WEARABLE COMPUTING

TORONTO - What will the stylish Bell Canada field technician be sporting with their reflective orange coveralls this fall?

How about wearable computer technology that combines the mobility of a cell phone with the power of a laptop to be used while installing a new phone line high above a city street or down a manhole underground?

During a fashion show fit for the technical service set, Bell employees were the featured models for the Mobile Assistant IV (MA IV) computing and communications headset device now being pilot-tested at Bell Ontario over the next two months.

"These units will allow field service technicians to be more self-sufficient and improve the level of service to customers," said Terry Mosey, president of Bell Ontario.

The mobile sets combine technology created by U.S. firm Xybernaut Corp. of Fairfax, Va., maker of the wearable hardware, with that of IBM, which was contracted last year to develop the software and circuitry portion of Xybernaut's wearable computer systems.