Steve Mann (inventor)

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Template:Use Canadian English Template:Infobox scientist

William Stephen George Mann (born 8 June 1962) is a Canadian engineer, professor, and inventor who works in wearable computing, augmented reality, extended reality, and computational photography, particularly high-dynamic-range imaging. Mann is an early contributor to the development of wearable computing systems, reflecting his involvement in the field since the late 20th century. [1][2][3][4]

Mann is a founding member of the IEEE Council on Extended Intelligence (CXI).[5][6] He cofounded Blueberry X Technologies and served as its CTO from 2019 to 2021, and is the Chairman of MannLab. In the 2023 Toronto mayoral by-election, Mann unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Toronto.

Early life and education

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Mann was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. While in high school, Mann built a wearable 6502-based computer in a steel-frame backpack to control photographic systems.[7]

He studied at McMaster University, where he completed B.Sc., B.Eng. and M.Eng. in 1987, 1989 and 1992, respectively. He later obtained a PhD in Media Arts and Sciences (1997) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1997.

Career

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Mann is a tenured full professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto, with cross-appointments to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and Faculty of Forestry. He is also a licensed Professional Engineer in Ontario.

Mann’s research has focused on wearable computing, computational photography, and human–computer interaction. Beginning in the late 1970s, he developed early wearable computing systems designed to integrate imaging, sensing, and real-time processing with human perception. Among these developments was the “EyeTap” or “Digital Eye Glass,” a wearable device that combines camera input and display output to enable mediated visual experiences.[8]

In signal processing and computational imaging, Mann introduced the chirplet transform in 1991, a representation based on chirp signals that extends wavelet-based methods.[9][10][11] He later developed techniques for estimating camera response functions and combining multiple exposures of the same scene to extend image dynamic range, contributing to the development of high-dynamic-range imaging methods.[12][13] His work also included early algorithms for image stitching and perspective correction,[14] sometimes referred to as “video orbits.”[15][16][17]

Mann has also contributed to interface design and human–computer interaction, including the development of approaches described as natural user interfaces, which emphasize interaction through physical environments rather than traditional command-line or graphical interfaces.[18] Related work includes input methods such as acoustic “scratch input,” which uses sound generated by physical contact with surfaces as a form of interaction.

In addition to imaging and interface research, Mann has explored concepts in physics and engineering such as integral kinematics and integral kinesiology, including measures like “absement,” which represent time-integrated displacement.[19][20][21] He also developed experimental systems such as the hydraulophone, a musical instrument that produces sound through the manipulation of pressurized fluid.[19]

File:SteveMann SequantialWaveImprintingMachine.gif
Mann with three of his inventions: EyeTap Digital Eye Glass, Smartwatch, and SWIM (Sequential Wave Imprinting Machine) phenomenological augmented reality.

Mann has also explored concepts related to human perception and mediated reality. His work includes proposals such as the “sensory singularity,” sometimes referred to as “sensularity,” developed in collaboration with other researchers Marvin Minsky and Ray Kurzweil, as well as experimental visualization systems such as the surveilluminescent wand, which is designed to make the field of view of imaging devices perceptible.[22] He has further contributed to the development of wearable and gesture-based systems, including telepointer and related “SixthSense”-type interfaces, which integrate cameras and projection systems to enable interaction with digital information through physical gestures.

File:Surveilluminescent Lights in Motion handwash faucets 03.jpg
Surveilluminescent wand: When moved through space in a long-exposure photograph, it makes the sightfield of a surveillance camera visible.

Mann also works in the fields of computer-mediated reality.[23] He is a strong advocate of privacy rights. His work also extends to the area of sousveillance (a term he coined for "inverse surveillance"). Mann and one of his PhD students, James Fung, together with some of his other students, have been building a cyborg community around the cyborg-logging concept.[24]

Mann has collaborated with Ian Kerr of the University of Ottawa on research on anonequity project related to surveillance, sousveillance, and equiveillance.[25] He is credited with coining the term sousveillance, referring to forms of observation conducted by individuals rather than centralized authorities, and has contributed to the development of related concepts such as humanistic intelligence, which examines the integration of computation with human perception and experience.[26][27]

His work has also been associated with early forms of mobile and networked media. In 2003, Joi Ito attributed to Mann an early role in the development of moblogging, citing systems he created for transmitting images, video, and text in near real time. Between 1994 and 1996, Mann conducted continuous personal broadcasting experiments in which aspects of his daily life were shared online for remote interaction.[28]

These activities, sometimes described as “cyborg-logging,” involved the use of wearable computing systems to document and transmit lived experiences.[29] Such work has been characterized as an early precursor to blogging and other forms of online personal media and social networking.

Awards and honours

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Mann was inducted into the McMaster University Alumni Hall of Fame in 2004, in recognition of his career as an inventor and teacher.[30]

During his time at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Nicholas Negroponte credited Mann with contributing to the early development of wearable computing research at the MIT Media Lab.[31] Negroponte described, Mann’s work as influential in the establishment of the lab’s wearable computing activities and in the broader development of the field.[32][33]

In 2004 he was named the recipient of the 2004 Leonardo Award for Excellence for his article "Existential Technology," published in Leonardo 36:1.[34][35]

He has held roles in professional and academic organizations, including serving as General Chair of the IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society,[36] Associate Editor of IEEE Technology and Society, is a licensed Professional Engineer, and Senior Member of the IEEE,[37] as well as a member of the IEEE Council on Extended Intelligence (CXI).[38]

Mann received the 2025 IEEE Masaru Ibuka Consumer Electronics Award[39] for his work in wearable computing. He also received the 2024 Lifeboat Foundation Guardian Award for related work on sousveillance.[40]

Media coverage

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Mann has been referred to as the "father of wearable computing",[41][42][43] having created the first general-purpose wearable computer, in contrast to previous wearable devices that perform one specific function such as time-keeping (e.g. wristwatch); calculations (e.g. wearable abacus); or Edward O. Thorp and Claude Shannon's wearable computers, which were timing devices concealed in shoes or cigarette packs and designed for gaining an advantage at roulette.[44][45]

Mann has also been described as "the world's first cyborg" in Canadian popular press such as NOW, The Globe and Mail, National Post, and Toronto Life, but has himself rejected the term "cyborg" as being too vague.[46]

In 2023, Steve Mann ran for Mayor of Toronto.[47] As part of his campaign he advocated for recreational swimming in Lake Ontario, and supported a petition to save the beach at Ontario Place.[48][49]

Publications

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Mann is author of more than 200 publications, including a textbook on electric eyeglasses and a popular culture book on day-to-day cyborg living. Selected works:

  • Intelligent Image Processing ISBN 0-471-40637-6
  • Cyborg: Digital Destiny and Human Possibility in the Age of the Wearable Computer Randomhouse Doubleday 2001
  • The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP): A Wiley Tech Brief ISBN 0-471-39992-2
  • International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction 2003: Special Issue : Mediated Reality ISBN 0-8058-9604-X
  • Advanced Palm Programming: Developing Real-World Applications ISBN 0-471-39087-9

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ [Steve Mann, Father Of Wearable Computing, Given IEEE Ibuka Award By Thomas Coughlin, Contributor, IEEE President in 2024, Feb 13, 2025, 06:14pm https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomcoughlin/2025/02/13/steve-mann-father-of-wearable-computing-given-ieee-ibuka-award/]
  2. ↑ Tech Giant "Father of Wearable Tech" Steve Mann "Goes for The Ride" to YYD ROBO!, YYD Corporate News, 2017-07-31
  3. ↑ Badminton, Nikolas (11 November 2014). "Father of Wearable Computing, Steve Mann, to Keynote FITC Wearables, Toronto, November 13th". Medium. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  4. ↑ Mitchell, Marit (13 March 2013). "Meet Steve Mann, father of wearable computing". University of Toronto. Retrieved 28 November 2020. Professor Steve Mann is known as the father of wearable computing...
  5. ↑ CXI - Council on Extended Intelligence, IEEE Standards Association (IEEE SA), 2017
  6. ↑ The Case for Extended Intelligence - IEEE, Technological Advancement in Service of People and Planet, Pages 1-48, Piscataway, New Jersey, 2018.
  7. ↑ "A brief history of wearable computing". MIT Media Lab. Retrieved 29 March 2026.
  8. ↑ Mann, Steve (November 2012). "Eye Am a Camera: Surveillance and Sousveillance in the Glassage". TIME.
  9. ↑ "Comparametric Equations". Wearable Computing and Interaction Design. Retrieved 3 August 2007.
  10. ↑ Template:Patent
  11. ↑ ""Compositing Multiple Pictures of the Same Scene", Proceedings of the 46th Annual Imaging Science & Technology Conference, May 9–14, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1993". Archived from the original on 14 November 2007. Retrieved 7 October 2007.
  12. ↑ Robertson; et al. (2003). "Estimation-theoretic approach to dynamic range enhancement using multiple exposures". Journal of Electronic Imaging. 12 (2): 220, right column, line 26. Bibcode:2003JEI....12..219R. doi:10.1117/1.1557695.
  13. ↑ Davies, Chris (12 September 2012). "Quantigraphic camera promises HDR eyesight from Father of AR". Slashgear.com. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  14. ↑ "High-resolution stills and environment maps from video using the projective group of coordinate transformations". Wearcam.org.
  15. ↑ "Video Orbits of the Projective Group". EyeTap. Archived from the original on 1 July 2008. Retrieved 3 August 2007.
  16. ↑ Template:Patent
  17. ↑ ""Virtual bellows: constructing high-quality images from video.", In Proceedings of the IEEE First International Conference on Image Processing". Eyetap.org. Austin, Texas. 16 November 1994. Archived from the original on 25 July 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  18. ↑ Intelligent Image Processing, John Wiley and Sons, 2001
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Mann, Steve; Janzen, Ryan; Post, Mark (2006). "Hydraulophone Design Considerations: Absement, Displacement, and Velocity-Sensitive Music Keyboard in which each key is a Water Jet". Proceedings of the 14th ACM international conference on Multimedia. MM'06. pp. 519–528. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.131.2778. doi:10.1145/1180639.1180751. ISBN 978-1-59593-447-5. S2CID 14740177. Template:QID. Retrieved 3 August 2007.
  20. ↑ Memory Elements: A Paradigm Shift in Lagrangian Modeling of Electrical Circuits Template:Arxiv
  21. ↑ "Integral Kinematics (Time‐Integrals of Distance, Energy, etc.) and Integral Kinesiology", by Steve Mann, Ryan Janzen, Mir Adnan Ali, Pete Scourboutakos, and Nitin Guleria, in Proceedings of the IEEE GEM2014, pp 627-629, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, October 22–24, 2014
  22. ↑ Mann, Steve (June 2014). "The Sightfield: Visualizing Computer Vision, and Seeing Its Capacity to "See"". 2014 IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Workshops. IEEE. pp. 618–623. doi:10.1109/CVPRW.2014.127. ISBN 978-1-4799-4308-1. Archived from the original on 24 November 2023.
  23. ↑ "Committee of IEEE ISTAS – Social Implications of Living in a SmartWorld". Retrieved 8 November 2012.[permanent dead link]
  24. ↑ "About Us". Glogger.mobi. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 23 July 2012.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  25. ↑ "Cyborg Law Course". Wearable Computing and Interaction Design. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  26. ↑ Mann, S. (May–June 2001). "Wearable computing: Toward humanistic intelligence" (PDF). IEEE Intelligent Systems. 16 (3): 10–15. Bibcode:2001IISys..16c..10M. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.62.4991. doi:10.1109/5254.940020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022.
  27. ↑ "Co-investigators & collaborators". On the Identity Trail. Archived from the original on 17 May 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2012.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  28. ↑ Ito, Joi. "Joi Ito's Moblogging, Blogmapping and Moblogmapping related resources as of 6/10/2003". Archived from the original on 21 June 2007. Retrieved 3 August 2007. February 1995 – wearcam.org as roving reporter Steve Mann (under 'about moblogging')
  29. ↑ "wearcam.org as roving reporter; (c) Steve Mann, Feb. 1995". Retrieved 3 August 2007.
  30. ↑ "Mann, Steve". McMaster University. Archived from the original on 14 November 2007. Retrieved 3 August 2007.
  31. ↑ "Video Interview". Wearable Computing and Interaction Design. Retrieved 3 August 2007.
  32. ↑ Bangor Daily News – Sep 26, 1997
  33. ↑ Part man, part machine – all nerd `Wearable computer' pioneer Steve Mann keeps one eye locked on the future, Toronto Star, Eric Shinn, July 8, 02:32 EDT
  34. ↑ "2004 Leonardo Award for Excellence Given to Steve Mann". 7 December 2004. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  35. ↑ Mann, Steve (2003). "Existential Technology: Wearable Computing Is Not the Real Issue!". Leonardo. 36 (1): 19–25. doi:10.1162/002409403321152239. JSTOR 1577273. S2CID 4495269.
  36. ↑ "ISTAS'13". Veillance.me. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  37. ↑ "IEEE T&S Magazine: Undergoing Transformation". Archived from the original on 21 May 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  38. ↑ "CXI - Council on Extended Intelligence | IEEE SA & MIT Media Lab". IEEE CXI. Archived from the original on 18 June 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  39. ↑ Labeau, Fabrice (2025). "Steve Mann Received 2025 IEEE Masaru Ibuka Consumer Technology Award". IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine. 14 (3): 4. Bibcode:2025ICEM...14c...4L. doi:10.1109/MCE.2025.3546690.
  40. ↑ "Lifeboat Foundation Guardian Award". Lifeboat Foundation. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
  41. ↑ Schofield, Jack (5 April 2012). "Google Project Glass: will we really wear digital goggles?". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 July 2012. Steve Mann, a Canadian known as the father of wearable computing, has been developing systems since the 1980s with obvious industrial, medical and military applications.
  42. ↑ Clarke, Peter (8 February 2000). "ISSCC: 'Dick Tracy' watch watchers disagree". EE Times. Archived from the original on 22 January 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2012. Steve Mann, a professor at the University of Toronto, was hailed as the father of the wearable computer and the ISSCC's first virtual panelist, by moderator...
  43. ↑ Schofield, Jack (1 August 2001). "From man to borg – Is this the future?". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  44. ↑ "The Invention of the First Wearable Computer Online paper by Edward O. Thorp of Edward O. Thorp & Associates" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 May 2008. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  45. ↑ Ballingall, Alex (13 February 2013). "Google Glass, smart watches could help spawn wearable computer age". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 31 May 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2016. Garten also noted a remarkable similarity between the Google Glass and the eyewear technology developed by Steve Mann, a University of Toronto professor known as the "cyborg" for constantly wearing his version of the wearable computer glasses. He’s often referred to as "the father" of the wearable computer and augmented reality vision.
  46. ↑ Mann, Steve; Hal Niedzviecki (2001). Cyborg: Digital Destiny and Human Possibility in the Age of the Wearable Computer. Randomhouse Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-65826-3.
  47. ↑ "Steve Mann for Mayor".
  48. ↑ "SwimOP".
  49. ↑ "Save the Beach".
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