In 2023, almost every VR device uses LCDs (Liquid Crystal Displays) to replace the real world with digital content, but a shift might be underway in 2024. Apple's Vision Pro is set to be one of the earliest VR devices to use OLED-on-Si technology, also known as micro-OLED, in a move to shrink headsets down whilst offering extremely high-quality images.

Wednesday 27 September 2023 - AI capabilities, and why these matter; Market revenue forecasts for AI chips at the edge up to and including 2034; Analyses relating to multiple key industry verticals, such as consumer electronics and automotive; Discussion of trends within these industry verticals.

Thursday 21 September 2023 - Seeing Is Believing: Exploring the Future of XR Display Technology - An introduction to how XR device types affect display requirements; Discussion of recent innovations in the XR display industry and their potential impacts on the future of XR devices; The bottlenecks and technology gaps holding back XR display development, with potential solutions identified; A roadmap for the development of the industry, with key player technologies highlighted

Since the introduction of Artificial Intelligence to the data center, AI has been loath to leave it. With large tracts of floorspace dedicated to servers comprising leading-edge chips that can handle the computational demands for training the latest in AI models, as well as inference via end-user connections to the cloud, data centers are the ideal environment for facilitating much of what AI has to offer.

Spatial computing promises to transform the way people interact with their devices as computing goes truly 3D, with early signs of change already underway. While Apple's upcoming Vision Pro is bringing new excitement to this space, gaming-focused VR (Virtual Reality) headsets from companies including Meta, Sony, and Pico have sold in the millions.

The increasing power density of data center racks, driven by technologies like cloud computing, generative AI, and crypto mining, has led to the exploration of liquid cooling as a thermal management solution.

With the continuous increase in the thermal design power (TDP) of chips, traditional air-cooling methods are struggling to meet the cooling requirements of modern hyperscale data centers. As a result, liquid cooling has emerged as a promising solution due to the high specific heat capacity of liquids.

Thursday 20 July 2023 - Navigating the Liquid Cooling Dominance in Data Centers - An IDTechEx Roadmap; Air cooling: An overview of the traditional air-cooling approach and its benefits and limitations; Direct-to-chip/Cold Plate Cooling: An exploration of cooling methods that involve direct contact between the cooling medium and the chips or the use of cold plates; Immersion cooling: An examination of cooling techniques that utilize immersion of servers or components in dielectric fluids; Coolant comparison and regulations: A comparison of different coolants used in liquid cooling systems, along with relevant regulations; Single-phase and two-phase cooling: An analysis of single-phase and two-phase cooling methods and their applications in data centers; Thermal interface materials (TIMs): An overview of the importance of thermal interface materials in efficient heat transfer within cooling systems.

Sony recently announced 'Project Q', comprising the development of a hand-held PlayStation and corresponding high-end earbuds. The inclusion of earbuds initially seems surprising since headphones and earphones are amongst the most mature in the near hundred billion-dollar wearables market.

Over the past 16 years, the thermal design power (TDP) of GPUs has quadrupled. With the increasing demand for AI, cloud computing, and crypto mining, IDTechEx expects the power consumption of server boards and data centers to continue rising.

On June 5th, Apple ended years of speculation and finally announced a mixed reality (MR) headset. The US$3499 Vision Pro headset confirmed some expectations and confounded others. IDTechEx has been tracking the mixed, augmented and virtual reality markets since 2015, with reports on headsets and accessories and optics available now and a report on displays for AR/VR soon to be released. This insight into the AR/VR industry and associated technologies provides context to IDTechEx's initial analysis of Apple's headset design philosophy.

Consumer technology available today is impressive but still not as cool as promised by many classic sci-fi movies. Our dreams of hoverboards and holograms have been replaced by stagnating smartphone designs and doom-scrolling. Yet things look set to change.

Thursday 27 April 2023 - What is the status and outlook for the wearables industry as a whole? How do the opportunities and challenges vary between wearable sensors and actuators? How is the role of wearables in healthcare evolving? Why wearables for drug-free health management and which technologies have the most commercial potential?

Thursday 13 April 2023 - This webinar will explore these lessons in depth through discussions on; Market trends across key applications for e-textiles; Manufacturing methods and how materials choice for e-textiles have evolved over the years; Examples from notable relevant companies; A review of the current state of the e-textiles market; Potential opportunities and challenges for the industry

Wearable technology is threatening to disrupt aspects of the pharmaceutical industry, with the latest technology offering a drug-free alternative to health management. But which of these competing wearable technologies are the promising candidates to lead the healthcare revolution?

Electronic skin patches have made remarkable progress in the field of healthcare. These wearable electronic devices feature adhesive pads designed to be worn directly on the skin, enabling convenient and non-invasive monitoring of vital signs and biomarkers.

A shirt that can track a person's heart rate, a shoe that can measure gait - the integration of electronic components with textiles to form e-textiles has been a significant research interest for several years.

Wednesday 8 February 2023 - Technological Developments and Applications. Contents that will be covered in this webinar include: An overview of PIC technology; Drivers of increased data demands from data centres; PIC trends in the communications industry; and PIC adoption in other markets

Mirroring the broader social trend of increasing awareness around inclusivity, exhibitors at CES 2023 highlighted the capabilities of consumer electronics to deliver assistive technology. IDTechEx attended the event, held January 5 - 8 in Las Vegas, and report on this key trend across interviews with exhibitors over the four days.