Headmounted wireless video: Computer-supported collaboration for photojournalism and everyday use

Traditionally, video has been either part of the environment, such as video surveillance cameras mounted on or inside a building or video conferencing systems based on fixed cameras within a special room, or the domain of large organizations such as broadcast television stations. Recently, however, a new field of research called "personal imaging" has emerged. Personal Imaging systems are based on wireless video technology, and are typically characterized by video from a first-person perspective by way of a head-mounted camera and display together with an image processing computer worn on the body of the user. The possibilities afforded by personal imaging include a personal safety device for crime reduction, a new kind of videoconferencing system for computer-supported collaboration, as well as a new tool for photojournalism. This article briefly describes work in personal imaging as it has evolved over the past 20 years, and then attempts to set forth a future vision for wireless video in a head-mounted context. Most notably, the notion of computer-supported collaborative wireless video is presented.