UK's Wearable Technology Show booms as smartwatches and virtual reality take off
The Wearable Technology Show, which launched last year, claims to be the world's biggest dedicated wearables event and takes place from 10-11 March 2015 at ExCeL in London.
This year, the two-day event, organised by Evolve Media Group, is set to feature innovators from technology giants at the likes of Microsoft, Samsung, Intel, Jawbone and Misfit, to entrepreneurs at startups like Ambiotex, MyBrain, Nuvo and Made with Glove. Other exhibitors include crowdfunding platform IndieGoGo and students from the University of London.
Attendees have pledged to launch wearable products and apps that fall under sports and fitness, healthcare, lifestyle and enterprise IT.
Nuvo and Ambiotex, for example, will be showcasing their new wearable technologies that could help the NHS.
Nuvo is developing wearable technology that passively and non-invasively monitors foetal and maternal vital signs to alert against symptoms that may indicate medical complications, while Ambiotex's prototype is a smart garment that measures biometrical data with medical precision, allowing for extensive analysis that could aid training performance optimisation and health.
Visitors will also see the global launch of Teiimo's illation jacket, a heated leather jacket with integrated Bluetooth system and mobile phone charger, and many other UK launches including the next generation of smartwatches and trackers such as Activinsights' wristband, which lets healthcare professionals diagnose and manage conditions such as obesity and diabetes.
The exhibition also has a conference programme featuring more than 200 speakers from companies including Google, LG and McLaren.
"This industry may have started out as 'glasses and watches' but the product launches at this year's Wearable Technology Show prove without a doubt that wearable technology is about much more than accessing our emails on the go - it has valid, and valuable, applications across a wide range of industries and the products in development to aid healthcare are particularly impressive," said Lisa Doerr, CEO of the Wearable Technology Show.