Global leaders in the tech world come together for the first digital CES 2021 allowing worldwide audience to participate to this year’s tech event.
Consumer Technology Association (CTA) President and CEO Gary Shapiro and CES Executive Vice President Karen Chupka, along with special guests, kick off CES 2021 this week and will discuss the tech trends shaping our future, how innovation has accelerated in the last year, and how to get the most out of the CES 2021 all-digital experience.
CES draws 150,000-plus to Las Vegas annually for people to see the latest and greatest gadgets, TVs, speakers, and other products. But this time it’s going to be different. CES 2021 will be a virtual event, conducted completely online due to coronavirus pandemic.
More than 1,900 exhibitors have joined CES 2021 despite its being the first digital and virtual event because of the still ongoing pandemic.
Will we be seeing flying cars and out-of-this world devices at CES 2021? Let’s look at the awesome and craziest technology featuring this year.
Hologram technology
Fans of Star Wars will love this! A 28-year-old scientist is making this movie sci-fi thing a reality. Taylor Scott, who began his quest for holographs and applied his first patent at age 15, is showcasing IKIN 3D holograms viewable in daylight from Android or iOS smartphones with a specialized proprietary chemical polymer lens. Before this, most hologram applications including the concert "performances" of holographic versions of Michael Jackson, Tupac Shakur, and Roy Orbison are done in dark conditions.
"He (Scott) had developed a product which would allow holograms to exist in ambient light with no headgear and no goggles," said tech exec Joe Ward, who left his then-current job to establish IKIN with Taylor in 2017.
Scott founded the San Diego-based company IKIN which will meet potential sellers and investors at CES 2021 about its in-development smartphone accessory that turns content on the device into three-dimensional holograms.
IKIN will create holographic content itself – it has already developed games along with tech demos – but the expectation is that developers of smartphone apps will license the technology. Consumers will buy the accessory, an attachment designed to match the smartphone's dimensions, so it "literally becomes a secondary portal into a dimensional world," Scott said.
IKIN is targeting a smartphone accessory consumer launch for later this year. The product, its trademarked name is "RYZ," has onboard artificial intelligence that customizes the experience for each user – and the environment it's used in. "If you tend to use a device a certain way, you lean, or are right or left-handed it renders the hologram to look best for you," Scott said.
Smart bathtub and toilet
Kohler, the company known for making home amenities revealed its plans for everyone’s bathroom experience ahead of CES 2021, the year's biggest annual tech event.
Kohler introduced the Stillness Bath, which attempts to mimic the experience of a luxury spa right in your home.
The tub uses a combination of fog, lighting and smells generated through essential oils to "relax the mind, soothe the body and renew the spirit," according to Kohler.
A version of the bath called the "Infinity Experience" will fill the tub with water from the bottom and flow over onto a wood moat to create relaxing sounds.
Kohler will also showcase its Innate intelligent and smart toilet that will open and close automatically and boasts a heated seat and personal bidet. And it's also got a remote. Wow!
The company’s going to also feature a touchless faucet that has sensors allowing them to automatically turn on without touching the handles.
LG QNED Mini LED TV
Tech giant LG Electronics will be introducing its newest TV tech acronym: QNED Mini LED TV, a brand-new series of televisions to be premiered at LG’s Virtual CES Expo on January 11, 2021. QNED TVs feature quantum dots and LG's NanoCell technology in their displays for enhanced brightness and color reproduction, but more importantly, these new TVs will also be powered by up to 30,000 mini-LEDs that add more dimming zones than ever to this premium lineup.
According to LG spokespersons, QNED TVs could be a hit with those looking for a brighter alternative to OLED displays.
"Our new QNED Mini LED series is a premium home entertainment option that expands and improves the LCD TV space and gives consumers another terrific viewing choice," said Nam Ho-jun, senior vice president of R&D at LG's Home Entertainment Company.
LG will have a live exhibit of its new 86-inch 8K QNED TV, which the company hopes will give it an edge in the market over its rivals.
LG says its 2021 QNED lineup will include 10 new 4K and 8K models in all, for a wide array of screen sizes and price points. The top QNED TV, an 86-inch 8K monster, will feature up to 2,500 dimmable zones for exceptional contrast, along with (we expect) impressive brightness and color reproduction thanks to its mix of other display tech like quantum dots. To put things in perspective, that equates to as much as 10 times the number of dimming zones you'll see on traditional LED TVs.
Samsung Robots
Another leading tech giant is about to unveil not one but two robots at the CES.
Say hello to Samsung’s Bot Care and Handy, which spectators said are both adorable and lovely.
Bot Care features an AI-powered companion that can recognize and respond to your behavior. "You've been on your computer too long," said the bot to a human at work. "How about stretching and taking a short break?" Another portion of the demo run by Samsung on Monday shows the bot offering a reminder about a future meeting, then displaying a tablet from the top of its head with the meeting ready to go.
Handy, on the other hand, is a robot with a giant arm and hand capable of various tasks. The robot uses AI to sense and recognize objects, so it can tell if it's holding something breakable like a dish or glass. During the demo, Handy loaded the dishwasher, set the table, and poured a glass of wine.
LG CLOi for the COVID-19 world
LG Electronics fast-tracked its autonomous disinfecting robot – an addition to its CLOi robot line – after it was approached in April by a major hotel company about a possible product that could disinfect hotel rooms.
The five-foot-tall robot has an array of three ultraviolet (UV-C) lights on each side that disinfect areas as it drives itself throughout the room. Its light detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensors follow the room's dimensions and can disinfect a room in 10 to 12 minutes.
The robot has applications beyond hotels, including restaurants, schools, health care facilities and other travel businesses.
"Certain businesses that been impacted worse than others,” says Michael Kosla, vice president of LG Business Solutions USA. "We are talking to long-term care companies about how this can help them keep residents safer and keep their employees safer. Anywhere you can really imagine you have people and that you have virus it's applicable."
LG expects to begin shipping the robots in April. It is working with the FDA and other agencies to certify its virus-killing abilities.
Robot Pet
The Moflin from Vanguard Industries is an AI pet the company claims, "possesses emotional capabilities that evolve like living animals." It's furry, too, and boasts its own personality like a real pet. Best of all, it won't poop in your house.
CES 2021 will digitally convene businesses, thought leaders, policymakers, media, and the broader tech community to launch products, build brands and form partnerships. Hear from technology innovators, see the latest product launches, and engage with global brands and startups from around the world. Visit https://digital.ces.tech/home to know more about CES 2021 and to register to this year’s event.
CES 2021 digital venue remains live for 30 days, until Feb. 15.