Hiding your wearable from the group

This paper is one of the first I've seen to directly address the social awkwardness of wearable computers. They have built an e-suit which uses several method of communicating with the person wearing it including LEDs, sewn in buttons, shoulder vibrators and LCD watches. They have identified 'social weight' as a variable which is defined as "the attenuation of social interaction that an item causes between its user and others." The authors have developed a way to estimate the social impact different devices have and are using this data to choose socially acceptable ways of interacting with the users. Of particular interest is their desire to mimic the appearance and interaction techniques of other commonly worn devices (e.g. a watch) in order to draw less attention to usage.

"To be successful, any usage of the e-SUIT should present itself as the user merely engaging technology familiar to the observer. For example, when the e-SUIT’s watch is used to display and navigate menu information it must appear to onlookers that the e-SUIT’s user is merely checking the time or responding to an alarm. Similarly, when the vibrotactile display formed by the pager motors presents information, or when the integrated keyboard is used, it should not appear that the user is interacting with any technology."

And I do love the acknowledgments section:
"The authors would like to acknowledge the assistance of Vina Brailsford for the lending of sewing equipment and practical tailoring advice."

Minimal Social Weight User Interactions for Wearable Computers in Business Suits, 2003
Aaron Toney, Barrie Mulley, Bruce H. Thomas, and Wayne Piekarski
[Full-text pdf]