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Image: Dublin Tech Summit
Last week, I took some time out to attend Dublin Tech Summit 2017 at The Convention Centre. This was a technology convention featuring over 200 guest speakers, as well as start-ups, demonstrations and business opportunities from the technology industry. Held across two days, and with thousands of attendees, this was an impressively large event by Dublin’s standards. The summit had a few core themes: creativity, business, the internet of things, marketing, financial technology, medical technology, data management and fashion.
Wednesday
8:30 – Arrival
Walking into The Convention Centre’s immense foyer, I was greeted by a talking robot called a RoboThespian, a life-sized humanoid robot designed for human interaction in a public environment. It sporadically sang “Walking On Sunshine” in an unconvincing warble, which was off-putting rather than entertaining. There was a tangible excitement in the venue, with bustling crowds of staff and attendees milling around, locating the different rooms and theatres.
10:00 – Opening Remarks / The Art of Storytelling
After a thirty minute delay, Noelle O’Reilly, CEO of Dublin Tech Summit, kicked things off with opening remarks and a light show on the PRISM stage. The stage itself was an impressive work of art, with massive monitors arranged into a geometric display around a triangular central platform.
Matthew Luhn, a Story Veteran from Pixar, took to the stage to discuss how he became involved in the CGI animation and storytelling that Pixar is renowned for. The main point of Luhn’s talk was effective storytelling. He said that it is far more effective to share information through storytelling rather than through statistics. He then highlighted how Steve Jobs (a major stakeholder in Pixar, though also of Apple fame) used this technique when unveiling this first iPhone in 2007. Luhn emphasised the need for a personal touch, in order to convince customers of authenticity, when trying to sell a product or service.
This talk was very enjoyable, though the ‘tech’ side of things was lacking. I would have liked to have heard more about the CGI animation process used at Pixar, rather than how to successfully pitch ideas or share information.
10:40 – Tech Development in the Arts
Matthew Luhn came back on stage, joined by Jimmy Chamberlain of the Smashing Pumpkins and Donal Scannell, the CEO of Snow Furnace.
This discussion, moderated by Scannell, was about maintaining authenticity and artistic integrity whilst dealing with the business world. Chamberlain spoke about how the Smashing Pumpkins avoided taking money from record companies so that they could retain total creative control over their music. Luhn spoke about how, in order to convince investors to part with their capital, you need to attract those whose passions align with your business values. Again, although interesting, I failed to see the major ‘tech’ component of this talk.
11:15 – Exhibition Hall: Samsung Gear VR Demo
I wandered into the main Exhibition Hall to see what was on offer for attendees. Immediately my attention was drawn towards Samsung’s demo space. They were inviting attendees to try on their Samsung Gear VR headset, which allows the user to enjoy different virtual reality experiences. I was greeted by some Samsung representatives, who introduced me to the hardware and let me have a go. I was seated in a pod-like chair which I could turn around in, allowing me to look in all directions during the VR demo. I was in space watching asteroids whizz past, then on a drifting boat, then surrounded by a creepy circus troupe, and then finally came face to face with a dinosaur. It was a surreal experience, and one that I’d be eager to try again.
13:20 – Are We Cyborgs Yet? Future of Fashion Technology
Ray Noori, CEO of Block Zero, spoke about the possibility of embedding sensors into fashion and our lives, to “allow us to connect with our environment and our bodies in new ways.” He pointed out the problem with today’s technology, especially wearables – the data that we are provided with requires interpretation. The more interpretation we have to indulge in, the more biased and subjective the results will be. Instead, the future lies in technology that enhances us on an instinctual level. For instance, there are peripherals used by the colour blind that allow them to ‘hear’ colours, but over time, they learn to not just think of colours, but understand them, and even have favourites. This was a thought-provoking talk, and even made me momentarily reassess the usefulness of my own smartwatch.
13:50 – There’s so Much More to Wearable Tech than Smartwatches
During a talk from Tara Winstantley, co-founder of EMEL+ARIS, I heard about a wearable that can detect when you’re ovulating (this was more of an ‘insertable’ actually…), a battery-powered coat with temperature control, a calf sleeve that can calculate your lactic acid threshold, and a bracelet that can tell you when you’ve had too much sun exposure. These are all very much niche products, and none of them were particularly affordable or necessary, but it was fun to hear about some of the tech industry’s more outlandish ideas.
14:00 – Exhibition Hall: IdeaPaint
While what was on offer in the exhibition hall was actually quite lacklustre, I did come across IdeaPaint, a company with an innovative and creative product. They sell a specially formulated paint which, when dry, has the same properties as a whiteboard. This means that you can change pretty much any surface into a gigantic whiteboard. I thought this was a really intriguing product, and I’m planning to let Trinity College’s Estates and Facilities know of its existence for use on campus.
15:00 – Transforming Medical Learning
This talk was by 3D4Medical, an Irish company that specialises in the development of healthcare software. With over 105 applications produced, it is extremely successful. It has even been featured in advertisements and presentations by tech giants Microsoft and Apple. The company has developed iPad apps that feature interactive and photo-realistic models of the human anatomy, with 25 individual layers and the ability to simulate various disease states. The apps also feature an abundance of medical information about every aspect of the human body, making them a suitable replacement for textbooks like Gray’s Anatomy. Even as an arts student, it was fascinating to see how useful these apps could be for a student studying within the health sciences.
15:50 – The Fragmentation of the Fashion Industry
For this talk, Kelly Kowal, MD of Black and White and Global Director of Online Communications of Farfetch, and Laura Roberts, Managing Director and Editor in Chief of The Industry, discussed how online technology can reunite online fashion stores with their physical counterparts. They spoke about the use of different online stores, algorithms and stock inventories. Unfortunately this talk just featured too much business lingo for me to engage with, and this may have explained why the room was noticeably empty.
16:40 – The Rhythm of Culture / Closing Remarks
The last address of the day was truly annoying. Jimmy Chamberlain, of the Smashing Pumpkins, returned to the PRISM stage to talk about the potential of music “to create compelling platforms for technology and beyond.” However, he simply told the same story of his band’s independent origins, with little to no reference to technology, and seemed to be stalling until his time was up. I’m not sure why he was given the final slot on the main stage before the closing remarks, but it made very little impact and I was not impressed.
Thursday
Why the Next Big Thing in Tech is Disrupting Sex
I was only able to attend day one of the convention. However, I did livestream some of the second day’s offerings from the PRISM stage. Unfortunately, the majority were very focused on the business side of things, rather than technology. That said, Cindy Gallop, CEO of MakeLoveNotPorn, did deliver a very memorable talk on “social sex” online. She spoke about the online video-sharing platform makelovenotporn.tv, where anyone in the world can upload footage of ‘real’ sex, as opposed to pornography, in an effort to make sex a social convention. I enjoyed the talk’s unique view on modern-day sex and its relation to social media, and I’d recommend checking it out on Dublin Tech Summit’s YouTube channel.
Verdict
Dublin Tech Summit was somewhat of a mixed bag. The convention has a very specific target audience: tech-minded businesses, business-minded students, and start-ups. Coming away from the event, I can’t help but feel as though it didn’t feature enough consumer-friendly technology, with the Samsung Gear VR display being the obvious exception. I can’t really fault the execution of the Tech Summit, as The Convention Centre was a welcoming and suitable venue, though the timetabling issues throughout the first day were exasperating. With an average ticket price of €400, I can’t really recommend attending Dublin Tech Summit unless you own a start-up, or are part of an established business looking to gain connections in the tech industry. Although enjoyable, this event is not really geared towards students or technology enthusiasts with an interest in consumer tech products like smartphones, tablets and gaming consoles. Instead, it is by and large a networking opportunity for large multi-national companies, smaller Irish businesses, and student-led start-ups.
