Digital Jewelry

Posted by : Unknown Monday, July 1, 2013

1. Introduction

Jewelry is worn for many reasons -- for aesthetics, to impress others, or as a symbol of affiliation or commitment. Basically, jewelry adorns the body, and has very little practical purpose. However, researchers are looking to change the way we think about the beads and bobbles we wear. In the next wave of mobile computing devices, our jewelry might double as our Cell phones,Personal Digital Assistents(PDAs) and GPS Receivers.

The combination of shrinking computer devices and increasing computer power has allowed several companies to begin producing fashion jewelry with embedded intelligence. Today, manufacturers can place millions of transistors on a microchip, which can be used to make small devices that store tons of digital data. "We've made one of almost everything except tongue rings," says Dan Russell, senior manager of IBM's Almaden Research Lab, where IBM is developing digital-jewelry technology.

2. Give Me a Ring

Let's look at the various components that are inside a cell phone:

· Microphone

· Receiver

· Touchpad

· Display

· Circuit board

· Antenna

· Battery

IBM has developed a prototype of a cell phone that consists of several pieces of digital jewelry that will work together wirelessly, possibly with Bluetooth wireless technology, to perform the functions of the above components.

Here are the pieces of IBM's computerized-jewelry phone and their functions:

Earrings -Speakers embedded into these earrings will be the phone's receiver.
Necklace - Users will talk into the necklace's embedded microphones.
Ring - Perhaps the most interesting piece of the phone, this "magic decoder ring" is equipped with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that flash to indicate an incoming call. It can also be programmed to flash different colors to identify a particular caller or indicate the importance of a call.
Bracelet - Equipped with a video graphics array (VGA) display, this wrist display could also be used as a caller identifier that flashes the name and phone number of the caller.
Charmed Technology is already marketing its digital jewelry, including a futuristic-looking eyepiece display. The eyepiece is the display component of the company's Charmed Communicator, a wearable, wireless, broadband-Internet device that can be controlled by voice, pen or handheld keypad. The Communicator can be used as an MP3 player, video player and cell phone. The Communicator runs on the company's Linux-based Nanix operating system.
Head Mounted Display:-

A head-mounted display (HMD) is a display device that a person wears on the head to have video information directly displayed in front of the eyes.

Wrist Worn Display:

The Air Force Research Lab recently transitioned a wrist-worn video and graphics display system to industry. On-the-move war fighters need information on demand and with no increase to the weight they carry. The laboratory developed a new, lightweight, on-the-move information capability for aircrew, soldiers, sailors, controllers, and commanders.
4. The Java Ring
Everything we access today is under lock and key. Even the devices we use are protected by passwords. It can be frustrating trying to keep with all of the passwords and keys needed to access any door or computer program. Dallas semiconductor is developing a new Java-based, computerized ring that will automatically unlock doors and log on to computers.
The Java Ring, first introduced at Java One Conference, has been tested at Celebration School. The rings given to students are programmed with Java applets that communicate with host applications on networked systems. Applets are small applications that are designed to be run within another application. The Java Ring is snapped into a reader, called a Blue Dot Receptor, to allow communication between a host system and the Java Ring.

            The Java Ring is a stainless-steel ring, 16-millimeters (0.6 inches) in diameter that houses a 1-million-transistor processor, called an iButton. The ring has 134 KB of RAM, 32 KB of ROM, a real-time clock and a Java virtual machine, which is a piece of software that recognizes the Java language and translates it for the user's computer system.    At Celebration School, the rings have been programmed to store electronic cash to pay for lunches, automatically unlock doors, take attendance, store a student's medical information and allow students to check out books. All of this information is stored on the ring's iButton. Students simply press the signet of their Java Ring against the Blue Dot receptor, and the system connected to the receptor performs the function

5. Inside the Java Ring - Java iButton

           The Java Ring is an extremely secure Java-powered electronic token with a continuously running, unalterable real-time clock and rugged packaging, suitable for many applications. The jewel of the Java Ring is the Java iButton -- a 16 mm one-million transistor, single-chip trusted microcomputer with a Java virtual machine (JVM) housed in a rugged and secure stainless-steel case. Designed to be fully compatible with the Java Card 2.0 standard the processor features a high-speed 1024-bit modular exponentiator for RSA encryption, large RAM and ROM memory capacity, and an unalterable real-time clock.

        The packaged module has only a single electrical contact and a ground return, conforming to the specifications of the Dallas Semiconductor 1-Wire bus. Lithium-backed non-volatile SRAM offers high read/write speed and unparalleled tamper resistance through near-instantaneous clearing of all memory when tempering is detected, a feature known as rapid zeroization. Data integrity and clock function are maintained for more than 10 years. The 16-millimeter diameter stainless steel enclosure accommodates the larger chip sizes needed for up to 128 kilobytes of high-speed nonvolatile static RAM. The small and rugged packaging of the module allows it to attach to various accessories (key fob, wallet, watch, necklace, bracelet, etc.)

6. What is an iButton?

The iButton® is a 16mm computer chip armored in a stainless steel can. Let's start with the package. Because of this unique, durable package, up-to-date information can travel with a person or object. The steel button is rugged enough to withstand harsh outdoor environments; it is durable enough for a person to wear everyday on a digital accessory like a ring, key fob, wallet, watch, metal card or badge.

There are multiple different iButtons available



1. Memory iButton

2. java-cryptographic iButton

3. Thermochron iButton

7. How Do I Get Information In and Out of the iButton?

Information is transferred between your iButton and a PC with a momentary contact, at up to 142K bits per second. You simply press your iButton to the Blue Dot receptor, a $15 pipeline into your PC. The Blue Dot sticks to any convenient spot on the front of your PC and is cabled to the serial or parallel port in the back.

The iButton is also the ultimate information carrier for portable applications: it can talk to desktop, laptop, and hand-held PCs, as well as a variety of hand-held reader/writer devices, including cordless models that collect data for later downloading to a PC. For a full listing of reader/writer devices available, go to iButton Partners .

8. Software Development Kits:

              To help get your iButton® and 1-Wire® application up and running quickly, we offer several Software Development Kits (SDKs) that ensure interoperability among all iButton applications. Most of our software examples are part of our SDKs. For an overview of each SDK, click on the links below.

ü 1-Wire public domain kit

ü 1-Wire API for Java

ü 1-Wire SDK for Windows

ü 1-Wire Software Authorization SDK

9. CONCLUSION:

  Jewelry is worn for many reasons -- for aesthetics, to impress others, or as a symbol of affiliation or commitment. Jewelry might double as our cell phones,personal digital assistants(PDAs) and GPS receivers. Each piece of jewelry will contain a fraction of the components found in a conventional mobile phone. Simply say the name of the person you want to call and the phone will dial that person. IBM is also working on a miniature rechargeable battery to power these components.