QUT Digital Repository: http://eprints.qut.edu.au/26874 Kajewski, Stephen L. and Tilley, Paul A. and Crawford, John and Remmers, Todd R. and Chen, Swee-Eng and Lenard, Dennis and Brewer, Graham and Gameson, Rod and Martins, Rui and Sher, Willy and Kolomy, Richard and Weippert, Achim and Caldwell, Geoff and Haug, Mark (2001) Handheld technology review. The Participants of the CRC for Construction Innovation have delegated authority to the CEO of the CRC to give Participants permission to publish material created by the CRC for Construction Innovation. This delegation is contained in Clause 30 of the Agreement for the Establishment and Operation of the Cooperative Research Centre for Construction Innovation. The CEO of the CRC for Construction Innovation gives permission to the Queensland University of Technology to publish the papers/publications provided in the collection in QUT ePrints provided that the publications are published in full. 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Handheld Technology Review Rep ort 2 0 0 1 -0 0 8 -C-0 6 The research described in this report was carried out by: P roject L eader D r S tephen K ajewsk i (QU T) Team Mem bers P aul Tilley, Mr J ohn C rawford (C S IR O ), Todd R em m ers (C S IR O ) P rofessor S wee-E ng C hen, P rofessor D ennis L enard, G raham B rewer, R od G am eson, R ichard K olom y, R ui Martins, W illy S her (U N ) R esearcher Mr A chim W eippert (QU T) P roject A ffiliates Mr G eoff C aldwell (QD MR ) and Mr Mark H aug (QD P W ) Res earch P rogram C: D elivery and M anagem ent of B u ilt A s s ets P roject 2 0 0 1 -0 0 8 -C: P roject Team Integration: Com m u nication, Coordination and D ecis ion S u p p ort CONTENTS CONTENTS _______________________________________________________________ 1 LIST OF TABLES__________________________________________________________ 3 LIST OF FIGURES ________________________________________________________ 3 PREFACE ________________________________________________________________ 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ___________________________________________________ 6 1 INTRODUCTION ______________________________________________________ 9 2 CURRENT STATE OF HANDHELD TECHNOLOGY _______________________ 10 2.1 Hardware Overview: What’s Available in General ____________________________ 10 2.2 Add-ons and Expansions __________________________________________________ 15 2.3 Integrated Phone & PDA: The Current trend ________________________________ 16 2.4 Software: What’s Available in General ______________________________________ 19 2.4.1 Palm OS_______________________________________________________________________ 19 2.4.2 Symbian OS____________________________________________________________________ 20 2.4.3 Windows CE OS ________________________________________________________________ 21 2.4.4 Java __________________________________________________________________________ 23 2.4.5 On-Device Software _____________________________________________________________ 24 2.5 Connectivity: The wireless evolution ________________________________________ 25 2.5.1 Infrared________________________________________________________________________ 25 2.5.2 BlueTooth _____________________________________________________________________ 26 2.5.3 Wireless Fidelity ________________________________________________________________ 27 2.5.4 Global System for Mobile Communications __________________________________________ 28 2.5.5 Code Division Multiple Access ____________________________________________________ 29 2.5.6 Third Generation ________________________________________________________________ 30 2.5.6.1 Enhanced Data GSM Environment _______________________________________________ 30 2.5.6.2 Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service _____________________________________ 31 2.5.6.3 Wideband Code-Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) _______________________________ 32 2.6 Device to Device Communication ___________________________________________ 33 2.6.1 Jini ___________________________________________________________________________ 33 2.6.2 ChaiServer _____________________________________________________________________ 33 2.6.3 Inferno ________________________________________________________________________ 33 2.6.4 Universal Plug and Play __________________________________________________________ 34 2.7 Automatic Data Collection ________________________________________________ 34 2.7.1 Speech Technology Software ______________________________________________________ 34 2.7.1.1 Speech Recognition Software____________________________________________________ 34 2.7.1.1.1 Dictation _______________________________________________________________ 34 2.7.1.1.2 Voice Recording _________________________________________________________ 35 2.7.1.1.3 Speech Command ________________________________________________________ 35 2.7.1.1.4 Natural Language Speech Recognition _______________________________________ 35 2.7.1.1.5 Speaker Verification ______________________________________________________ 35 2.7.1.2 Text-to-Speech _______________________________________________________________ 35 2.7.1.3 Interactive Voice Response _____________________________________________________ 35 2.7.2 Bar Code Reading _______________________________________________________________ 37 2.7.3 Radio Frequency Identification_____________________________________________________ 37 2.7.4 Biometric Security_______________________________________________________________ 39 2.8 Digital Cameras _________________________________________________________ 40 3 HANDHELD TECHNOLOGY IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY _________ 43 3.1 Range of Uses in the Construction Industry __________________________________ 43 1 3.2 Queensland Construction Industry _________________________________________ 43 3.2.1 Uptake of Handheld Computing Devices in Queensland, Australia ________________________ 43 3.2.2 Field Inspectors Diary Organiser (FIDO)_____________________________________________ 43 3.2.3 E-Site _________________________________________________________________________ 45 3.3 Benefits or Otherwise of Current Handheld Computers in Construction __________ 46 3.3.1 Case Studies____________________________________________________________________ 46 3.3.2 Home Building Industry __________________________________________________________ 49 3.3.3 Technologies Addressing Current Problems __________________________________________ 49 3.3.3.1 Orientation driven navigation____________________________________________________ 49 3.3.3.2 Near Eye Displays_____________________________________________________________ 50 3.3.4 M-Commerce in Construction______________________________________________________ 50 3.3.4.1 Client/Server _________________________________________________________________ 50 3.3.4.2 Application Service Providers ___________________________________________________ 50 4 THE FUTURE FOR HANDHELD TECHNOLOGY _________________________ 52 4.1 RFID Technologies_______________________________________________________ 52 4.2 Two-Way Human-Computer Interaction ____________________________________ 52 4.3 Future Generations of Mobile Communications: 3G, 4G, 5G…. _________________ 52 4.4 Future Power Options for HandHeld Devices_________________________________ 56 4.4.1 Fuel Cells______________________________________________________________________ 56 4.4.2 Silver Polymer Batteries __________________________________________________________ 56 4.4.3 PhotoVoltaic & Hydrogen Fuel Cells ________________________________________________ 56 4.4.4 Micro-engines __________________________________________________________________ 57 4.5 Keyboard Technologies ___________________________________________________ 57 4.6 Random Movement Printing Technology ____________________________________ 58 4.7 Flexibile Handhelds ______________________________________________________ 58 4.8 Wearable Computers _____________________________________________________ 58 4.8.1 Augmented Memory _____________________________________________________________ 59 4.8.2 Augmented Reality ______________________________________________________________ 59 4.8.3 Intelligent Collectives ____________________________________________________________ 59 4.9 Market Forecasts for Handheld Devices _____________________________________ 60 5 CONCLUSION________________________________________________________ 61 6 BIBLIOGRAPHY______________________________________________________ 62 7 GLOSSARY __________________________________________________________ 64 8 APPENDIX A: HANDHELD HARDWARE COMPARISONS _________________ 68 9 APPENDIX B: AVAILABLE SOFTWARE USED BY HANDELD DEVICES IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY ______________________________________________ 89 10 APPENDIX D: SOME RELEVANT INTERNET HOT LINKS _______________ 93 11 AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES ____________________________________________ 94 2 LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Top five PDA manufacturers as measured by worldwide shipments in 2002 (Thomas, 2003) ______________________________________________________________ 10 Table 2 Add-on capabilities available for Handheld devices. _______________________ 15 Table 3 Comparisons of Main OS System Features (Lukmani, 2002). ________________ 22 Table 4 Operating System on current Handheld devices. __________________________ 23 Table 5 Types of On-Device Software Available