Back from another year at CES and the word of the show is incremental. Everyone I spoke to at CES mainly said the same thing. Nothing really blew them away, in a good way at any rate, and everything was just a little better than last year. I still always see some great technology that I think is better out of the home, but
TV
Let me start with this heresy, I'm not a fan of 8K for the house. Sure, it's awesomely pretty and the colors are amazing, but I don't see it being a big winner for the home market for a long time. A few years back when talking about the rise of 4K TV's, we talked about the ripple effect that 4K TV's were driving. You can't have 4K TV's, without also making sure that every content creator had 4K cameras. And the pipes to the house had to be able to deliver 4K. Even make-up and wardrobe might need to be adjusted. For large studios, that capex could be pretty significant. Many of them are probably just finishing the upgrade to 4K, I don't think they're going to jump into 8K all that quickly.
If you think about a standard TV show, 8K also doesn't drive any new value. Would have I liked Sex Education, Bodyguard or Manifest be any better in 8K? Not at all. Live sporting events could be a reason for 8K, but I think it becomes just like 3D at that point. Sure, it'll look good, but there just won't be enough compelling content to justify the upgrade.
For out of home, I think it's a different story. I think 8K in movie theaters or being used for OOH (out of home) advertising could be really interesting and a point of differentiation for those industries. But I just don't see mass consumer adoption for quite a few years.
4K is now pretty ubiquitous, but honestly, what can you do to make a 4K TV better? Thankfully, there weren't many curved screens this year, so maybe that trend has faded a little. We saw a lot of pretty screensavers this year. Afterall, why have such a large thing in your living room that's just black when it's not in use. There were a couple of companies showing transparent TV's, which again, I think are awesome for OOH and events. I don't know about your house, but the space behind the TV at my house rarely gets the cleaning it deserves -- I'm not sure I'd want people to be able to see behind it! The two coolest innovations for me:
- LG's roll-up TV. There's no doubt that this TV was a big hit. And it is both beautiful and cool, no doubt about it! People, myself included, would watch that screen roll up & down over & over again, sort of mesmerized by how it works. The picture quality is obviously excellent and the rolling mechanism worked extremely well. But I wonder how many people really need a TV the rolls away when it's not being watched. Again, it might be cool in certain retail or OOH environments, I think it ultimately creates limited value for the typical home consumer.
LG press picture
- Samsung's Wall system is also a beautiful, interesting take on what a TV is. Using MicroLED tiles, Samsung has created a tool that allows the user to build the TV in different sizes and shapes. Again, truly beautiful and for OOH, as some real practical applications. I think that the ability to create to a specified size, rather then having to build around the set sizes of traditional has value to both home and OOH uses.
Samsung press picture
Connected Cars
As with TV's, this was again a year for incremental growth for the connected car industry. We're still a ways off from everyone being able to use self driving cars, so again, we're still seeing lots of concepts, not actual cars. There's so much that needs to change before self-driving cars are a thing, and the car technology is only a piece of it. During the show, we talked about how the entire eco-system that needs to changed, from car dealerships to insurance companies. For example, for sake of discussion, there are some 150 million or so potential customers for insurance companies today. But, if the car is driving itself, then who needs to have the insurance? It could possibly mean that their potential audience goes from 150 million to maybe less than 100, as only the companies building or delivering self-driving cars would need to be insured. That's just one example of an item that would be a huge change to the insurance industry and all of that needs to be resolved before we see a ubiquitous roll-out of self-driving cars.
One thing that got a lot of attention was the announcement by Audi of holoride, their new experience that turns the car into a mobile gaming platform using VR.
Audi press picture
As they describe:
Audi is demonstrating the immersive futuristic technology with “Marvel’s Avengers: Rocket’s Rescue Run,” an in-car VR experience for backseat passengers being brought to life by Disney Games and Interactive Experiences. Wearing VR glasses, the passenger in an Audi e-tron is transported into a fantastical depiction of outer space: The Audi e-tron now functions as the ship manned by the Guardians of the Galaxy, as the passenger makes their way through an asteroid field together with Rocket, a character that will appear in Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame in spring 2019. Every movement of the car is reflected in the experience in real time. If the car turns a tight corner, the player curves around an opposing spaceship in virtual reality. If the Audi e-tron accelerates, the ship in the experience does the same.
Right now, the system is designed for use by passengers in the back seat and it got good reviews and it will be interesting to see where this technology can go in the future. They clearly made a smart move by partnering with Disney and bringing Marvel characters into the experience.
We had an interesting conversation on the show floor about the future of content in cars and how they would drive car buying decisions in the future. For example, if you had children and you were thinking about buying a luxury car, would knowing that Audi had exclusive Disney game content, would that sway your purchase decision. It also means that our history of content distribution could be very challenged by auto manufactures. Could Ford win the distribution of the Super Bowl broadcast in the future and you could only watch it in a Ford vehicle?
Bell Air Taxi
One of the newest exhibitors in the connected car area was Bell Helicopter, showcasing their Nexus products at CES for the first time. Designed as an air taxi, think Uber in the air. It was certainly very cool and I can see executives using this in crowded environments like NY & LA. It is designed to be flown autonomously, taking guests easily over crowded highway drives. It was designed to be flown without a pilot, but I when I asked how people felt about getting into a helicopter without a pilot, they admitted that the test runs all included one until people's comfort level had increased.
David Polinchock
Connected Home
As with the above items, we're seeing everything getting better with connected home tech, but not really a lot new, at least for me. The biggest press in this category was for connected toilets, so that says something. Homestly, does my toilet need to be Alexa enabled? Is it really that difficult to lift or put down the toilet that I need Alexa to do that for me? Admittedly, I did really enjoy the smart toilet I got to use in my hotel in Seoul. I mean, it's going to be in the single digits here this week, that heated seat would be awesome! But beyond that, I'm not sure the value here for most people. But look at how Kohler describes the "experience" in their press release:
The lighting features on Kohler’s flagship intelligent toilet have been upgraded from static colors to dynamic and interactive multi-colored ambient and surround lighting. Paired with the new speakers in the Numi toilet, these lighting and audio enhancements create a fully-immersive experience for homeowners.
Kohler media kit
They took a lot of grief in social media for talking about the toilet being a fully immersive experience, which they honestly deserved.
There were a few things that I liked, including the Bitdefender Box. With some many connected devices coming into the home, security is becoming a very critical issue. Tools like this protect everything in the house and Bitdefender adds things like parental controls and even cyberbullying protection. As everything becomes connected, expect to see more products like this on the market.
I also really liked the idea behind Walabot Home product. A sensor system designed for the home, it will detect falls and automatically calls for help when detected. With so many seniors living longer and alone, again, I think we'll see a lot more of this kind of tech in the future. What I liked about it was that it was very non-intrusive and seemed pretty easy to set up. I also know many seniors who wouldn't wear one of those "I've fallen and I can't get up" bracelets and this is a good alternative.
Lastly, I was a fan on the Nanoleaf lighting system. This personalized and interactive lighting system seems to have more value to me than the traditional connected lights usually seen. I love it for OOH and industrial uses, although there would certainly be people who would use it for their homes as well. With my daughter heading off to college in the fall, we might start a new trend in dorm room design!
David Polinchock
VR/AR
Again the story of VR/AR this year was that everything was getting better. As you may remember from my Google Glass days, one of the biggest complaints was that they really didn't look that good. While I thought they were fine, I can tell you that Sydney always felt uncomfortable wearing them!
Companies like Nreal are working on mixed reality glasses that can deliver both an outstanding mixed reality experience and good looking glasses. So, once again, HMD's got a little better and there were more stand-alone headsets that are expected this year, but honestly, there just wasn't the excitement that there was on the past.
You can see by this list of articles, VR/AR was there, but it didn't generate the hype it was in the past:
- At CES 2019, VR and AR took small but meaningful steps forward
- At CES 2019, VR feels like a dream gathering dust
- Remember virtual reality? Its buzz has faded at CES 2019
Now, that doesn't mean that VR/AR is over or disappearing anytime soon, so don't fret. One of the things that I did like was seeing VR used throughout the floor to demo other products. For example, it was everywhere in the connected car section, so it is being used to tell stories and drive engagement. Expect to see more of that at future CES events.
Future of Retail
One of the challenges with doing these things for a long time, is that you start to see things coming back for a second time. That was the case with a couple of the items at CES this year, but the good news is that they are being done well and that there's usually more acceptance of these technologies today.
For example, JD showed off several technologies at their booth, their first time exhibiting at CES. These technologies, while they've been around before, show off where retail could be heading in the future. One allowed guests to "try" on different outfits by standing in-front of a screen, as seen below.
They also showcased their smart vending machine, something that several exhibitors showed at CES this year.
Yi Tunnel showed off some great image recognition tech, both for checkout and vending machines. I have to admit, the demo of the image recognition check out was pretty impressive. It could recognize things like fruit very effectively. Without a doubt, we'll see a lot more of this kind of tech in the future.
One of my favorite things at the show was Robo-shark, the shark shaped, underwater drone. First of all, it looks damn cool! And the three screen, control system, who wouldn't work use that! Here's how they describe it:
ROBO-SHARK is positioned as a high-speed, low-noise ocean-like bionic underwater robot platform. This product can perform tasks such as fast approach, high-mobility patrol, and high-speed tracking of underwater targets. ROBO-SHARK uses shark as a biomimetic prototype and replaces the propeller propeller with a three-joint bionic tail fin, which can effectively reduce the running noise of the product and save energy consumption. In addition, the outer casing of the product is made of sound absorbing material, which is concealed. The product can be propelled at high speed through the caudal fin and has a speed of up to 10 knots.
I mean, don't you want one right now?? Unfortunately, it's a custom product, so I couldn't get a good price, but I did want one!
There was a lot more there and I may do some additional writing, but I think you get the idea. Lots of good things, just a little better than last year. It's still a fun show to attend and 2020 might still have some surprises in store!