Expo brings attention to wearable devices in Xiamen

The inaugural Cross-Straits Wearable Technology Forum took place at the Xiamen International Convention and Exhibition Center on Thursday.

The forum was held as part of the Xiamen International Industrial Exposition and attracted significant attention from venture capital institutions.

A 500 million fund aimed at supporting innovation and entrepreneurship between entities in Taiwan and the mainland was launched during the forum.

A research report on China's wearable computing industry in 2016, conducted by the China Wearable Computing Innovation & Strategic Alliance, was released on the day by the Vice Secretary-General Jiang Wenjun.

Speaking in the lead up to the forum, Jiang remained bullish on the prospective of the wearable device industry, including the development of the Virtual Reality technology. He said that Virtual Reality glasses will become a daily necessity like mobile phones are today, in next five to ten years.

Among the high-profile attendees of the forum were senior executives from leading Taiwan-based mobile phone manufacturer, HTC. Organizers invited the executives to share their experiences of the wearable devices industry with their mainland counterparts.

Jiang highlighted efforts made by Xiamen and the China Wearable Computing Innovation & Strategic Alliance to strengthen the wearable tech industry. He said that the Siming district government and the wearable computing alliance founded the Phoenix Valley Incubator in Xiamen in early March. The incubator enlisted 30 experienced professionals from industries related to the Internet of things and wearable devices, to be mentors to technology startups.

He noted that a dozen teams have moved into the incubator to work with Xiamen's traditional industries to make "smart" shoes and clothes and apply wearable technology to the animation and game industries.

Speaking at the forum about the advantages of the mainland and Taiwan, Jiang said that developers are on the same level in terms of smart wristbands and smart clothes and shoes, however, Taiwan companies have a head start in the hardware used in VR devices. This is especially true for HTC, which possesses advanced technologies capable of providing a better user experience than Google Glass, said Jiang.

Jiang also expressed confidence in the ability of mainland companies to conduct research and development, despite being behind their US competitors, who started billion-level investments two to three years ago. He predicted that the divide between US VR developers and Chinese developers will be significantly reduced in the next few years.