(15 Jul 2015) LEAD IN
Forget rock music, mud and take-away food, an annual open-air technology festival is opening in the German capital Berlin.
Over the next three days, thousands of technology geeks, start-up founders, dreamers and investors will discuss their visions of the future of the world.
STORY-LINE
Smart pens that can write on any surface and transmit the text to a smartphone.
Apps that create panorama videos of your pictures and can be used with Google's Cardboard device.
Various camera stabilisers, drones, clothes with LED lights and lots more.
This is Tech Open Air, an annual technology festival held in the German capital Berlin, thought to be one of the most important tech hubs in Europe.
Over the next three days, some 5,000 people will attend the festival to listen to speeches, make contacts and - crucially - pitch their start-up ideas and products to investors and fellow entrepreneurs.
It's a frantic gathering, with many hoping to be the next big thing and hoping the festival will be a stepping stone.
According to Berlin Startup Map, a website where start-ups can register, there are currently 857 active start-up companies in Berlin.
"To find, you know, the next big thing, the next big start-up, you need many, many, many start-ups because the failure rate is very high among start-ups," says Niko Woischnik, founder of Tech Open Air festival.
"And that is good, it is a very creative process, right? So we don't know if the next Twitter is here but it could be, it could be any of the folks behind me or any of the start-ups that are exhibiting here today. And it's just exciting that people try and don't mind and are not afraid of failing. And only in this way will we find the next Twitter, possibly in Berlin."
One of the companies hoping to create a buzz at the festival is Israeli startup OTM Technologies.
They're showing their Phree Pen, a new type of stylus pen.
But instead of writing on a smartphone screen, the Phree Pen writes on any surface.
The text, pictures or commands are then sent to the smartphone via Bluetooth and shown instantly on the phone.
The Phree Pen is currently at the prototype stage, but after a successful crowd-funding campaign earlier in the year, OTM say they'll start shipping the finished product later this year.
"This is the world's first high-resolution, write nearly anywhere, mobile input device," says OTM CEO Opher Kinrot.
"And really it expands the capabilities of the computers that we carry in our pockets to something much more than that."
Berlin-based company Viorama has developed an app that clips together photos and videos to create 360-degree panoramic films.
The films can then be viewed directly on the smartphone or using the Google Cardboard device.
"My name is Michael and I'm a co-founder of Viorama. And what we did is like Instagram for virtual reality," says Michael Ronen, co-founder of Viorama.
"So with your mobile phone, you download an app, that you can easily capture videos and photos in a 360 manner and watch them with your phone or with the Google Cardboard together like that. You can easily teleport to any place and feel like you are there."
Another Berlin-based company has created a stabiliser for small cameras.
The Luuv stabiliser can be used together with smartphones, action cameras or smaller digital cameras and it stabilises the device so videos appear smooth.
"I'm here at Tech Open air to demo our latest product, it's called Solid Luuv," says Tim Kirchner, co-founder of Luuv.
ElektroCouture is hoping to bring technology to the catwalks with their range of fashionable clothes and jewellery.

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