An Egocentric Approach

I ncreasingly powerful wearable computers suggest that a tight integration between human and computer is achievable. However, to reach a deep integration that offers timely cognitive support, we need to better understand how humans perceive, think, and act in the world. An ideal wearable intelligent assistant “augments memory, intellect, creativity, communication, and physical senses and abilities.”1 We prefer the term “wearable personal assistant” (WPA) to emphasize the tight integration between a single mind, body, and computer. Human body-and-mindcentric design approaches can complement existing technology-driven efforts (that is, efforts based on available state-of-theart hardware) in addressing many of the challenges of human-computer systems because, ultimately, the power of these systems depends on the level of integration.1 Although we can adapt and modify the artificial cognitive architecture (the “computer” system), we cannot change the body and brain of human agents. As system designers, we can only ensure that our WPAs talk to our relatively static biological setup in the way evolution designed it to interpret and act in the world. Our focus here is on human perception, cognition, and action. How we think we interpret the world around us in everyday life is not how we (our brains) actually do it. In the last few decades, research in cognitive science, perception psychology, and neuropsychology has resulted in some remarkable findings, some of which are still debated: