Fashion + Technology = #FASHIONTECH BERLIN
We are happy to announce the continuation of the #FASHIONTECH BERLIN at the re:publica on May 5 in cooperation with our collaboration partners, Berlin's Senate Department for Economics, Technology and Research/ Projekt Zukunft and EFRE. It is following the impressive launch of the new sub-conference in January 2015 by our partners and event hosts, PREMIUM and SEEK. The one-day event combines gadgets, hacking and fashion to merge technology and design. And you’ll be able to try out everything you hear about in the sessions right away and first-hand at the #FASHIONTECH Lab: there’ll be workshops, talks, a speed meeting event and exhibitions on all three days of the #rp15. Following the sub-conference, the workshop on May 6 will bring its focus to the Internet of Things (IoT), with the third day revolving around wearables in sports and medicine.
Covering a wide range of issues, the sub-conference brings together experts from the industry, scientists and fashion designers. For example, the session hosted by Sara Bonomi from the 3D printer manufacturer formlabs focuses on the “future of 3D printing in wearables and fashion”. You’ll be able to dive in right away and get hands-on with the 3D printer at the formlabs workshop at the #FASHIONTECH lab.
DIY will be one facet, with another being fashion and the marketing of fashion – especially in the digital sphere. Tobias Ulmer from the WERBEWELT agency will lend a helping hand in the “Digital Strategies for the Future of Fashion” session. “Community Power: From Ideation to Market” by Monika Kanokova and Amin Zayani’s IoT project and talk “Insulin Angel: From Hobby Project to Commercialization” will focus on issues surrounding successful testing in the community, the development of strategies and market entry for wearables.
Another facet of wearables is the data that can be collected: in “Wearable Noir”, innovation strategist Heather Moore elaborates on the idea of privacy in a CCTV-monitored environment. She shows how users can protect themselves and control what kinds of data are collected on them using wearables and other tactics. Thorsten Deutrich from the GlobalDots web and security company, on the other hand, explains the possible security risks and potentiality of attacks for wearable projects in connection with the Internet of Things (IoT) in his “Wearables, Realtime Big Data and the Cloud” session. He presents services that users should be aware of when creating wearables and exactly what areas of privacy can always be guaranteed for wearable users.
There will also be a fair bit of tinkering going on in Nicholas Caporusso’s workshop (and talk). Caprusso is the CEO of Intact healthcare and the developer of the dbGLOVE. This data glove, specifically designed for the blind and deaf-blind, makes it possible to digitally translate the Braille and Malossi alphabet. In this way, the blind and deaf-blind are able to contact and communicate with others via touch over the smartphone. In the practical part of the workshop, the basics of Malossi will be covered and the different applications of the data glove investigated.
Tobias Eichenwald, co-founder and CEO of senic, and his session and workshop will be similarly hands-on. His hardware startup garnered quite some attention last winter with the wireless, programmable controller senic dial, which stood out thanks to its impressive design and user experience. The workshop will focus on the fundamentals of IoT, important aspects concerning design and UX, as well as senic dial’s practical applications.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that all of this is only directed at DIY enthusiasts, tinkerers and experts from the industry. We highly recommend Lisa Lang’s session for anyone wanting to get an initial taste for the range of topics surrounding fashion and technology. The founder and CEO of the ElektroCouture agency, envisions wearables for the wider public and will be giving an introduction in her “Can You Explain FashionTech to Me?” talk.
Further session topics will include, among other things, sustainable fabrics in fashion by Mike Betts from the AKQA agency, feminist fashion on the web by author and blogger Ninia Binias, or how individualized “Curated Shopping” with the Kisura online service is made possible with the help of artificial intelligence.
You’ll be able to find out more about program sessions and activities at the #FASHIONTECH Lab under the “FASHIONTECH” track, as well as using the “Fashion” tag in the search box. Take a look, it’s worth it!
General information on the new sub-conference (and tickets) can be found here.
photo credit: Leah Buechley "LilyPad Arduino" (CC BY-SA-2.0)