hypernetec catches up with the fast-moving Tom Emrich, founder of We Are Wearables, North America’s largest wearable tech community. Writer, speaker, con­sult­ant and community builder, Tom keeps busy by acting as focusing lens for fast emerging technologies.

A natural connector and the earliest of early-adopters, Tom was one of the first Canadian’s to adopt Google Glass. He co-produced the first Wearable Tech con­fer­ence in Canada (WEST), and has created two apps for Glass.

He makes regular appear­ences on Canadian TV and radio as a wearable tech speaker and was recently listed as the third most influ­en­tial person in wearable tech by analytics firm Onalytica.

Show Notes

Intro­duc­tion Toms’s Trend Picks from CES 2015: Death of the Activity Tracker Virtual Reality Makes a Big Splash Gear VR Google Cardboard Child & Pet Wearables Smart Jewellery Trend The rise of smart jewellery as an indic­a­tion of better aes­thet­ics in wearable tech design. Ringly Apple Watch Kovert Designs Swarovski/Misfit The Current State of Augmented Reality HoloLens Meta — Space­Glasses Sulon Cortex Magic Leap

Toms verdict: Not ready for primetime. Expect developer kits soon.

Apple Watch. Destined to be a hit? The import­ance of digital touch in a networked world.

What to Watch for in 2015 Tom's Top trends of 2015.