Unleashing the power of wearable devices in a SIP infrastructure

The session initiation protocol (SIP) has been widely adopted for instant messaging (IM) and VoIP telephony both by the enterprise and in service provider systems. Till now, SIP functionality has been accessible to end-users primarily via computing platforms such as an IM client on a laptop or on communication platforms such as an IP phone or a cell phone. We show that wearable devices such as the IBM Linux Watch (WatchPad™) can play a powerful role as a control device in a SIP infrastructure, given their easily accessible, always available, and visible user-interfaces. We have designed and prototyped several key control applications, using a SIP User Agent on the WatchPad, such as the ability to initiate and route incoming and outgoing phone calls, receive simple queries as instant messages, and call initiation based on address books residing on wearable devices. We discuss other examples such as video conferencing and the authentication layer for workflow. Our investigation and implementation shows that wearable devices can plug an important gap and significantly enhance user experience.