WWTO is back November 29 at MaRS Discovery District Centre as we look at TECH FOR GOOD: how wearables are making our lives better and come together to change someone's life completely by giving them the gift of sight.
Join us for an evening as we explore, discuss and demo how wearable tech is disrupting autism, mental health, education, blindness, deafness, personal safety and more both on stage and in our expo featuring 16 companies.
PLUS we are asking using WWTO as a platform to rally the community together to help give someone the gift of sight thanks to our friends at eSight. Learn how below.
Refreshments including beer by Lake Wilcox Brewery courtesy of RNMKR and pizza from Pizza Pizza courtesy of You X Ventures will be served.
Agenda
6:30-7:00: Registration & Networking (Expo opens)
7:00-7:15: Opening Remarks - Tom Emrich, Founder, We Are Wearables & Partner at Super Ventures
7:15-7:30: "Wearables for sight" a fireside chat with Yvonne Felix, Community Engagement Development at eSight and Gary Foster, Vision and Outreach Advocate for eSight
7:30-7:45: "Empowering care for brain and mental health disorders" a presentation from Andrea Palmer, Founder & CEO of Awake Labs
7:45-8:00: "The Diamond EyeSolution for Blindness: It's Virtual and a Reality" a presentation from Suzanne Grant, Co-Founder and CEO of iBIONICS
8:00-8:15: "Wearables and patient care" a fireside chat with Ben Nachamani, Head of Sales, Performance & Wellness Program at InteraXon and Michael Decaire, Founder of FLEX Psychology led by Tom Emrich
8:15-8:25: "Apple Watch and RunGo making life better for visually impaired athletes" a fireside chat with Rose Kamma Sarkany, an avid user of the RunGo app and Craig Slagel, Founder and CEO of Leaping Coyote Interactive makers of RunGo led by Tom Emrich
8:25-8:30: "How Apple Watch changed my life" a Q&A with Nathan Greene
8:30-10:00: Networking and Expo
9:00: WWTO Gives Sight fundraising update
Exhibitors
- The SUBPAC is a wearable audio technology that allows you to FEEL sound.
- Muse is a brain sensing headband that makes meditation easier
- eSight - eGlasses for the Legally Blind
- Awake Labs - Building Reveal - a platform to collect real-time data to empower care for brain and mental health disorders, starting with autism.
- Mindset are smart headphones that improve your concentration
- TorchGamesVR is a developing immersive virtual reality platform for education, therapy, and training of patients on the autistic spectrum and their families
- Seam - Stay Connected. Stay Social. Stay Safe
- NeuronicWorks - Custom Electronic Product Development
- RoweBots is developing a sensor designed to monitor the concussion threshold of athletes
- RunGo - Accessible Turn-by-Turn Voice navigation for running and outdoor activities via your phone or Apple Watch
- iBIONICS - makers of The Diamond Eye, which aims to replace blindness with artificial sight
- Trexo Robotics is building one of the first exoskeleton devices to help children with disabilities walk and live an empowered life.
- NeuroTech TO will be featuring a number of neurotechnology projects that highlight how EEG devices can be used for mental wellness and education
- Nutu is making healthy behaviours addictive!
- Xesto is building a device agnostic machine learning platform for developers allowing them to create and train touchless gestures
- Kids x Tech is a quarterly event that explores how technology is shaping the realities of future generations
A huge thank you to our sponsors MaRS Discovery District Centre, Proto3000, RNMKR, NeuronicWorks, You X Ventures, Super Ventures, AugmentedReality.org and BetaKit for making this event possible.
WWTO Gives Sight
Help us give sight to Andrew Dittel!
We have teamed up with our friends at eSight, makers of a technological breakthrough: electronic glasses that let the legally blind actually see, to use our next WWTO event as a platform to not just talk and learn about how wearables are changing lives but to give you the chance to take action and make this happen.
At the age of 8, Andrew Dittel was diagnosed with Stargardt's disease leaving him legally blind. Andrew became a single father in 2015 and would give anything to see his son's face and see him learning new things like everyone else does! Learn more about Andrew's story here.
We are asking WWTO community members to help raise $2,500 to give Andrew Dittel the gift of sight: one pair of eSight glasses. You can contribute online and we will be fundraising at the event to reach our goal together!
About Our Speakers
Jeff Fenton is the Director of Outreach and Communications at eSight, an organization that makes glasses that allow the legally blind to actually see. Jeff is deeply passionate about the intersection of technology and humanity, and has so far devoted his career to storytelling and strategy for meaningful brands and causes. Jeff believes so fundamentally that Everyone Deserves To See, and would love to tell you more about how you can do a small part in helping the legally blind.
Yvonne Felix is one of the first wearers of eSight - glasses that let her actually see. She is responsible for outreach to organizations and key stakeholders, and is focused on helping other legally blind individuals, like herself, access this lifechanging technology. Her dream to start seeing began at the age of seven, and has led her down an interesting path. Yvonne is also an award winning artist, and is always inspired by the potential to touch the lives of millions of individuals living with vision loss.
Gary Foster is a Vision and Outreach Advocate for eSight. Before losing his vision, Gary worked in Lake Louise for 34 years, along with serving on the local School Board, acting as Captain of the Fire Department, and holding a variety of other roles. Gary lost his eyesight in 2013, but with eSight, has "reinvented himself". He loves carpentry, which, thanks to eSight, he can fully enjoy and participate in. He and his wife Tammy love to travel, spend time with their family, and motivate others who live with vision loss.
Andrea Palmer is the Founder and CEO of Awake Labs, empowering care for brain and mental health disorders by building an AI-powered platform called Reveal. She graduated from Mechanical Engineering at UBC, where she helped build autonomous soccer-playing robots. She also completed the Global Solutions Program from Singularity University. She is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper in the Vancouver hub, sits on the Millennial Advisory Council for Science World in Vancouver, and is a member of the Health/Bioscience Economic Strategy Table.
Ben Nachamani leads the Wellness and Performance program at InteraXon, a Toronto-based Neuro Technology Company. He works with healthcare professionals, corporations, sports teams, and research institutions to bring Muse: The Brain Sensing Headband to their demographics. Ben graduated from McGill University with a degree in Psychology and Marketing. Prior to working with Muse, Ben worked in the world of consumer products leading development for several brands of cosmetics, toys, and electronics.
Michael Decaire is a Clinical Psychologist and Registered Psychotherapist with a passion for the integration of technology into both the therapy session and his clients lives. As the founder and clinical director of FLEX Psychology, Michael has used wearable technologies like the Muse brain sensing headband to help his clients develop mindfulness, increase focus, reduce distress, and find new avenues for success throughout their lives. His clients have included individuals struggling with disorders like depression, anxiety, and ADHD, but also those seeking enhancement in sport and at work. He is an in demand speaker and corporate consultant on modernizing psychotherapy through technology, speaking regularly on topics like biometrics, telehealth, and virtual reality in the treatment space.
Rose Kamma Sarkany is a marathon runner, kayaker, rock climber, hiker, cyclist, swimmer, water colourist, writer, photographer and public speaker. She does all this and more with only 10 degrees of peripheral vision (tunnel vision) and moderate to severe hearing loss. Rose was diagnosed with Usher Syndrome when she was 16. It’s a hereditary condition that slowly robs her of her sight and hearing but she’s not letting that define her.
Craig Slagel is the founder of RunGo, started his career in computer graphics, animation and visual effects. In 2010 he moved to Vancouver, BC to earn his masters in Digital Media. Following his masters he founded RunGo in 2012 to combine is experience in technology with his passion for running and the outdoors. Craig recently completed his 100th Ultra Marathon and has run 26 marathons.
Suzanne Grant is the CEO and Cofounder of iBIONICS. She has lived a career of adventure, pushing boundaries and firsts from Canadian Military Engineering Officer to international entrepreneur. She created a multimillion-dollar strategic communications agency, The Art of Business, which helped Fortune 500 companies launch in frontier markets. Today Suzanne leads a mission to return sight to blind people. She lives her mantra, “The Art of the Possible,” using cutting-edge technology and social change to make the world better. Her most cherished accomplishments started with small asks.
Nathan Greene is one of the principal bloggers at GreeneDads.com and works in programmatic media sales at The Globe and Mail. In 2006, during a routine visit to his doctor, he was found to have a heart murmur. The investigation revealed him to be affected by asymptomatic Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy (HOCM). After years of managing his genetic disorder by reducing activity levels and medication, he turned symptomatic in 2016, and he had open heart surgery to remove the obstruction. He uses wearable devices to monitor and make decisions about his heart health while reintegrating an active lifestyle.
Tom Emrich: Sometimes called the “man from the future” Tom Emrich is a leading voice in augmented reality, virtual reality and wearable tech. He is committed to driving adoption and innovation in technology which is augmenting the human experience. Tom is an investor and partner at Super Ventures, the first fund dedicated to augmented reality. He is also a community builder having grown a community of over 250,000 professionals dedicated to AR, VR & wearable tech through We Are Wearables, the largest wearable tech community in the world with chapters in Chicago, Toronto, San Francisco, Ottawa and Montreal, and AWE (Augmented World Expo) the largest AR+VR conference and expo in the world with dedicated dates in the USA, China and Europe and independent satellite events under the AWExr brand around the world.
About Our Exhibitors
Awake Labs
Awake Labs is building Reveal - a platform to collect real-time data to empower care for brain and mental health disorders, starting with autism. Reveal combines continuous biometric indicators of anxiety with day-to-day inputs from the care team. This data can improve outcomes in therapy, accelerate learning objectives, and provide clarity into the unknown. Learn more at http://awakelabs.com
eSight
eSight is a breakthrough pair of electronic glasses that enable the legally blind to actually see, be mobile, and independently engage in virtually all activities of daily living. Learn more at https://www.esighteyewear.com
Kids x Tech
Kids x Tech is an quarterly event that explores how technology is shaping the realities of future generations. We explore the intersection of play and technology in terms of how it both empowers and creates new challenges from a social, emotional, cognitive and physical development perspective. Our events bring together industry and academic leaders, entrepreneurs and investors who are passionate about exploring the intersections and impacts of emerging play and learning paradigms on the little people that matter most. Learn more at https://www.meetup.com/kidsxtech/
Mindset
Mindset are smart headphones that improve your concentration. Embedded EEG sensors measure your concentration level, and coach you to focus. Over time, Mindset rewires your brain to permanently improve your concentration.Over the course of a career, we waste over 20,000 hours distracted in the workplace. Mindset gives you those hours back. Learn more at https://www.thinkmindset.com/
Muse
Muse is a brain sensing headband that makes meditation easier. Meditation has been proven to reduce stress and increase focus, but it can be hard to know if you're doing it right. Muse provides you with real-time audio feedback on what's happening in your brain when you meditate, letting you know when your mind wanders and teaching you to regain focus. Think of Muse as your personal guide to meditation as you journey toward a calmer and more present self. Muse is used by yoga teachers, athletes, clinicians and over 100 hospitals and universities. Learn more at www.choosemuse.com.
NeuroTech TO
NeuroTech TO will be featuring a number of projects at WWTO including (1) EEG 101 teaches users the basics of electroencephalography (EEG) while displaying their own brain data in real time. The app illustrates, with real-time visualizations, topics such as the neural basis of the EEG signal, how EEG devices work, and how signals are processed into meaningful data. and (2) Neurodoro is a brain-responsive productivity tool that uses the Muse to let you know when your brain is not at peak performance. Attention ebbs and flows in all work, and we often push through those distracted periods when it would be more efficient and enjoyable to take a break. Neurodoro detects when your attention wanes while working, and suggests a moment of rest. Neurodoro pays attention to your attention, so you can get the most out of your time. and (3) EEG-rex a demo of Web Bluetooth and EEG technology working together to put brainwaves right in the browser. It's the Chrome offline page T-Rex game that everyone loves (and hates), but controlled with eye-blinks. Learn more about NeuroTech TO at http://to.neurotechx.com/.
NeuronicWorks
NeuronicWorks Inc. is an engineering design company based in Toronto that offers custom electronic product development services. We provide end-to-end design for visionary entrepreneurs seeking to create a reliable and impactful product while keeping the process cost-effective. From concept to production, we use design for manufacturing methodologies to build state-of-the art electronic systems that meet the increasing demands of today’s technological world. We are your one-stop-shop for tech product development. Learn more at https://neuronicworks.com
Nutu
Nutu is an experimental medtech startup. Our first mobile app, Kinetic Corps, is a fitness game aspiring to help players stay motivated and letting them track their progress with an entertaining gamified experience - compete with friends to see who can out-train the other. Don't just play the game, be the game. Learn more at nutu.co
iBIONICS
Winner of the 2016 national awards, Startup Canada Innovation Award and the Creative Business Cup, iBIONICS is a bold life sciences startup specializing in nano-implants. iBIONICS designs, manufactures and commercializes smart implantable bionic solutions that treat debilitating diseases. iBIONICS' flagship solution, The Diamond Eye™, aims to replace blindness with artificial sight. By 2020, 200 million people worldwide will be living with degenerative retinal diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa. The cost of AMD in Europe and North America alone is $56 billion per annum. The Diamond Eye core technology was inspired by Cochlear, the $US8B global company that has helped over 450,000 deaf people to hear. Professor Steven Prawer, world-renowned materials scientist and Cofounder of iBIONICS, invented a new innovative way of approaching implants. His nanotechnology is packaged in diamond electrodes that stimulate neural tissue. Neural technology and electric medicine are fast becoming favoured investment spaces for Silicon Valley super entrepreneurs, such as Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. Retinal implants are the fastest growing vertical in electric medicine. This born-global startup is headquartered in Ottawa-Gatineau with medical operations in Montreal and an R&D subsidiary in Melbourne, Australia. Learn more at www.ibionics.ca.
RunGo
RunGo was developed for anyone who loves to explore the outdoors, and designed for running and walking to help you find, create and share routes. RunGo accurately guides you with detailed turn-by-turn voice navigation, that can be customised to include additional information such as points of interest and detailed navigation instructions. RunGo was designed to be accessible, using speech, haptics, voiceover and clean accessible design on both iPhone and Apple Watch. Learn more at https://www.rungoapp.com
TorchGamesVR
VR games have a potential to revolutionize education, training and rehabilitation in the 21st century, TorchGamesVR intends to be at the forefront of this revolution. TorchGamesVR is creating immersive VR media for education, therapy, rehabilitation and training for children and their families. Our platform, dubbed ‘Sensory Grand Hotel’ (SGH), is developed as an ideal tool for children (ages 6-12) to practice role-playing behaviors in a safe, educational and entertaining environment that reinforces positive social skills. SGH is a virtual fantasy set in a friendly hotel environment that provides a framework for a series of educational and entertainment experiences that emphasize social interactions with virtual ‘guests’ and ‘hotel employees'. Learn more at www.torchgamesvr.com
Tréxō Robotics
Tréxō Robotics is building one of the first exoskeleton devices designed specifically for children with disabilities. Tréxō’s unique design allows it to convert any passive walker into a fully powered exoskeleton device that can be used anywhere, at any time. Founded in 2016 by two University of Waterloo engineering graduates, Tréxō is driven by the belief that all people should have access to enabling technologies. Learn more at www.trexorobotics.com
Seam
Seam is a social safety platform consisting of the Seam app, the Lotus wearable and a secure cloud-based storage network. Together, they work in tandem to record and share rich contextual data in real-time, such as your location, photos and audio, to give you a deeper connection to loved ones and peace of mind that someone always has your back. By being more than just a pin on a map, Seam is changing how trusted contacts connect and share with each other. Learn more at http://seamtechnic.com
The SUBPAC
The SUBPAC is a wearable audio technology that allows you to FEEL sound. The SUBPAC works by transferring sound vibrations directly against the user, immersing them in the physical dimension of sound. SUBPAC is proud to have changed the way artists, gamers, and even professional athletes connect with music and sound. In addition to that, some of our most important work has been within with Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. Be sure to stop by our booth to hear more! Learn more at http://www.subpac.com/
RoweBots
RoweBots, an embedded signal processing systems company, will unveil the development of its latest a sensor designed to monitor the concussion threshold of athletes, and their vital signs, in real-time and on the cloud. The sensor enforces organization defined medical protocols for safe play, practice and return to play, and has the ability to alert game officials to stop the game. With the capacity to house and manage full history data to players, physicians and coaches, the sensor not only monitors for the health and safety of an athlete, but the performance and liability of them as well. Learn more at Homehealthsystems.ca
Xesto
Xesto is building a device agnostic machine learning platform for developers, allowing them to create and train touchless gestures that they can easily integrate into new or existing applications - essentially making those applications touchless & interactive in minutes. Created with the ambition of furthering and modernizing a touchless world, Xesto allows for easy integration of touchless gestures into new or existing applications in minutes. The application potential for Xesto is vast, including making operating rooms in hospitals touchless - leading to increased sterility, improving the gesture recognition capacity of advanced robotic systems to recognize heart attacks, strokes, and much more. Using artificial intelligence and machine learning technology, Xesto provides a seamless and simplified development experience from start to finish. Learn more at https://xesto.io
About our Sponsors
MaRS Discovery District Centre in Toronto is one of the world's largest urban innovation hubs. MaRS cultivates high-impact ventures and equips innovators to drive economic and societal prosperity. Learn more at www.marsdd.com.
Proto3000 The Proto3000 team helps companies leverage the transformative power of advanced manufacturing with industry leading additive manufacturing and metrology solutions. Our portfolio of products and services address the growing challenges faced in design and manufacturing, and through partnering with our team we can together address these challenges across the entire product development life-cycle. Our product line of Stratasys professional 3D printers, Desktop Metal and Creaform portable handheld 3D scanners, along with our ISO9001 accredited service bureau can accelerate productivity, increase production speed, and make manufacturing applications more efficient and cost effective. We have helped our customers reinvent the way they produce jigs and fixtures, prototypes, and tooling while creating opportunities to benefit from bridge tooling, low-volume production, supply chain reorganization, and on-demand digital inventory. Together, we can be at the forefront of this new industrial revolution, full of disruption, creativity and innovation. Learn more at www.proto3000.com
NeuronicWorks Inc. is an engineering design company based in Toronto that offers custom electronic product development services. We provide end-to-end design for visionary entrepreneurs seeking to create a reliable and impactful product while keeping the process cost-effective. From concept to production, we use design for manufacturing methodologies to build state-of-the art electronic systems that meet the increasing demands of today’s technological world. We are your one-stop-shop for tech product development. Learn more at https://neuronicworks.com
RNMKR is Canada's leading PR agency focused on driving hyper-awareness for innovative technology, lifestyle brands, and the Cannabis industry. . Learn more at www.calltherainmaker.com
You X Ventures believes People > Pixels. We accelerate social impact ventures through human centred design, equity investments and community building via Kids x Tech. Learn more at www.youxventures.com
Super Ventures is the first early stage fund for Augmented Reality. We believe that Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and Mixed Reality are giving people real superpowers and are on a mission to invest in early stage startups that are using these superpowers to change the world. Learn more about the fund, our partners and our portfolio at http://www.superventures.com
AugmentedReality.org is a non-profit organization dedicated to Augmented Reality, Wearables, and IoT. All profits are reinvested in AR.ORG’s services. Our Mission: Advancing Augmented Reality to Advance Humanity. Our Goal: 1 billion active users of AR by 2020. We produce the world's largest AR event Augmented World Expo (AWE) in the USA, Europe and China. Call for Speakers and Exhibitors for AWE USA 2018 May 30-June 1 in Santa Clara, California. Submit and learn more at www.augmentedworldexpo.com.
BetaKit is Canada's leading site for Canadian startup news and tech innovation. Learn more at www.betakit.com. Super Ventures is the first fund dedicated to augmented reality. We invest in early-stage startups that are building fundamental techologies that use AR+VR superpowers to change the world
About We Are Wearables
We Are Wearables is on a mission to foster adoption and facilitate innovation in wearable tech. We believe that wearable technology is augmenting the human experience making us better at everything we do in work, life and play. We act as a platform to showcase both local and global entrepreneurs, startups, organizations and thought leaders making this happen. We Are Wearables is the largest wearable tech community of its kind in the world. We currently have a total digital reach of over 120,000. Join the Wearable Revolution at http://www.wearewearables.com .
Want to speak, exhibit, sponsor or volunteer at this or future events? Contact Tom Emrich at tom@wearewearables.com.