WWTO August 2014: Google Glass Reunion - One Year Later & Lovebot

It's been just over a year since Explorers have worn Google Glass out in the wild and the world has never been the same since. Despite the fact that Glass is not officially available in Canada, a small group of Explorers have been living with Glass here in Toronto. We are bringing SEVEN of these Canadian Explorers together to talk about their experiences over the past year in a panel called Google Glass Reunion moderated by technology journalist Daniel Bader.

In addition to the Glass panel, PUSH is back to show off its production unit and we have Toronto phenomenon, Lovebot in the house to remind us to connect with one another, something wearable tech also aims to do by moving tech into the background.

Agenda

6:30-7:00: Doors Open

7:00-7:05: Opening Remarks & Community Announcements

7:05-7:40: Glass Reunion - 1 Year Later: Panel Discussion moderated by Daniel Bader, MobileSyrup

7:40-7:50: Bionym & CloudExchange

7:50-7:55: The Love Invasion: Lovebot

7:55-8:00: Closing Remarks

8:00-10:00: Bar & Food / Demo Area Open: Glassware, PUSH & Lovebot

A big thanks to our sponsors MaRS Discovery District, Uproar PR and CloudExchange for making this event possible.

About the Explorers

Macy Kuang is the Founder of Miaomiao Games. She is on the organizing committee for AndroidTO, the annual Android conference, organizer of the first Canadian Google Glass Hackathon, and a regular contributor to the Google Developer Group. Macy participated in the Google Glass Foundry in New York in February 2013 and is now a Google Glass Pioneer, working with developer versions of the hardware and associated APIs.

Jean-Luc David is a wearables developer & consultant based in Toronto, ON. He is a recognized expert on topics such as wearables, mobile technologies, and security. He’s written five books on computer programming for Wiley Publishing and has spoken at hundreds of conferences around the world. Jean-Luc work has been featured in several major media outlets, including CNN, Wired, CBC, Mashable, TechCrunch and Engadget.

Matthew Patience is the VP of Mobile at BNOTIONS, leading a top notch team of developers in the creation of numerous critically acclaimed applications for the Android, iPhone, Windows Mobile and Blackberry platforms. His team consistently produces high end products that have been named Editors’ Choice, New & Noteworthy, and Google Play Picks. Matthew is firmly established in the mobile community. His first technology venture was creating a local mobile development agency, Mobicartel. In 2011, Mobicartel was acquired by BNOTIONS and Matthew’s talents have led him to become the VP of Mobile, running a growing, multi-talented mobile engineering team stacked with some of Canada’s best. Recently, Matthew was selected by Google to join the Glass Explorer program and has subsequently developed the 500px Glassware for other Glass users to enjoy.

Ahmad Nassri is a Technology Entrepreneur with over 10 years building Web & Mobile Products. Leading development teams in disruptive technologies & working with global brands.Currently working with the talented team at Mashape in building a world-class marketplace for cloud APIs. He is the author of various open-source tools and software libraries used by thousands of developers world wide, including companies and research labs such as Financial Times, Yahoo and CERN. In his spare time, Ahmad blogs about Technology & Leadership, mentors at Ladies Learning Code, and builds open-source projects. Somehow he still finds the time to walk around Toronto with his Google Glass sharing the experience and cataloging people's reactions on his Tumblr blog: glass-reactions.tumblr.com.

Brian Best is a web developer for BANG! creative communications in Milton Ontario. Holding a passion for tech in all forms he originally started his career reporting on industry news/trends on radio stations in Hamilton. Wanting more to actually create tech news rather than report on it he went back to school to learn web development. Day to day he creates websites, by night he creates: drones that serve booze, apps and toying with future tech. Brian was invited to the Google Glass Explorer program in November of 2013.

Emir Hasanbegovic is a Lead Engineer for Kinetic Café, where he heads their innovative Kinetic Labs. He has been a Google Glass Explorer for over a year and has been plugging away at applications such as CitySpot.org. He has produced many applications that have millions of downloads in the Google Play store. He now evangelizes MVVM for Android with Liason.mobi, through which he helps organizations build enterprise grade Android applications. He has had an undeniable passion and knack for technology since his early youth, which has lead him to a career of tinkering and hacking anything and everything, including Google Glass.

Tom Emrich is a wearable tech evangelist. He is Founder of We Are Wearables, an organization dedicated to fostering adoption and facilitating innovation in wearable tech through events, education, collaboration and resources. He is also co-founder of Wearable App Review, the first app review site for wearables including Android Wear, Google Glass, Pebble and more. Tom writes about wearables and other emerging tech like the Internet of Things and 3D Printing for a number of sites including MobileSyrup, BetaKit and Designers of Things of which he is the Editor. He has a background in product marketing, development and strategy and has created many apps for mobile and wearable platforms including Google Glass apps Glass Eats and Stay Glassy, TTC. He became a Google Glass Explorer in June of 2013.

About the Moderator

Daniel Bader is a technology journalist who aims to bridge the gap between technical jargon and real-world experience. Writing for MobileSyrup (http://mobilesyrup.com/) since 2011, he has helped grow the site into Canada’s leading resource for smartphones, tablets and the mobile industry at large. He has also appeared on radio and television to chat about important mobile trends and products. He wears a smartwatch but doesn’t know why.

About PUSH

Toronto-based fitness technology startup, PUSH, launched from the JOLT program at MaRS Commons. PUSH empowers athletes by providing a way to track workouts and visualize results. Its team has worked tirelessly for the last year to bring the fitness realm a wearable device that generates real metrics – the PUSH Band. No imaginary points or arbitrary scores, just actual data that will help makes users stronger, improve form and reduce the risk of injury. PUSH constantly strives to improve its product with user’s needs in mind and find innovative ways to make fitness routines increasingly productive and more fun. PUSH Pre-order PUSH by visiting www.pushstrength.com (http://www.pushstrength.com/).

About LoveBot

The Love Invasion is a Toronto-based art movement aimed at sharing and illuminating the love that exists in the city. Its hero character, Lovebot, was created by Matthew Del Degan with one purpose: to remind the humans to share love, kindness and compassion with each other. Since last summer, Del Degan has worked tirelessly to roll out a 100+ strong army of child-sized concrete Lovebots in Toronto, dedicating each one to an inspiring story of love. This summer marks a major milestone for The Love Invasion, as they release the Lovebot DIY toy and plan for the Global Love Invasion, which will see Lovebot travel and share love with humans all around the world. Support Lovebot's crowdfunding campaign by heading on over to Kickstarter (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mindzai/diy-lovebot-toy-join-the-love-invasion).

About Our Sponsors

MaRS Discovery District is a mission-driven innovation centre located in Toronto. MaRS works with partners to catalyze, accelerate and amplify innovation. MaRS supports entrepreneurs building Canada’s next generation of growth companies. For more information, visit http://www.marsdd.com

CloudExchange is a white-labeled app store platform that connects you with your users and developers. Our simple and easy to use platform gets your branded app store and branded developer portal up and running quickly, no big budgets or custom code required, helping you get the very best apps into the hands of your users. For more information, please visit http://cloudexchange.io/

Uproar PR is an innovative consumer technology public relations and social media agency. Along with their other technology practices, the firm has successfully built brand recognition for its wearable tech clients. Within the Toronto and Waterloo communities, Uproar works with Thalmic Labs, Bionym Kiwi Wearables and PUSH. With Uproar's media relations experience, those companies have been featured in media outlets including The Today Show, Business Insider, New York Times and CNBC, just to name a few. The firm specializes in developing campaigns that drive awareness and sales, creating industry buzz. For more information, please visit http://www.uproarpr.com