The first wearable computer designed to withstand enemy fire in a hostile combat situation has been built in the US.
Small computer systems are already used by the US military for communications, navigation and reconnaissance. The new, ultra-tough computer system was constructed by Xybernaut, which currently makes compact wearable computers for use in the engineering and construction industries.
Prototype Xybernaut computers fitted with body armour have already been distributed to defence and law enforcement customers, the company says. The system was developed with leading US body armour company Second Chance.
Second Chance spokesman Aaron Westrick says: “The tactical wearable computer is a very useful advantage to the street cop or the soldier.”
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Cliff Randell, an expert in wearable computer design at the University of Bristol, UK, says that building bullet-proof wearable computers could be very important to military operations. But he adds that some national military research departments are already working on their own wearable battlefield computers.
Xybernaut’s computer systems are based on conventional laptop computer hardware and run Microsoft’s Windows operating system. This can make them power hungry but capable of running complex software, according to Randell.
“The ‘blue sky’ idea is to have augmented reality displays that show you where the good guys and bad guys are,” he says.
