CES 2018: All about AI, smart cities and autonomous vehicles

Imagine a world where pilot-less drones whisk people from one location to another, navigating their own course swiftly and securely; where patients receive non-invasive, life-saving medical care without surgery or medication; and where the visually impaired receive information from written material via audio cues delivered by AI-enabled eyewear. That world may sound futuristic, but the technology that will make it a reality was on full display at CES 2018 earlier this month.

In a previous blog we predicted the technologies that we expected to see at CES. Now we’d like to share the technologies that caught our attention at the show. 

Work: This year at the show, we saw an evolution of robotics as companies continued to improve and expand the man-machine interface (MMI), making robots more interactive and more easily programmable. As robots become easier to program, the opportunities to integrate them on the manufacturing floor and within other industries become more compelling. We believe that the next hurdle for the human-robot interaction is the ability for them to work for and adapt to us. 

There were plenty of hearables showcased, from hearing assistance devices to smarter earbuds.  One that especially caught our eye was an artificial vision device featuring a smart camera that can communicate visual information to its user, including printed and digital text from any surface. We think that this technology has the potential of being leveraged in other areas, such as for training and even on the manufacturing floor. 

Artificial intelligence (AI) applications and chipsets were everywhere on the show floor and have wide applications in the workplace – from detecting security intrusions to predicting future product demands and trends. Smart building technologies, which will dramatically transform how we interact with our environments, driven by sensors and voice activation were also on display. 

Live: CES 2018 showed that the ‘smart’ concept has progressed from the home to the city. Companies displayed electric vehicle charging stations, renewable energy solutions, water monitoring systems and more – all designed to make cities more efficient, effective and liveable. It’s clear that governments around the world are interested in what smart technologies can do for their increasingly urban populations. 

Connected car technology was also a big feature at CES, including solutions using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), radar and vision cameras to generate a comprehensive image of the surrounding environment and vehicles. We think vehicles that have repeatable and more easily programmed routes, like trucks and buses, are likely to be the first adopters of some of these autonomous vehicle technologies. 

Play: There was plenty of wearable technology on display at the show, but not just focused on fitness gadgets as in the past. The line between health monitoring and prevention is blurring for wearables, thanks to more reliable sensors and the ability to embed them in clothing. The data generated by these devices can be shared with physicians, insurance companies or clients. 

On the topic of healthcare, we saw a number of interesting digital therapeutics from a sleep inducer app to a smart insulin pen. What stood out for us was the focused ultrasound – a non-invasive, image-guided surgical technology leveraging high intensity ultrasound that has the potential to dramatically improve patient recovery times and outcomes. 

The show has us thinking about ways we can continue to help our customers design and build more intelligence into their technologies. We’re looking forward to challenging ourselves and the great brands we work with to unlock potential and create bold new solutions in our increasingly connected world.