Unit3 Tomorrow’s World單元學案

assembled together with velcro that conducts electricity, these pieces form a bag that looks, feels, and weighs like your typical leather purse. that's where the similarities end: this bag can wirelessly keep tabs on your belongings and remind you, just as you're about to leave the house, to take your wallet. it can review the weather report and suggest that you grab an umbrella -- or your sunshades. this purse can even upload your favorite songs onto your scarf. sure, a computing purse and scarf set may seem like the stuff of science fiction. but these devices, part of next generation of wearable computers, could become commonplace within a few years. unit shipments of such wearable computers -- purses, watches, shirts -- should rise from 261,000 last year to 1.39 million in , according to the tech research firm idc. powering this market are advancements in design and in fabric-embedded electronics. over the last two years, dupont (dd ) created new fibers called aracon, made of kevlar, that are superstrong, can conduct electricity, and can be woven into ordinary-looking clothes. and chipmaker infineon (ifx ) developed chip packaging allowing wearable computers to be washed, even in the heavy-duty cycle. as a result, these new wearables are a far cry from the clunky and downright silly versions of the recent past, which often required users to be wrapped in wires, type on their stomachs, and sport an unseemly display on their foreheads. "cyborg computing was very clunky, very bulky machines that people didn't want to carry around," says nanda, a researcher at the massachusetts institute of technology in cambridge, mass. "our bags feel and look like bags." unlike their predecessors, these new wearable computers also make economic sense. when her bag becomes commercially available in two to three years, nanda expects it will cost around $150, which is the price of an average leather purse. only "it's fun, you can rip apart and put together a computer," she says. here's how the bag works: you place a special radio-signal-transmitting chip onto your wallet. a similar radio in your purse picks up the signal and notifies you that you've forgotten to take your wallet. in turn, sensors on your purse's handles will notify the computer that you've picked up the purse and are ready to go. such unobtrusive, inconspicuous, and fun devices should grab more than 80% of the total wearable computing market by , while cyborgian wearable pcs will remain a niche, says idc analyst kevin burden. already, these new kinds of wearables are being adopted for use in markets like auto repair, emergency services, medical monitoring -- and even, increasingly, for consumers at large.