IPS Joins Motorola To Create Wearable PC

The Motorola HC1
The Motorola HC1

IPS also had a hand in development of the HC1 hardware. According to IPS president Mitch Maiman, Motorola approached him about a year ago asking for help with the its design and manufacture. "The headset computer was coming along, but was still a prototype," recalled Maiman, whose company had already invested three years developing an app for it, but never on solid ground. Motorola ultimately asked IPS to "finish designing this and get it into a factory," he said. The hardware was released in July of 2013. Entervise version 1.0 came three months later.

The Entervise solution is among the only apps that currently exist for the HC1, and its utility is beyond compare. The solution consists of three main components. A client app runs on the headset and responds to voice commands for opening documents, zooming in and out and getting help. When scrolling is required, the app responds to the HC1's accelerometer as it reacts to head movement. When the words "Request Expert" are spoken, the app makes a call to the server component.

This is where Entervise comes into its own. The solution allows a company's most experienced and highest-paid experts to remain in the office while the less expensive team members deploy to the field and become their eyes and ears. The server component handles connections and communications with remote devices and sets up and manages their video streams. The third component is a browser-based app through which experts communicate with people in the field.

NEXT: Early Stages