On Tuesday 10th April 2012, NMBS attended the
UK’s biggest five-day consumer electronics event showcasing the world’s latest
tech held at the NEC Birmingham. The event was host to over 125,000 gadget lovers and over 280 technology
exhibitors.
Similar to the previous year’s event the show was split into individual
areas known as ‘tech
zones’ including: Future Tech Zone, Home Gadget Zone, UK Inventor Village,
Photographic Zone, and Hall of Fame. There was also the ‘Showcase Stage’ which featured acts and stunts from all five of the TV show
presenters. Checkout highlights from this
year’s show floor by following this link.
The Expo itself took
over seven of the NEC’s main halls, hosting exhibitor’s booths from such walks
of life as the sporting world, entertainment industry and the building trade,
all wanting to show off their latest gadgets in their respected fields.
There was a lot to
see and experience at this year’s Gadget Show Live with one of the highlights
being ‘The Centre for Computing History Museum’. On display were mock-up living
rooms each incorporating tech from the 70s, 80s, 90s and now the 00s. It certainly highlights the speed at which we
are advancing in the development of technology and makes you wonder where we
will be in another 40 years.
Another interesting piece
on display was the SmartBird, designed and constructed by Festo. The SmartBird mimics both the look and movement
of a real herring gull, to such extent that it is difficult to distinguish
between the two when in flight.
However the most impressive
item on display for me was a great App called Aurasma Lite. Aurasma is an augmented reality platform
created by the Autonomy
Corporation, currently available as a free download from
either iTunes for Apple or Play Store for Android, Aurasma Lite is available
for iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPad 2, iPad3 and higher end
Android devices. It uses the device's video camera to recognise and understand pre-trained images, symbols
and objects in the real world. It can
then deliver digital content in real time as an overlay, including videos,
animations, audio or web pages.
If you see this icon on any image it means that it is compatible
with Aurasma Lite and you will be able to access extra content.
Download Aurasma Lite
and try the app with the following two images.
However the majority
of items on display did not use new technology, but rather updated versions
from the previous year. Many of the displays were similar, giving the illusion
of a giant electrical store.
Although more
exhibitors were in attendance, some of the bigger companies had either down
sized their booths from previous years or had chosen to not attend at all. One
explanation for this may relate to the recently announced Gadget Show Christmas
being held at the Excel Centre in London between 30th November and 2nd
December. Explaining why Nintendo chose
to be absent this year, choosing rather to delay demoing their new games
console, the Wii U, until later in the year, just in time for its release date around
the festive season.
Jamie Freer
Information Systems Officer
NMBS Ltd
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