IDTechEx | Wearable Europe Berlin 2017
By Nayara Moia @NayaraMoia
After Women of Wearables launched its Berlin chapter, the IDTechEx Wearable Europe Berlin 2017 conference was the perfect opportunity for me to connect with like-minded women working in the wearable industry and meet some of those inspiring women behind the scenes.
The IDTechEx Wearable Europe Berlin 2017 conference took place on 10-11 May. It is a conference and exhibition focused on wearable technology applications and their commercialization progress. The two-day combined conference program consisted of 50 speakers specifically covering issues, trends and players in the wearable technology industry.
After 2 days of attending the conference tracks and exhibition, it was very clear to me why Women of Wearables exists and how important it is to create a network of women in this field.
I could count on my fingers the number of women leading wearable technology companies or developing the technology and concept behind the products. The conference was very industry focused with a business to business target market. It also pointed out the gender gap that our industry suffers even more.
Women in Wearables
I was very inspired to see women like Nadja Kang CMO of AiQ with an incredible view of her business and the industry itself and the future of wearables. AIQ focusses on the research and development of innovative textiles and concepts for daily life needs.
Dr. Fotini Markpoulou, the CEO behind Doppel, led a great discussion that captivated my attention bringing up the concept of “Senses and not Sensors and how feelings interfere in the future of wearables. Doppel is a wrist wearable that creates a rhythmic pulse, that you can use it to stay calm under pressure, instead of collecting data, like the majority of wristband wearables.
Himaero an Italian company that shares the same concept of using the user’s senses to communicate with the outside world through a wearable jewellery collecting data and exhibiting it according to the feelings of the user.
They were my favourite ones by far because with my background in fashion design, the design is just as important as the technology when it comes to wearable technology.
Women's Health
The conference included some very interesting presentations about women’s health and how wearables can help women to understand and deal with their bodies, menstrual cycles and pregnancy in a nice and positive way by avoiding the use of hormones and other substances.
Just by monitoring our cycles and body temperatures through sleeping patterns like Tempdrop, this fertility tracking wearable aims to be at the centre of this revelation paired with different software and apps out there.
Apps such as Clue, Glow, Kindara, Natural Cycles all track, measure and analyse a woman's health in relation to her menstrual cycle or fertility levels.
I couldn’t help but feel excited to see how technology is moving so fast in this field of research and development in wearables. Seeing so much technology and using the body as a vehicle to collect data, I had to take a deep breath, step back from all the technology around me and data that is being collected.
However, one must never forget that the user is still a person using a technology. The user should be taken into consideration as the first priority when developing a product or concept or collecting data.
I was very excited to attend and report on my first IDTechEx Wearable Europe Berlin 2017 conference for Women of Wearables. I look forward to seeing the number of women in wearables growing and attending the conference next year.
If you are a woman in the wearable tech industry in Berlin and interested joining our community, email us at hello@womenofwearables.com and let’s make our community bigger and stronger!
I hope to see you all at the IDTechEx Wearable Berlin 2018!
This blog was written by Nayara Moia, Trend Analyst and Women of Wearables Berlin Ambassador. Follow Nayara on Twitter @nayaramoia or Medium: medium.com/@nayaramoia.