While industry veterans shared their latest advances at COMPUTEX 2023, over at InnoVEX, exciting newcomers pushed the boundaries of what technology can do.
Taking advantage of the first fully in-person event since the COVID-19 pandemic, 400 teams from 22 countries packed InnoVEX 2023—over double last year’s 195—with exciting products, pitches, and presentations envisioning a more connected and sustainable world.
As always, InnoVEX welcomed startups from national pavilions (this year, from France, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Japan, Brazil, and Israel, as well as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) alongside newcomers from accelerators and government agencies in Taiwan and Japan, enlivening the two stages at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center’s Hall 2 with rotating forums and pitches on emerging trends like mobility tech, the metaverse, and ESG.
Sustainability proved to be a primary focus, with solutions ranging from ecofriendly materials to waste reduction and even plant-based foods. Tackling the climate crisis will require a reimagining of every facet of production, no part too small. Some startups like BSF Innovation at the Startup Innovation pavilion are focusing on the most fundamental of building blocks—in this case literally, with construction bricks made of plant fiber and insect shells.
AI and XR might be the trends on everyone’s lips, but some presenters are hoping to bring back some of the physical world. Over at the French pavilion, fascinated visitors painted strokes on a monitor with a real brush, no electronics to be found in its clear plastic handle. Instead, ami Technology uses magnets to create “passive” peripherals free of batteries and chips, enabling a dizzying array of sustainable possibilities to replace bulky and complex electronics.
Others hope to bring physicality to XR. For people who might not want or be able to use headsets, Breylon’s Ultra Reality immersive desktop monitor at the Garage+ pavilion offered an alternative with depth that emulates human vision. Alternatively, the engineers at MEGAONE have developed an entire suite of headset varieties, including one that can display images directly on a person’s retina with potential applications for those with impaired vision.
Considering Taiwan’s strength in biotech, it was no surprise that many local startups were offering healthcare solutions. One such company, Alpha Intelligence Manifolds with Garage+, uses AI image analysis to diagnose ailments associated with aging, helping to democratize healthcare access in aging societies.
Last but certainly not least, there was no lack of companies seeking to harness the power of fast 5G connectivity with IoT to create safer and more convenient spaces, from the factory to the city. Coming from a construction background, the founders of BeeInventor know what workers need to stay safe on a dynamic worksite. With the company’s smart helmet, equipment can sense when a worker is in danger to automate fail-safes, while also monitoring their health to get help as fast as possible. Eying a different kind of arena, Sorama at the Dutch “Orange Accelerator” displayed their acoustic camera with applications from city noise pollution detection to product development. Their demo even showed how the technology can identify abuse during sports games by analyzing speech and pinpointing the culprits in a noisy stadium.
After three years without a global platform for many startups, the advancements seen at InnoVEX this year were unparalleled, even from before the pandemic. Now with the floodgates open wide, the pace of change is accelerating, driven by the kind of creativity that makes InnoVEX known as the Innovation Hub of Asia.
