Wearable Learning Environments

Wearable learning environments include a variety of body-borne sensory, communication, and computational components that may be worn under, over, or within clothing. Steve Mann refers to these environments as smart clothing. Wearable learning environments have the potential to change the dynamics of how individuals acquire, store, and retrieve information. This rapidly evolving technology offers new frontiers for both researchers and users.

This entry begins with an overview of the evolution of wearable learning environments. Next, the use of wearable learning environments for performance support in the workplace and for cognitive and psychomotor learning in education is discussed. Finally, a brief glimpse into the future implications of these learning environments is presented.