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"  The arrival of March means we can finally look forward to fledgling signs of spring, as well as South by Southwest Interactive\u2014the technology-focused event that&amp;#039;s inspired a yearly cultural pilgrimage for early adopters and technophiles. PopMech will be on the ground at Austin, Texas, from Friday onwards to report on the chaos and bright new ideas that we see at the startup-swamped festival. This year, the VIP lineup includes science celebrities Neil deGrasse Tyson, Bill Nye and Adam Savage, along with some more surprising personalities, such as Edward Snowden and Julian Assange. (We hear Internet sensation Grumpy Cat will be in attendance, too.) Here&amp;#039;s a look at some of the trends and themes we think will emerge at the show. Surveillance and Online Privacy This is the big one. In his first public appearance since seeking asylum in Russia, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden will address an audience at SXSW via a video conference on Monday, March 10th, at 11 a.m. CT. He&amp;#039;ll speak with Christopher Soghoian, principal technologist for the American Civil Liberties Union, while the Texas Tribune will provide a livestream of the session. Later that same day, Brazil-based journalist Glenn Greenwald\u2014the reporter who worked with Snowden to publish extensive details on U.S. and British surveillance programs last June in The Guardian\u2014will hold his own remote session from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.  And finally, Julian Assange, embattled founder of WikiLeaks, will appear via satellite at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 8th. Assange currently resides in London at the Ecuadorian embassy. SXSW has long been known to be the site where many social media giants are birthed. Now, there seems to be a shift in the conversation: It&amp;#039;s as if the community has realized it is responsible for a wealth of personal information being publicly available online, shared through its popular platforms. Creating a forum where sensitive privacy matters can be discussed has emerged as a new priority. That Breakout Start-up Despite the obvious focus on surveillance issues this year, no one can deny SXSW its forte. Year by year, that involves a parade of start-up companies at the show\u2014traditionally apps\u2014each one hoping to have its breakout moment. In 2007, festival-goers were the first to install a little-known, status-based social network called Twitter. Two years later, in 2009, the new location-based app Foursquare led SXSW headlines. However, some attendees have said that the nascent services generating buzz at the event didn&amp;#039;t really gain traction outside of the SXSW bubble. In recent years that&amp;#039;s been more or less true, but no one could foresee the success of Foursquare or Twitter until after the fact. One area that could dominate this year is mobile commerce. Some startups in that space include The Latest, an app designed to monetize online lists curated by magazines and blogs; Cartonomy, an app that creates a virtual group shopping cart for family, friends or coworkers; and Dapper, a shopping app aimed at &amp;quot;the average guy.&amp;quot; There are rumors that we might see some demonstrations of Google Glasses being incorporated into the online shopping experience at SXSW, too. Of course, apps that organize people around communities will be well-represented. Gabstr, a crowdsourced community platform, promises to let like-minded people participate in interest-based groups. GarageSocial, a new social network, will supposedly let members of the auto industry showcase vehicles from around the world. myhub is an app that will let friends plan activities and pool cash for them. Many of these startups will have a presence at the SXSW Startup Village, on the 4th floor of the Hilton Austin Downtown. An Interactive Startup Spotlight event will be held at the venue from 4 to 6 p.m. on Friday, March 7th. Wearables and the &amp;quot;Internet of Things&amp;quot;: The rise of the hardware startup More and more, we are giving our everyday objects new digital lives. Tiny sensors embedded on bracelets, eyeglasses and ordinary clothing can quantify our senses and computerize the data we&amp;#039;re exposed to in our day-to-day activities. This year, we expect SXSW to be fertile ground for seeing even more advancements in wearables and the &amp;quot;Internet of Things.&amp;quot; Especially since, it seems, all the most popular startups are increasingly being established in the hardware\u2014not the software\u2014space. Eyeris, for example, is a company that can review past footage recorded on webcams and can decipher facial expressions to determine emotions. Then, that data can be further analyzed to sum up the people&amp;#039;s reactions. The Eye Tribe, a startup from Denmark, says it will deliver eye-tracking support for smartphones and tablets. Keeping it simple, a health-oriented company called Kinsa is touting a smart thermometer that attaches to a smartphone and can measure a child&amp;#039;s temperature. Meanwhile, in the realm of biometric security, there&amp;#039;s Bionym, a bracelet that can detect your heartbeat and use that signature to identify you. If all goes according to the company&amp;#039;s plan, it might even replace your keys and your credit cards. Another company that&amp;#039;s dabbling in wearables, Active Protect, has created clothing that can perceive falls. When someone takes a spill, airbags inflate around the hip bone and cushions that person&amp;#039;s wipeout. That tech company is targeting an older audience with its product. Science Celebrities and Nerd Panels It&amp;#039;s not SXSW without nerd-world celebrities and some heady panels, and the Pop Mech team is excited for both of these. The official keynote presentation will be given by science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson, and is scheduled for Saturday, March 8, at 2 p.m. CT. What&amp;#039;s more, if you missed the epic debate between geek hero Bill Nye (the &amp;quot;Science Guy&amp;quot;) and Ken Ham, you&amp;#039;ll have a second chance to catch up with the former at Austin this weekend. Bill Nye, along with comedian Andy Samberg and Quirky founder Ben Kaufman, will judge proposed innovations for Quirky, an online community for inventors. After the product pitches, Nye will host a taping for DeGrasse Tyson&amp;#039;s StarTalk Live podcast, with comedians Eugene Mirman and Jenny Slate as guests of the show. (The event starts on Saturday, March 8th at 5:30 p.m. CT and its livestream can be found Here. Finally, Adam Savage (of Mythbusters TV show fame) will be speaking about the scientific method in another keynote to be held on Monday, March 10th, at 2 p.m. CT. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/startups/a10279/what-to-expect-at-swsx-2014/>