Psychophysical elements of wearability

Abstract

Wearable technology presents a wealth of new HCI issues. In particular, this paper addresses the impact of the physical interaction between the user's body and the device's physical form on the user's mental representation of self and cognitive abilities, a blend of HCI and ergonomics that is unique to wearable computing. We explore the human sensory mechanisms that facilitate perception of worn objects and the elements of sensation that influence the comfort of worn objects, and discuss the psychological elements that may cause worn objects to be forgotten or detected, wearable or not. We discuss the implications of un-wearability on attention and cognitive capability.