SXSW 2019, Experience Report #6

Hello. This is Sungmin, the sales manager of ISAO. This time, we would like to introduce the Interactive Innovation Awards at SXSW 2019. The SXSW 2019 Interactive Innovation Awards honored the companies that showcased the most innovative ideas in 13 categories. (Pictured are Smart Dubai people)

Companies that won the Interactive Innovation Awards this time

(1) AI & Machine Learning Division - Work : iN: Cognitive Patient Care Assistant

• Company : Inspiren (New York, NY, USA)
• Prevent human error by checking and analyzing patient conditions in real-time in a digital environment.

(2) Health, Med, & BioTech Category - Artwork : Butterfly iQ

• Company : Butterfly Network (Guilford, CT, USA)
• The world's first compact ultrasound system that works with your smartphone.
• In the future, it seems that it will also provide AI and AR technologies.

(3)Innovation in Connecting People Category - Work : Living First Languages Digital Platform

• Company : The Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation (Edgecliff, NSW, Australia)
• Preserve and activate local languages through interactive text decoding (reading, writing) applications.

(4) Music & Audio Innovation Category - Artwork : nuraphone - A Self-Learning Headphone

• Company : nura(Melbourne, Australia)
• These are products that are fundamentally different from traditional headphones in the way they look, listen and feel.

(5)New Economy Category - Work : Biometric Payments & Age Validation

• Company : CLEAR(New York, NY, USA)
• With just one touch, it can replace your ID and even make payments.

(6)Robotics & Hardware Category - Artwork : My Special Aflac Duck™

• Company : Aflac, Sproutel, Carol Cone On Purpose & The Nation of Artists(Los Angeles, CA, USA)
• It is an innovative social robot that can interact with childhood cancer patients.

(7) Smart Cities, Transportation & Delivery Category - Work : Dubai Paperless Strategy

• Company : Smart Dubai (Dubai, UAE)
• Dubai announced that it will digitize all government systems to create a paperless environment by 2021.
• This is expected to save 1 billion sheets of paper each year and 130,000 trees per year.

(8)Social & Culture Impact Category - Artwork : Aira - Visual Interpreter for the Blind

• Company : Aira(San Diego, CA, USA)
• Provide visual information to the visually impaired through smart glasses and smartphones.

(9) Speculative Design Category - Artwork : Argus: A Water Monitoring Plant

• Company : Parsons School of Design, The New School(New York, NY, USA)/MIT Media Lab(Cambridge, MA, USA)
• Plants with nanosensors on their leaves allow you to visually check the toxic substances in the water.

(10)Student Innovation Division - Work : Graphene Brain-Computer Interface

• Company : Brane Interface (Austin, TX, USA)
• Allows the human brain to connect with external devices like smartphones instead of surgical methods.

(11)Style & Wearable Tech - Artwork : The Eargo Max Hearing Aid

• Company : Eargo(Mountain View, CA, USA)
• Hearing aids that are invisible in appearance, providing a more immersive and engaging entertainment experience.

(12) Visual Media Experience Category - Work : HBO's SXSWestworld

• Company : Giant Spoon (New York, NY, USA)
• We created West World in a secret place about 30 minutes away from Austin.

(13)VR, AR & MR Division - Work : Fundamental Surgery

• Company : FundamentalVR (New York, NY, USA)
• Allow you to practice surgery as if it were in a real environment.

Among them, the "People's Choice Award" that was chosen by the largest audience was "My Special Aflac Duck™" in the "Robotics & Hardware Category" category, and the "Best In Show" was "Butterfly iQ" in the "Health, Med, & BioTech category". The David Carr Prize, which is dedicated to journalists who have made outstanding achievements in the field of technology, was awarded by Jordan Holtzer (University of California, Los Angeles - School of Law). In addition, "Kimberly Bryant (founder and CEO of Black Girls CODE)" has been added to the "Interactive Hall of Fame", which has made social contributions through technology.

At the Finalist Showcase

Through the "Finalist Showcase", I visited the exhibition booths of all the works, including the winning works.

Sungmin Award (Top 3)

There were many other wonderful works besides the award-winning works, so I would like to carefully select three and introduce them to everyone. (It is called the Sungmin Award, but there is no prize money) Please take a look below.

3rd place

Created by LynQ, First Smart People Compass Company : LynQ (New York, NY, USA) It allows people to know their location without phones, networks, or other infrastructure, which not only saves lives but can also be adapted to a wide range of devices. I thought it was very wonderful that even in places where there was no signal, if you had this, you could know where you were.

2nd place

Credit: Red Bull Rampage AR Experience Company: Red Bull Media House (Santa Monica, CA, USA) Watch Red Bull Rampage in the world's first integrated 360° livestream to get a closer look at the scene. You can see in detail where what happened to the players and caused injuries, but what surprised me the most was that the screen could move smoothly despite the high image quality.

No. 1

Works : HaptX Gloves Company : HaptX (San Luis Obispo, CA, USA) It allows users to experience realistic touch and natural interaction in VR, and major automotive, aerospace, and healthcare companies are already using it to improve their products. Maezawa and I were confident that this work would win the Interactive Innovation Awards, but unfortunately it didn't.

Conclusion

How did you like the Interactive Innovation Awards? ISAO will also do its best to realize its VISION of "Realizing services that will make hundreds of millions of people hot from Japan", so please keep an eye on us! Next, let's take a look at Trade Show. Please look forward to it!