O'Reilly Conferences: ETech

O'Reilly's Flagship ETech Conference Scopes Out Ideas at the Edge of Innovation

Jackie Hadley, Communications Associate — 2009-05-12T10:10:55-08:00

Emerging Technology Adopted as Tool for Success

Sebastopol, CA, March 23, 2009 - ETech 2009, O’Reilly’s Emerging Technology Conference held March 9-12 in San Jose, urged web technologists and visionaries to grasp the opportunities in today’s financial and political turmoil by focusing on work they care deeply about. Through four jam-packed days, conference-goers immersed themselves in revolutionary ideas and emergent technologies they can exploit to succeed.

The conference has been O’Reilly Media’s flagship event since its inception in 2002, fulfilling the company’s mission of “spreading the knowledge of innovators.” More than 130 speakers explored the far edges of web innovation, robotics, data applications, urban planning, and more.

Read the full press release.

ETech Preview Interviews + 40% F&F Discount

Suzanne Axtell — 2009-02-19T16:27:12-08:00

O’Reilly contributing editor James Turner has been busy conducting a series of interviews with ETech speakers as the conference draws nigh. In addition to great insight about the wide-ranging topics ETech will cover this year, there have been some amazing, spirited discussions in the comments section of each post. Check ‘em out:

Creating Biological Legos with Reshma Shetty of Ginkgo BioWorks; her ETech presentation is Real Hackers Program DNA
Science Commons Wants Data to Be Free with Creative Commons’ John Wilbanks; his ETech presentation is Uncommon Knowledge and Open Innovation: Building a Science Commons
Inside Factory China with Andrew “bunnie” Huang of Chumby Industries; his ETech presentation is Out of China: Manufacturing the Chumby
Why LCD is the Cool New Technology All Over Again with Mary Lou Jepson of Pixel Qi; her ETech presentation is Low-Cost, Low-Power Computing

We’re looking forward to hearing from these and many other incisive, forward-thinking speakers in person at the event. Like the Radar comments, the in-person conversation is bound to be diverse and enlightening.

In other ETech news, we’re offering a new incentive to attend the conference: a 40% “Friends & Family” discount–that translates into savings of over $500. We know times are tough and many people who want to and should be at ETech simply can’t afford it. We hope this offer will help! To take advantage of this discount, use et09ffd in the discount code field when you register.

RFIDs @ ETech

Brady Forrest — 2009-02-16T15:22:28-08:00

We are giving all of the attendees at ETech RFID tags that can be linked to their conference profiles (opt-in). With these tags you can interact with several projects we’ll have at the conference. BTW, ETech is happening March 9-12 in San Jose. Use et09pd30 at checkout for 30% off.

We were inspired to do this after I attended PICNIC in 2008 (Radar post) and got to experience first-hand the many, many uses of an RFID badge. Mediamatic linked your profile to it and that information was used to record your experiences. We got help from Mediamatic on our implementation and even used the same vendor.

If you make it to ETech here are the projects you can play with:

Lensley’s Photobooth: Leonard Lin’s new project is Lensley, a high-end photobooth with online photo-services integration. He’s creating a special version just for ETech that will tag photos with your name and tweet that you’ve just had one taken.

Personal Calendar: Radar’s own Edd Dumbill is the fellow behind the profile APIs. He is going to create a project that will show attendees their personal calendar at a public kiosk.

ETech Prophet: Josh and Tarikh of Uncommon Projects (they made the cool Yahoo! geo-bike) are adding an element of play to their project. They sent me a mail describing it as: “Essentially, we’d like to make an “Etech Prophet” a kind of mechanical turk idea (perhaps in another form factor)–you wave your RFID fob, it gesticulates, makes a noise and sends you your pithy fortune via twitter”

People Collector: This is a favorite of mine. Business cards are a waste of time and paper. I just want the person’s email address. Nothing else. The People Collector will be a mobile device that people can use to exchange contact information with other attendees. When you meet someone just wave your fob over their People Collector and a message will be sent to both of you. The People Collector will be built in Tom Igoe and Brian Jepson’s Hands-On RFID Workshop on 3/9.

Pulse: Attendees will be able to check-in to locations (this is all voluntary!). Overtime the system will build up information about attendees through their actions and will be able to generate a heatmap for the hotel. This project is being built by Alexander Biscelgie and Nick Sears.

Do you have something that you want to make? Let me know in the comments or find me on Twitter. We are still looking for projects.

ETech Policy: Washington, Finance and Synthetic Biology

Brady Forrest — 2009-02-10T10:14:10-08:00

Governmental policy and regulation can be tech’s Achilles heal. It can also create a business model. Love it or hate it if you want to get big you can’t ignore the government. With a new administration (and financial crash) there’s a change happening and we need to pay attention.

At ETech we have a number of talks that focus on policy and what you can expect. ETech is happening March 9-12 in San Jose. Use et09pd30 at checkout for 30% off. Here are just some of the policy-oriented talks:

I Just Don’t Trust You: How the Tech Community Can Reinvent Risk Ratings

Toby Segaran (Metaweb), Jesper Andersen (Open Data Group)

Financial technology - something we all thought was complete - has been upended. Fundamental assumptions have been exposed as faulty. And now we have the opportunity to recreate our finance industry from the bottom up. We have a choice: a path of openness and information sharing, or more opacity and secrecy.

Your Energy Identity and Why You Should Care

Gavin Starks (AMEE)

As we progress to a post-scarcity society, either you’ll measure your consumption or someone else will. More data is becoming accessible than has ever existed. Whether driven by climate change, peak oil or economic change, sustainability is now a fundamental factor of your business and your life. We’ll unpack and map the dramatic changes coming to industry, markets, politics - and you.

Building a New Biology

Drew Endy (Stanford & The BioBricks Foundation (BBF)), David Grewal (Harvard & BBF), Jason Schultz (Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic, UC Berkeley School of Law)

Three leaders in the technology and law of synthetic biology will present a crisp and accessible briefing on new cooperative efforts to make tens of thousands of open source standardized DNA parts. Discussion to follow.

Mr. Hacker Goes to Washington

Greg Elin (Sunlight Foundation)

Want to help fix democracy? Hackers, those crazy Utopian dreamers with DIY attitudes, have begun a sustained assault on government with projects like the Sunlight Foundation, OpenCongress, GovTrack, Watchdog.net, FedSpending, MySociety, and Public.Resource. The goal?

ETech Sensors: In News, Buildings, Sports and Art

Brady Forrest — 2009-02-09T01:44:21-08:00

Sensors tell us about the physical world and allow us (or machines) to make informed decisions. As sensors become more ubiquitous what will we be able to learn from them? What will we be able to do with them?

At ETech we have a number of talks that demonstrate sensors effect on news, sports, office environments, cities and art. ETech is happening March 9-12 in San Jose. Use et09pd30 at checkout for 30% off. Here are just some of the sensor-oriented talks:

Sensors, Smart Content and The Future of News

Nick Bilton (The New York Times R&D Labs)

We are currently in a time when sharing and social networks are changing the way we consume editorialized media and the definition of ‘content’ is increasingly blurred. In the R&D Labs at The New York Times we are exploring some of the questions around how we will consume information in the next 2 to 20 years.

Building the Programmable Environment: Co-Design and Physical/Digital Space Making

Jennifer Magnolfi (Herman Miller)

The design and production of physical/digital spaces is at the heart of what we call the Programmable Environment. Instead of environments complete and fixed in time, subject to renovation or demolition when their purpose is no longer relevant, the result is a spatial system designed to evolve over time, in interaction with the users who inhabit it.

Urban Futures

Chris Luebkeman (Arup)

When we look at the world around us we see many examples of places and spaces that we both love and hate. What would you ‘cut and paste’ from different parts of your city to create the ideal sustainable urban environment? Arup have spent a number of years discussing what the eco-city would need to look like if we are going to move towards an Ecological Age.

Making Art with Lasers, Sensors and the Net

Aaron Koblin (Google)

Aaron Koblin will discuss the process of turning data into visual expression. As Director of Technology on Radiohead’s latest music video for “House of Cards,” he worked with sensor technologies as an alternative to traditional video. Aaron will also discuss his role at Google’s Creative Lab in San Francisco, and discuss some of his other data-visualization software.

The Greatest Virtual Marathon: Computing and Materials in Sports

Michael Tchao (Nike Techlab)

The greatest sports athletes’ records live and die by their hi-tech gear. They use new swimsuits like the razor to shave seconds off their laps and sensors like the Nike+ to record their training. Michael Tchao of Nike Labs and will share with us the process behind these creations and the new materials and technology that make them happen.

Mobile Phones Reveal the Behavior of Places and People

Tony Jebara (Columbia University & Sense Networks)

As more of us generate GPS data with our mobile phones, how can this aggregated information give us an unprecedented new understanding of the people, places, and rhythms that make up our cities? Location data combined with learning algorithms lets us cluster different places and people into social categories and tribes.

ETech Hardware: Arduino, XBee, RepRap, Hi-Tech Crafts, Manufacturing & Materials

Brady Forrest — 2009-02-05T00:06:40-08:00

Who wants to be stuck just working in software? At ETech we’re going to discuss domestic and overseas manufacturing, the latest materials and open-source electronics for creating the physical computing device of your dreams. Here are some of the talks:

Holistic Service Prototyping: Sketching Hardware and Software

Matt Cottam (Tellart, Rhode Island School of Design and Umeå Institute of Design), Maia Garau (Dynamic Diagrams), Jasper Speicher (Tellart LLC), Brian Hinch (Tellart)

The Economist has defined services as “products of economic activity that you can’t drop on your foot.” Where businesses once viewed services as a necessary but inconvenient accompaniment to their product offerings, they now increasingly look to designers to develop holistic, human-centered and innovative service solutions that can help expand profits and cement brand loyalty. Read more.

LilyPad Electronic Fashion

Leah Buechley (MIT Media Lab)

Come build a shirt that sings when you’re squeezed, a purse that sounds an alarm when someone touches it or a jacket that shines and sparkles at your command. This workshop will guide you through the process of building an interactive garment that incorporates touch sensors, light, and sound

Printing in 3D

Zach Smith (RepRap Research Foundation)

An exciting 3 hour workshop led by Zach Smith featuring RepRap, the open source self-replicating 3D printer. The workshop will consist of discussions of the RepRap technology, 3D printing and digital fabrication techniques, and 3D modeling. We’ll also have the RepRap fired up and making your creations real.

High-Low Tech: Democratizing Engineering and Design

Leah Buechley (MIT Media Lab)

People knit scarves and solder radios together in their homes and garages. In contrast, companies produce high-tech things by high-tech processes. A host of new tools is making many of the resources previously available only to companies accessible to individuals, empowering people to design, engineer, and build devices that integrate high and low technology

Socializing Stuff: a Wireless Objects Workshop

Rob Faludi (NYU)

Objects are beginning to socialize. A new era of low-bandwidth, low-power wireless networks is enabling a revolution in device communications. In this DIY session we’ll insert you into those conversations and introduce you to device communications technology that could change our homes, cars and clothes.

Hands-On RFID for Makers

Tom Igoe (Interactive Telecommunications Program, NYU), Brian Jepson (O’Reilly Media, Inc.)

Ever wanted to get a real understanding of how RFID works? In this workshop, you’ll learn about the different classes of RFID devices. We’ll discuss what RFID can and can’t do, what devices are already on the market, and what kinds of future applications are possible. $70 materials fee required.

Out of China: Manufacturing the Chumby

Andrew “bunnie” Huang (Chumby Industries)

China is one of the US’s biggest trading partners, and is one of the premier regions for manufacturing electronic goods of all types. When startup Chumby Industries needed to migrate their US-built chumby device prototypes to production, they sent bunnie to China to build the chumby supply chain.

New Materials

Andrew Dent (Material ConneXion, Inc.)

True innovation in materials takes on many forms, and for 80% of the worlds population means the effective use of often scarce resources. ‘Technology Transfer’, a term used to refer to the process of converting academic research into useable products, is just as important when between the developing and the developed world or between two disparate industries.

ETech Mobile: Crowdsourcing, Reality Mining, Sensors, India, & Sync

Brady Forrest — 2009-02-03T22:51:58-08:00

Mobile is alive at ETech this year. We’re featuring talks on location, sensors, multi-screen worlds and developing markets. Here are some of them:

txteagle: Crowd-Sourcing on Mobile Phones in the Developing World

Nathan Eagle (MIT)

txteagle is a mobile crowd-sourcing application that will be launching in Kenya on the Safaricom network. It enables people to earn and save small amounts of money by completing simple tasks on their phones for companies who pay them either in airtime or cash. http://txteagle.com

Sustainable Design for a Multiscreen, Info-Overloaded World

Kevin Lynch (Adobe Systems Incorporated)

Understanding how humans can better interact with and consume information is critical as we work to solve the increasingly complex challenges before us. Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch will explore three aspects that will shape the next generation of computing applications.

Enabling Citizen Science

Eric Paulos (Carnegie Mellon University)

From communication tool to “networked mobile personal measurement instrument”. Mobile phones as “personal measurement instruments” enable an entirely novel and empowering genre of computing usage called citizen science. Through the use of sensors paired with personal mobile phones, citizens are invited to participate in collecting and sharing measurements of their environment that matter most

Shared and Sometimes Stealthy: Urban India’s Mobile Phone

Molly Steenson (Princeton University School of Architecture)

We typically think of the mobile phone as a device belonging to and used by an individual. Yet in urban India, people share their mobile phones in unique ways, regardless of class and depending on where they are in the city

ETech 2009 Schedule Posted; Early Registration Ends Monday

Brady Forrest — 2009-01-22T09:05:01-08:00

ETech is a technologist’s playground. We specifically design the conference to expose new ideas and learn from the people behind them. This year the focus is on how the way we live is changing — through policy, technology and ideas. The proliferation of sensors, advances in materials and manufacturing, the changes in government and the financial market will all have a profound effect on our industry.

ETech is a four-day conference that runs from March 9-12 in San Jose, CA. Early registration ends on Monday. Use et09rad at checkout for an additional 10% off (this will work even after early registration pricing ends).

ETech is a broad conference. The first day is filled with three-hour tutorials that range in topics from Refactoring Your Wetware (by Andy Hunt), Lilypad Arduino (was sold-out, but we were able to free up some new spots), an RFID-Arduino project, mapping with Stamen Design, 3D printing with the Reprap, and programming with MIT’s Scratch. The following three days will be mix of plenary and breakout sessions. Here’s a listing of all the talks and speakers. They’ll be focused on:

One of the major focuses is on the changing tech of cities - how sensors can track the real time city to how mobile phones can reveal habits of its citizens to Dubai’s new location-aware playground.
It’s not just cities exploring the use of sensors, companies like the New York Times will share how they have been exploring their use in content delivery, Herman Miller is examining worker controlled sensors in the workplace, and Nike Techlab’s has already selling sensor-laiden fitness equipment. Wired’s Gary Wolf will expand on the Quantified Self and how personal sensors can teach us about ourselves.
Many entrepreneurs are moving from virtual goods to physical ones. Bunnie Huang is going to lead a session on manufacturing in China, in another we’ll learn about a new high-tech system for manufacturing chocolate. On Monday there is a workshop on 3D printing at home with the Reprap. Tom Igoe will examine where items go at the end of their lifecycle.
New materials are being developed that will change what products can be built, what biomaterials can be sourced and how flexible screens will be developed in the coming years.
We’re not turning a blind eye to politics and finances this year. We’re taking a geeks-eye view at credit risk and the financial markets, at the money in politics, and synthetic biology policy.
We can’t ignore engergy this year. There’s a chance for America to become sustainable, for an electric grid to change the tech industry, for each of us to own our energy identity and how we can crowdsource energy-awareness.
Constraints drive innovation and we can look to developing markets to find progress in action (such as the Playpower 8-bit computer from India). We’ll learn about healthcare clinics and mobile versions of Mechanical Turk in Africa. Julian Bleecker of Nokia will share how fictional worlds can help us create new designs.

I hope to see you there.

Extracurricular Excellence & Discount Extended for ETech

Suzanne Axtell — 2009-01-15T13:38:08-08:00

In addition to the formal program that includes the likes of Leah Buechley (MIT), Greg Elin (Sunlight Foundation), and Eric Rasmussen (InSTEDD), Brady and the ETech team have also been busy lining up extracurricular events that add a new dimension to the ways we’ll be able to connect during the conference:

MAKE Room: Brian Jepson and some of his fellow Makers will have their own room during ETech to spread out and help you get your DIY on.

FreeTech: an unconference, ETech style.

Zoe Keating: a cellist and composer, Zoe fuses layers of music into an incredible sound using her cello and her Mac.

LateTech: This is still in the noodling phase, but we’re thinking of an after-hours open-mike-meets-lightning-talks kind of event

Ignite will be back, too.

And news for the pocketbook: we’ve also moved the early registration discount deadline for ETech to January 26. We know times are tough and unpredictable, and we hope keeping the discount active longer will help more people attend what’s shaping up to be an amazing event this year.

News Release: O'Reilly Reveals ETech 2009 Program at Web 2.0 Summit

Jackie Hadley, Communications Associate — 2008-11-07T17:37:34-08:00

Sebastopol, CA, November 6, 2008—Registration has opened for ETech, the O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference, scheduled for March 9-12 at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, California. Conference chair Brady Forrest has unveiled the program, which explores the technology of abundance and constraints to discover ideas that matter.

ETech is O’Reilly Media’s flagship “O’Reilly Radar” event. Since 2002, ETech has put onstage ideas for radical innovation, bringing to light the disruptive yet important innovations that we see on the horizon, rather than the ones that have already arrived.

Read the full press release.

News Release: O'Reilly ETech Conference Invites Technical Visionaries

Jackie Hadley, Communications Associate — 2008-09-05T16:32:04-08:00

Living, Reinvented: The Technology of Abundance and Constraints
ETech Opens Call for Participation and Invites Proposals

Sebastopol, CA–The O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference will explore the technology of abundance and constraints March 9-12, 2009, at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, California. O’Reilly Media and Program Chair Brady Forrest invite proposals for ETech 2009 conference sessions, panel discussions, and tutorials, as well as brief and rapid-fire High Order Bits.

ETech will gather hackers, grass roots developers, researchers, strategists, makers, thought leaders, artists, entrepreneurs, business developers, venture capitalists, city planners, medical professionals, life scientists, CxOs and IT managers, doers, and other technical visionaries. These futurists will turn their energies toward reinventing the ways in which their lives, and those of the entire world, can use new technologies. Centered around the technology of abundance and constraint, the program will define how those technologies can intersect for a better world.

News Release: Technology of Awareness and Perception Explored at O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference 2008

Jackie Hadley, Communications Associate — 2008-08-28T16:11:12-08:00

Sebastopol, CA–How does new technology help us perceive things that were barely noticeable before or draw attention to important issues, objects, ideas, and projects, no matter their size or location? These and many other questions around the future of technology were explored at ETech, the O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference. This annual gathering of people passionate about computing innovations brought together over 900 developers, technologists, geeks, researchers, academics, artists, activists, and makers in San Diego, California, March 3-6, 2008.

“ETech is a mental battery charge that will last all year, ” observed Chris Anderson, Editor-in-Chief of Wired Magazine.

The seventh edition of ETech focused on the brand new technology that is tweaking how we are seen as individuals, how we choose to channel and divert our energy and attention, and what influences our perspective on the world around us. Just a few of the topics participants tackled during the four-day event included food, body, and sex hacking; DIY drones and survival techniques; technology lessons from emerging markets; visualization of data; energy, defense, and genetic policy; crowds and ambient data; gaming, both small group and massive; and much more.

Read about all the details.

boingboing: ETech 2009 Call for Participation

Jackie Hadley, Communications Associate — 2008-08-25T11:11:56-08:00

David Pescovitz’s favorite geek confab of the year!

The presenters aren’t usually celebrity types but just supersmart nrrrds making fascinating tech and thinking about the impact of innovation on our lives. I’m really excited to be on the program committee again this year. The Call for Participation is now open and we’re looking for big ideas across a huge spectrum of tech/culture, from materials science and synthetic biology to nomadism and sustainable life.

boingboing: ETech 2009 Call for Proposals: "Living, Reinvented."

Jackie Hadley, Communications Associate — 2008-08-20T14:45:10-08:00

ETech veteran Cory Doctorow’s kind words on this year’s conference and the Call for Proposals:

The call for proposals for O’Reilly Emerging Tech 2009 has just gone up: “Living, Reinvented.” I was involved in every ETech from the first P2PCon in 1999 right up to last year (I’m taking a year or two off while I catch up on fatherhood and book-deadlines), and I have had some of my most mind-blowing, life-altering conversations and experiences at these events, which showcase the leading edge of (often impractical but never boring) experimentation, skunkworks, and passionate development. This year’s theme sounds fantastic, too. Proposals are due Sept 17, and the event is next March 9-12 in San Jose.

Read the rest of Cory’s post.

Kits and Mortar: ETech goes sustainable

Maureen Jennings, Conferences Publicist — 2008-08-06T15:57:51-08:00

Suw Charman Anderson explores this year’s ETech theme and wonders about submitting a proposal. Read more of her thoughts here.