The first truly wearable computer didn't appear until 1961 - and, of course, it was created to help a pair of cunning mathematicians cheat at roulette. Edward O. Thorpe and Claude Shannon concealed a timing device in a shoe which could fairly accurately predict where the ball would land on a roulette table. The number was communicated via radio waves to the gambler with a great deal of success - Thorpe reported a 44 per cent increase of winning bets. Other mathematicians developed similar machines, proving so successful that the state of Nevada - where Las Vegas resides - passed a law prohibiting them in 1985