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.
"It was the first time, after 12 months of operation of GDG Thessaloniki in the city, where the public 'became one with the technology and its protagonists', embraced the Playground as if it were a daily habit, showed a special interest in the developments of the technology and he supported the overall event, suggesting new things to us, sharing his thoughts, offering his help and actively participating in what we aim for: to create a point of reference in Thessaloniki and especially in TIF-HELEXPO for all things technology and innovation . It was a certain milestone that made the Google Developers community here in Thessaloniki feel part of the society" said Panagiotis Tzinis, founder of the Google Developers community in Thessaloniki and added: "We are very proud and excited that finally, after a year of hard work work, we were able to see a response and willingness to participate not only from people coming from the technology sector, but also "regular" people who are interested in learning more and getting familiar with technology. It's a big step forward! Thank you for the trust you have shown us."
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 and augmented reality, through the presentation of Google Cardboard for the first time in Greece. Google Cardboard is a cheap, fun tool which launched at Google I / O in San Francisco last June and aims to make Virtual Reality (VR) accessible to more people. Virtual Reality has advanced tremendously in recent years, however, enjoying or developing VR still requires expensive, specialized equipment. Cardboard is the result of an experiment done by a group of VR enthusiasts at Google. The team used a smartphone to “guide” the VR experiences and built a no-frills enclosure that turns a phone into a basic VR headset. While the accompanying “open source software” toolkit makes writing VR software as simple as creating a web or mobile app!
"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.
“Εστιάζουμε κυρίως σε μία ιδέα που αξίζει να διαφημιστεί και είναι σχετική με την προώθηση του ελληνικού τουρισμού. Για το πώς δηλαδή μπορούμε να αναδείξουμε μερικές από τις ομορφιές της Ελλάδας, μέσω του Cardboard. Η ομάδα του Cardboard που δημιουργήθηκε ειδικά για αυτόν το σκοπό, εφαρμόζει ένα λογισμικό που θα είναι σε θέση να δημιουργήσει μερικά λεπτά promo-video εικονικής πραγματικότητας με τα καλύτερα αξιοθέατα της Ελλάδα. Ως κοινότητα θα θέλαμε αυτό να προωθηθεί σε μεγάλα τουριστικά γραφεία του εξωτερικού. Αυτό θα αποτελέσει και για εκείνους ένα εργαλείο προβολής της χώρας μας. Ένα ιδιαίτερα ενδιαφέρον χαρακτηριστικό του Google Cardboard είναι ότι επειδή είναι φτιαγμένο από ένα απλό χαρτόνι μπορείς να το προσαρμόσεις και να το εξατομικεύσεις. Αυτή τη στιγμή μιλάμε με μερικούς ανθρώπους-κλειδιά στον τομέα του τουρισμού στην Ελλάδα, προκειμένου να παρουσιάσουμε επίσημα το project immediately", added Mr. Tsinis'.
Παράλληλα, κατά της πρώτες ημέρες του Playground, πραγματοποιήθηκε για πρώτη φορά στη Θεσσαλονίκη, η εκδήλωση Lady Geek Day, εμπνευσμένη από την πρωτοβουλία των Women Techmakers της Google. Στο πάνελ παρευρεθήκαν 4 κορυφαίες στο χώρο τους γυναίκες: Όλγα Σταυροπούλου, Μαρίκα Λάμπρου, Σάντρα Ζαφειρακοπούλου και Λιάνα Γούτα, ενώ τα χαιρετιστήρια μηνύματά της έστειλε μέσω hangouts η κα. Eva Fabry, πρόεδρος του Ευρωπαϊκού Κέντρου Γυναικών και Τεχνολογίας (ECWT). Οι 4 γυναίκες, μοιράστηκαν με το κοινό τις εμπειρίες τους και επικεντρώθηκαν στην ανάγκη για κατάρριψη των στερεοτύπων, που εμποδίζουν τις γυναίκες να ασχοληθούν με τις θετικές επιστήμες, την τεχνολογία και την επιχειρηματικότητα. Η επίλυση του προβλήματος σύμφωνα με τις ίδιες έρχεται μέσα από τις αλλαγές των βασικών κοινωνικών δομών, όπως αυτή της οικογένειας, αλλά και μέσα από την σύνδεση της εκπαιδευτικής κοινότητας με την αγορά εργασίας. Μια ευχάριστη έκπληξη ήταν η παρουσία δύο νέων κοριτσιών, τα οποία ανακοίνωσαν την πρόθεσή τους να δημιουργήσουν μια ομάδα informationof women in technology matters in our city, in an effort to bring the fairer sex closer to creating code and beyond.
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 program basic training 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 community members and professors “showcased” 10 selected start-ups on how to better use Google tools and helped them better understand business development, strategy marketing, brand strategy and product scalability in order to better develop and promote them products them and their services in the market. Launchpad is a global Google initiative that aims to give start-up companies the impetus to "take off", leveraging Google's free tools and platforms and of course understanding the basic rules of the market.
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
