Wearables as Augmentation Means: Conceptual Definition, Pathways, and Research Framework

Abstract

Wearables pervade many facets of human endeavor, thanks to their integration into everyday artifacts and activities. From fitness bands to medical patches, to augmented reality glasses, wearables have demonstrated immense potential for intelligence augmentation (IA) through human-machine symbiosis. To advance an understanding of how wearables engender IA and to provide a solid foundation for grounding IS research on wearables and IA, this study draws from Engelbart's framework for augmenting human intellect to: (1) develop a conceptual definition of wearable technology as a digitally enhanced bodyborne device that can augment a human or non-human capability by affording context sensitivity, mobility, hands-free interaction, and constancy of operation, (2) extend Engelbart's framework to the sociomaterial domain to account for the emergence of augmented capabilities that are neither wholly social nor wholly material, and (3) propose and elaborate four augmentation pathways-complementation, supplementation, mediation, and mutual constitutionto facilitate IA research.

Conceptualizing Interactions of Augmented Reality Solutions

“…The most common are voice, touch, and gestures. Voice input [11,25,26,30,38,39,47,49,50,51,55,56,57,58,59,60] can be command-based or natural language processing (NLP) [56]. Touch interaction [39,46,48,51,53,56,57,59,60,61] can include both near and far touch.…”

“…Voice input [11,25,26,30,38,39,47,49,50,51,55,56,57,58,59,60] can be command-based or natural language processing (NLP) [56]. Touch interaction [39,46,48,51,53,56,57,59,60,61] can include both near and far touch. Near touch in this context refers to directly touching the interaction trigger, whereas far touch refers to a mapping of the touch interaction, i.e., ray-casting on a distant object [56].…”

“…The authors describe an AR solution in which 3D content is attached and mapped onto the body, in this case around the user's wrist. Gestures [11,25,26,27,29,30,38,42,47,48,50,51,52,53,55,56,57,58,59,60,62,63] are the most commonly used AR input modality and include gestures using fingers, hands, arms or the entire body. They are widely used regardless of hardware, but tracking mechanisms are required to detect the gestures.…”

“…This dimension is independent of the specific use case scenario and the information. We define digital objects [15,31,34,54,59,62,67] as only virtual objects in AR that the user can interact with. Additionally, this can include smart objects and IoT data.…”

“…Additionally, this can include smart objects and IoT data. Interactions can also occur with physical objects [11,14,24,26,27,33,34,38,43,53,59,62,65,66,68,69]. I.e., the users interact with their immediate physical surroundings, and the AR solution serves as a mediator between the user and the real world.…”