At the end of the International Exhibition, a nine-day tribute to the technology and innovation offered by the Google Developers in Thessaloniki.
Nine days, 25 speakers from around the world and everything about the latest developments in technology and innovation: These are just some of the elements that describe Google Developers' "Playground" held during the Thessaloniki International Fair.
International speakers shared their experiences and tried to introduce us to new technologies, teach us with workshops and codelabs, and welcome this initiative, aimed at becoming the "Center for All Innovative Things". This is the annual meeting that gives the opportunity to leading technology developers and visionaries, visionaries and technology enthusiasts, but also innovators, startup companies and established entrepreneurs, to discuss and share radical ideas that can change their daily routines.
«Ήταν η πρώτη φορά, μετά από 12 μήνες λειτουργίας του GDG Thessaloniki στην πόλη, όπου το κοινό ‘έγινε ένα με την τεχνολογία και τους πρωταγωνιστές της', αγκάλιασε το Playground σαν να ήταν καθημερινή συνήθεια, έδειξε ιδιαίτερο ενδιαφέρον για τις εξελίξεις της τεχνολογίας και στήριξε το συνολικό event, προτείνοντας νέα πράγματα σε εμάς, μοιράζοντας τις σκέψεις του, προσφέροντας τη βοήθειά του και συμμετέχοντας ενεργά σε αυτό που επιδιώκουμε: να δημιουργήσουμε ένα σημείο αναφοράς στη Θεσσαλονίκη και ιδιαίτερα στην ΔΕΘ-HELEXPO για όλα τα πράγματα της τεχνολογίας και της καινοτομίας. Ήταν ένα συγκεκριμένο ορόσημο που έκανε την κοινότητα του Google Developers εδώ στη Θεσσαλονίκη να αισθανθεί μέρος της κοινωνίας” δήλωσε ο Παναγιώτης Τζίνης, ιδρυτής της κοινότητας των Google Developers στη Θεσσαλονίκη και πρόσθεσε: «Είμαστε πολύ περήφανοι και ενθουσιασμένοι που επιτέλους, μετά από ένα χρόνο σκληρής δουλειάς, μπορέσαμε να δούμε μια ανταπόκριση και διάθεση συμμετοχής όχι μόνο από τους ανθρώπους που προέρχονται από τον τομέα της τεχνολογίας, αλλά και “συνηθισμένους” ανθρώπους που ενδιαφέρονται να μάθουν περισσότερα και να εξοικειωθούν με την τεχνολογία. Είναι ένα μεγάλο βήμα προς τα εμπρός! Σας ευχαριστούμε για την εμπιστοσύνη που μας δείξατε”.
What did we learn at the GDG Playground?
We got to know the new technologies that will be officially released on the market in the coming months, we "touched" the sphere of virtual reality (virtual reality) and augmented reality (augmented reality), μέσω της παρουσίασης του Google Cardboard για πρώτη φορά στην Ελλάδα. Το Google Cardboard είναι ένα φθηνό, διασκεδαστικό εργαλείο που ξεκίνησε στο Google I / O στο Σαν Φρανσίσκο, τον περασμένο Ιούνιο και στόχος του είναι να κάνει προσιτό το Virtual Reality (VR) σε περισσότερους ανθρώπους. Η Εικονική Πραγματικότητα έχει προοδεύσει εκπληκτικά τα τελευταία χρόνια, ωστόσο, η απόλαυση ή η ανάπτυξη του VR εξακολουθεί να απαιτεί ακριβό, εξειδικευμένο εξοπλισμό. Το Cardboard είναι το αποτέλεσμα ενός πειράματος που έκανε μια ομάδα από λάτρεις του VR στη Google. Η ομάδα χρησιμοποίησε ενα smartphone για την “καθοδήγηση” των VR εμπειριών και κατασκεύασε ένα περίβλημα χωρίς πολυτέλειες που μετατρέπει ένα τηλέφωνο σε ένα βασικό VR headset. Ενώ η εργαλειοθήκη “λογισμικού ανοιχτού κώδικα” που το συνοδεύει, κάνει το γράψιμο λογισμικού VR τόσο απλό όσο η δημιουργία μιας web ή mobile εφαρμογής!
"We had the opportunity to present the Google Cardboard to various businessmen and government representatives, who visited our stand -the Playground- at the Thessaloniki International Fair. Their reactions were extremely positive. In fact, some ideas were heard so interesting that our community has already started working on them ", said Mr. Tzinis.
"We mainly focus on an idea that is worth advertising and is relevant to the promotion of Greek tourism. About how we can highlight some of the beauties of Greece, through Cardboard. The Cardboard team, created especially for this purpose, implements a software that will be able to create a few minutes of virtual reality promo-videos with the best sights of Greece. As a community we would like this to be promoted to major tourist offices abroad. This will also be a tool for them projectionof our country. A particularly interesting feature of Google Cardboard is that because it is made from a simple piece of cardboard you can customize and personalize it. At the moment we are talking to some key people in the tourism sector in Greece, in order to officially present the project immediately", added Mr. Tzinis'.
At the same time, during the first days of the Playground, the Lady Geek Day event, inspired by the initiative of Google's Women Techmakers, took place for the first time in Thessaloniki. The panel was attended by 4 leading women in the field: Olga Stavropoulou, Marika Lambrou, Sandra Zafirakopoulou and Liana Gouta, while her greeting messages were sent via hangouts by Ms. Eva Fabry, president of the European Center for Women and Technology (ECWT). The 4 women shared their experiences with the audience and focused on the need to break down the stereotypes that prevent women from engaging in science, technology and entrepreneurship. According to them, the solution to the problem comes through the changes of the basic social structures, such as that of the family, but also through the connection of the educational community with the labor market. A pleasant surprise was the presence of two young girls who announced their intention to start a women's outreach group in themetechnologies in our city, in an effort to bring the fairer sex closer to creating code and not only that.
After the break, the event moved to booth 14, in the Google Developers Playground. There the representative of Media Hackers, Mr. Yiannis Kotsifos, presented the actions of the group. The main goal of Media Hackers is to develop a flexible core program educations for journalists so that they are better equipped to deal with new technologies.
Playground this year focused on wearable technology and hosted some Q&A sessions for the Google Glass project, while for the first time, the GDG community got into the process of helping startups and creating the right entrepreneurial ecosystem with everyone's support. of players in the city.
During the seminar, GDG Launchpad members and teachers gave "their lights" to 10 selected start-up companies about making better use of Google tools and helping them better understand business development, strategy marketing strategy, brand strategy and product scalability in order to develop and better promote their products and services in the marketplace. Launchpad is a global initiative from Google that aims to boost start-up companies to take off, utilizing Google's free tools and platforms and of course understanding the basic market rules.
Playground "extended"
"Playground was so successful that we were invited to extend our presence, in cooperation with the CERN Technology Museum in the city, at the 14 Pavilion of the Thessaloniki International Fair. We are genuinely excited about the opportunity that has been given to promote the use of technology in our daily lives and with the support and confidence of the HELEXPO, to create the right environment for the development of innovation culture. So if you want to come and visit us, you will find us at the famous kiosk # 14! "Said Mr. Tzinis.
The Playground "extended" will focus on children, aiming to bring them closer to the world of technology by presenting three thematic sections: Touchless technology (LEAP Motion), Automation and games, Virtual reality and Google cardboard.
From 11 to 17 October 2014, the Playground will officially host the European Week Code with hundreds of events, workshops and codelabs for "youngsters".
The aim of the initiative is to promote the concept of programming to children, giving them the opportunity to attend classes and workshops throughout the week. Millions of children, parents, educators, entrepreneurs will participate in mass events and acquire the relevant skills.
The aim of this special week is to familiarize millions of children with programming, for example, demonstration workshops, developing learning tools and contributing to teacher education. It is worth noting that companies such as Rovio (Angry Birds), Microsoft, Google, Telefonica, Liberty Global and Facebook support the European Week Code by participating in events.
This year's DevFest is also aimed at adults, presenting three main thematic units, Design - Develop - Distribute, and their application on different platforms and technologies. During these days, you will have the opportunity to see for the first time wearable technology, with devices that will be brought exclusively to the public by the Google Developers team, here in Thessaloniki. Wearable devices - which, in addition to Google Glass, can be either smart watches or smart bracelets - open new frontiers in applied technology, offering new opportunities in new markets. Many leading companies have embraced this innovation, accelerating the testing and production processes of the devices. w. DevFest will give you the chance to see them and try them out.
If you need more information about the Playground, or if you want to get in touch with the Google Developers community here in Thessaloniki, call 2310-291141 or send an email to gdg.thessaloniki@gmail.com
