Creative Tech Week

Creative Tech Week, held from May 3 to May 12, 2018 in New York City, is a festival created to bring together a talented professional community of expert creative technologists with the people interested in their work.
 On May 11 I attended the CTW Conference Hub. The day was filled with keynote speakers, lightning talks and panels held at the New York Institute of Technology. The conference showcased how industry professionals were using Artificial Intelligence, interactive electronics, immersive installations, AR and VR. During the conference I saw and heard a lot of presentations but there were a few that really caught my attention.
  Michael Ferraro the  Executive Director of the Infor Design and Technology Lab at the Fashion Institute of Technology showcased, AI makes Fashion.According to Ferraro, young fashion shoppers are demanding personalization more than ever. According to an IBM study, 52% of female Generation Z would like to see tools that allow them to customize products for themselves.
 To meet this need IBM has teamed up with Tommy Hilfiger and The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) Infor Design and Tech Lab on a project called Reimagine Retail. The goal was to show how AI can allow retailers to give customers the personalization they desire.

Ferraro explained that his students were given access to IBM Research’s AI capabilities including computer vision, natural language understanding, and deep learning techniques specifically trained with Tommy Hilfiger fashion data. The fashion data included Tommy Hilfiger’s product images, runway images and patterns from fabric sites. The data also incorporated silhouettes, colors, prints and patterns that could be used as inspiration to the students’ designs. From there, the student were able to create pieces thought would be personalized through AI for each consumer as shown below.


According to Ferraro The cognitive print generator tools and personality insights analysis also consumers self-expression they are seeking. In addition to exploring how AI might impact decision making in fashion design, the students also explored how tools such as social media listening and voice recognition can create a more personalized shopping experience. Once their pieces were created they had the opportunity to presented to Tommy Hilfiger and IBM executives, who chose a plaid tech jacket by FIT senior Grace McCarty. I found the AI makes Fashion presentation to be really interesting and possibly providing insight to the future. I have never really thought about AI but knowing brands like Tommy Hilfiger are thinking about how to incorporate this element into some pieces makes me think about what the future could be like with AI weaved into daily elements of life.


Stephen Martell from Current Studios AR car racing presentation was also another interesting presentation. Martell’s shared his experience with working with Honda to create the world’s first augmented reality car race. In his light-hearted presentation, he candidly shared insights to how his team made this race happen. In the desert of California with three acres of augmented reality raceway, Martell and his made on of their months of planning a reality in from of 800,000 online reviewers to watch this AR race. The race allowed real people to get into The Acura TLX and drive on an abandoned air strip while wearing a custom AR headset. The race was a big session and displayed how AR could impact product marketing.
 
The CTW Conference Hub was a great opportunity to see how Artificial Intelligence, interactive electronics, immersive installations, AR and VR are being used by companies today. Though I do believe that it will take quite a bit of time for them to be integrated into our society it was beneficially to see the capabilities of these platforms. I do believe that these platforms are future, even more so now it see that companies like Tommy Hilfiger and Honda have explored the category. But, do think that there will still be exploration in this category.