Two award winners were announced as the global wearable technology industry gathers at the IDTechEx Show! at the Santa Clara Convention Center this week. With over 3,000 attendees spanning the entire wearable technology value chain, the awards are closely contested between many of the most innovative companies in the space.
The Best New Wearable Technology Device Award - Meta
The Best New Wearable Technology Device was won by Meta for their Meta 2 Development Kit. With a wide field of view and intuitive direct hand interaction with digital content, this device provides an immersive experience unlike any of the AR products that have been demonstrated to date.
"It's an honor to have our Meta 2 Development Kit recognized as the Best New Wearable Technology Device by the IDTechEx Show," said Esther Lekeu, Industrial Designer for Meta. "We designed the Meta 2 headset to give the best customer experience possible. We work closely with developers to create captivating applications that will change the way people collaborate, communicate and engage with information and each other, now and moving into the future." Judge Heidi Dohse from Google was impressed by the possibilities to use this technology, including education, gaming and healthcare. "It sounds like we will get to experience virtual reality in a new way ... we might not want to come back to the real world!"
Best New Material or Component Development Award
The second award was for Best New Material or Component Development and went to BrightVolt. Their submission was on 'The Safest, Most Customized Battery for the Most Revolutionary Wearables.' The award was accepted by Todd Peters, CEO and Dr Anani, Chief Scientist at BrightVolt. Peters commented: "We are extremely pleased and honored to have received the award for the Best New Material or Component Development. It is a privilege to work with such an exceptional team on developing SAFE, solid-state and customized batteries that are going to help revolutionize the next stage for wearables and IoT Technology."
David Monteith from Flextronics was one of the judges who chose BrightVolt as the winner: "BrightVolt is focusing on the right problem to solve to really enable the smart textiles market to happen. It not just about what happens inside the textile, but how that component impacts the whole system and the resulting product. Too much focus is on interconnects, which is not a barrier to industry or consumers, adopting smart apparel, it's the battery back attached to it."
Best Poster Award
North Carolina State University (NCSU) won the Best Poster Award for their submission: "Printed Electronics on Textiles: An Iron-on Approach"
The next IDTechEx Wearable awards will be held in Berlin, Germany on 10 & 11 May, 2017. For more details see www.IDTechEx.com/Europe
About IDTechEx
IDTechEx guides your strategic business decisions through its Research and Events services, helping you profit from emerging technologies. IDTechEx Events provide an analytical, commercial outlook, taking into account market requirements, competitive technologies and development roadmaps. Attendees are presented with the full, diverse range of technologies but the main thrust is always on end user needs and commercialization strategies. For more information see www.IDTechEx.com .
