system and different from the existing one, and in particular an innovative IT system such as wearable computing, however good it may be, will not be implemented in practice without acceptance by the end users.

Among the findings of the study, it seems that in order to increase the chances of accepting the system and integrating it into the work processes, the users must be integrated into the development process, using feedback based on their experience with the system in real time. In this way, the users' trust in the product, the organization and the inherent benefits of using the system will be built - without worrying about their place or future in the organization. Also, the delivery of comprehensive trainings about the future system for the end users and stakeholders (the management, the organization's IT team, etc.), was also found to be effective for the introduction of wearable computing into the work environment.

Therefore, the prototypes that were created and developed during the project were tested in four work environments: maintenance (Airbus maintenance), production (Skoda car production line), emergency services (Paris fire service) and medicine (Gespag hospital in Austria). In the working environment of hospitals, for example, the effect of wearable computing on the improvement of doctors' rounds in hospital departments was studied. Using wearable computing equipment for doctors and nurses and supporting software systems, wearable computing allows the medical staff access to all relevant information about the patient anywhere and at any time throughout the hospital. The improved access to information and prevention of errors in identifying patients, in parallel with the system's ability to recognize the work environment and context - demonstrate the advantages and benefits of the wearable computing system in work processes.

Quite a few prior concerns and actual objections accompanied the project, since it is no small matter to clothe workers in a system that is still in its infancy, sometimes not comfortable enough, sometimes raising questions of intrusion into individual modesty, but overall the mobile workers and the organizations that participated in the project were loyal partners for research, and some of them chose to continue experimenting with wearable computing beyond the end of the project.

* The author is an organizational consultant at "Pashr Yoyots for Management" The article appeared in the July issue of the magazine Informationweek-Israel