ONE TECH AHEAD

THE GADGETS AND DEVELOPMENTS THE PRESENTERS AT PAUSE FESTIVAL ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO TRANSFORMING THEIR LIVES WITH *** WHO: KELSEY WHELAN, NETFLIX PRODUCT MANAGER WHAT: I’m excited about cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin. There have been ups and downs, but the idea of self-governing, distributed systems fascinates me and I think we’ll see a lot of meaningful innovation and creativity here in 2018. *** WHO: DR AMANTHA IMBER, FOUNDER OF INVENTIUM WHAT: I’m excited to try Spire. It’s a wearable device that tracks your breathing and notifies you if you’re feeling stressed. I’m hoping it’s a way to keep me more mindful. *** WHO: CASSIE DE COLLING,

UKU360° DIRECTOR AND FILMMAKER WHAT: I’m interested in Google Pixel Buds, earphones that can translate

40 languages in real time. *** WHO: RITA ARRIGO, MICROSOFT CHIEF DIGITAL ADVISER WHAT: Artificial intelligence, mainly [the app] Seeing AI as Microsoft is now working with Pivothead to bring vision to the visually impaired. It’s life-changing. *** WHO: JESS AND STEF DADON, HOW TWO LIVE FOUNDERS WHAT: Augmented reality is a massive change that we’re really excited about, particularly for our online shoe label Twoobs. People will be able to put on a pair of glasses and “try on” the shoes from home. We’re also looking forward to developments in voice-controlled shopping, so you can order anything just by talking to your device.

Pause Fest, a collaborative event for the creative and tech industries, will be held in Melbourne from February 7 to 11; pausefest.com.au