Wearable Computing (location-aware) for Aircraft Maintenance

Via Tom Nicolai's weblog (which is actually a "wearlog"), this Wearable Computing for Aircraft Maintenance, a concept for a combination of wearable computing and knowledge management with the goal to shorten the maintenance process in the aircraft industry. It's a kind of location-aware, wearable information system meant to facilitate the access to different sources of information a technician needs during the maintenance task:

The core of the wearable computer is a PDA. The device can be used like a usual PDA in the handheld mode or it can be stored in a holder for wearable operation. In the holder, the PDA connects to an HMD and automatically adapts its user interface to the changed modalities. By a wrist worn input device the user controls the wearable. The input device also contains a RFID scanner. The scanner will be used to identify areas in the aircraft. Subsequently the computer can display information and logbook entries associated to that area. The aircraft itself will be equipped with RFID tags and a server to store the part descriptions with references to the RFID tags. Data storage and knowledge management is not possible on the PDA directly. Thus, the PDA is designed as a client to a notebook computer carried in the toolbox of the technician.