MIThril Vest

MIT will be featuring it MIThril vest at the ISWC later this month. This is a MIThril vest and not a Mithril Vest. The difference is the latter is a mythical Elven silver alloy and the former is a real MIT wearable electronic media vest. The names can be confusing if you forget that you don’t live in Middle Earth.

MIThril is a next-generation wearables research platform developed by researchers at the MIT Media Lab. The goal of the MIThril project is the development and prototyping of new techniques of human-computer interaction for body-worn applications. Through the application of human factors, machine learning, hardware engineering, and software engineering, the MIThril team is constructing a new kind of computing environment and developing prototype applications for health, communications, and just-in-time information delivery.

The MIThril hardware platform combines body-worn computation, sensing, and networking in a clothing-integrated design. The MIThril software platform is a combination of user interface elements and machine learning tools built on the Linux operating system.

The idea of a wearable media is great, but I don’t see it taking off until the used components are miniaturized. The vest appears to be a bit cluttered and cumbersome. Miniaturize all the pieces and use Bluetooth or Magnetic Induction Technology to replace the wires and then we should have a hot product.

Source: SlashDot, MIT Media Lab, and information on ISWC