FJORD #CES2017January 5–8, 2017 | Las Vegas, NV

50 YEARS OF WHOAThe world’s biggest tech convention kicked off in 1967, with 250 exhibitors and 17,500 attendees gathered in New York City.

Since then, CES has grown by more than 10-fold and now encompasses both traditional and non-traditional tech industries.

3,800+ exhibitors

165,000+ attending

150 countries

In celebration, CES exhibited its innovative past, showcasing classic technology that made a big impact.

By reflecting on technologies past, innovative displays had more weight on their potential significance for the future.

Companies used this juxtaposition to push not individual products or new technologies, but whole ideologies of the future, challenging and pushing today’s idea of the home, the car, and AI.

50 YEARS OF INNOVATION

Timeline courtesy CTA

CES GOES BEYOND TRADITIONAL TECHTraditionally, the biggest news out of CES was around advancements with TVs, smartphones, personal computers, audio hardware and cameras.

This has changed in recent years – CES has evolved to include innovations that improve all aspects of everyday life – from smart appliances to wearables, from self-driving cars to feature-rich drones, energy conservation to connected communities.

This year, notable brands from outside the tech sector – like Carnival Cruise Lines and Johnson & Johnson – joined CES, lending more evidence that tech is now woven into every corner of our lives.

Panasonic – City of the Future

THIS YEAR VS LAST YEARCompared to last year, we saw a lot more robots and robot-like assistants. Some of these were highly articulated with displays, and others animated with humanoid expressions and characteristics.

Drones were still a big hit, and was more centralized within the show. To our eyes, there were a decrease in the number of drone displays, possibly due to companies currently working on the next wave of developments.

There was a big jump in the number of smart mirrors, and a small uptick in the number of dedicated autonomous delivery vehicles.

TRENDS 2017

AT CESWith the 2017 Fjord Trends fresh off of the press, CES is the first big event and opportunity in the new year for us to look out for more evidence, relationships and patterns.

As we did last year, April Reagan and Azia Foster, the CES Fjordian team, examined what was on display to find common threads and themes and compared these to our Trends report.

Find the 2017 Trends Report athttp://trends.fjordnet.com

Just as our Fjordian team was live tweeting photos and sharing videos from the convention floor, hundreds of fellow convention-goers were broadcasting and capturing the event with phones and connected cameras – live streaming to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. These activities are no longer reserved for those with a media badge.

Further, many of the products on display were aimed at making the business of sharing easier, including 4K, 360, and 3D capture devices and tools.

WHERE NEXT, NOW EVERYONE’S A STORYTELLER?

EPHEMERAL STORIES

At a professional level, there were several programs broadcast live from CES, specially focusing on e-sports.

FIFA hosted a FIFA 2017 e-sport tournament, inviting fans to compete live.

Formula-e hosted a live tournament between professional sim drivers and fans for the chance to win from a million dollar pool.

ESPN TNT filmed a live segment for their show with appearances from Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal.

REWIRING FOR INNOVATION

SHINY API PEOPLE

Many companies were on site with internal innovation labs and partnerships. From incubation to launch, companies were displaying their resources and support for creativity and collaboration to help nurture ideas from concept to maturity.

Samsung showed off its innovations from its Samsung Next Tel Aviv sector, dedicated to partnering with innovators to grow new businesses.

Sony continued to show off its First Flight program, growing innovations internally from its own employees.

IndieGoGo represented the third-party crowdfunding business, and its ability to provide assistance to larger companies seeking validation for new innovations.

BEYOND AR VS. VR VS. MR

BLURRED REALITY

AR, VR and MR were omnipresent at this year’s CES, encompassing gaming, sports, workplace remote assistance, and the world of a child’s room.

Companies went further than the visual aspects of mixed reality, but the physical aspects as well.

Tanvas revealed its Tanvas Touch haptic feedback system, allowing for users to feel like they’re interacting with gravel, zippers, and guitar strings.

Panasonic presented its vision for mixed reality meets sports fans, utilizing AR to enhance real-life experiences in box seats.

Tilt SpinTales presented AR based bed sheets, that allow children to interact with their bedtime stories.

GO SLOW TO GO FAST

WORLD ON WHEELS

Previous years at CES saw a rise in electric vehicles, but cars were still marketed as a personal item, owned by one individual or family. However, this year saw an influx of reimagined interiors and even ridesharing plans.

Honda announced its NeuV concept, a fully autonomous car designed with ride sharing in mind. After your car drives you to work, it’ll drive around other passengers, similar to an automated Uber.

Panasonic’s booth boasted a redesigned car interior of a fully automated car. Four seats face one another around four 20 inch tablets,.

transforming the interior of the car into a living room. Semi-transparent material envelops the car, and displays relevant information about the vehicles trip. In addition, facial recognition identifies when passengers have looked at a particular building out the window, and surfaces information from the web.

We also saw the rise of promising partnerships between car makers and companies outside the auto sector.

VW is working with LG and third party assistants like Amazon’s Alexa.

DOMESTIC HELP FINDS ITS VOICE

HOMES WITHOUT BOUNDARIES

Last year companies were displaying the latest “smart” objects for your home. Smart toasters, fridges, washing machines, and locks, were all on display ready for consumers to buy and plug in. But plug into what? This is the question that this year’s smart home entries answered.

LG’s answer is the Hub Bot, a personalized robot butler intended to connect and control all of your smart home devices in one central location. Built upon Amazon Alexa, the Hub Bot plays to

human emotions with personality, animated facial expressions, movement, and facial recognition to identify individual household members.

Emotech’s Olly was a different kind of robot, designed to be less humanoid, utilizing abstract color, shape, and movement to communicate. Olly’s personality is designed to adapt and suit your own personality over time, becoming more predictive of the householders needs and want.

DON’T GET STUCK IN THE MIDDLE

HOURGLASS BRANDS

We saw a lot of companies expanding their capabilities to enable wider or deeper scenarios within and beyond their existing domains.

Hyundai introduced its extension from automotive to robotics with its H-WEX exoskeleton, designed to assist those with walking disabilities.

Withings and Loreal teamed up in the development of a Smart Hair Brush to track hair health and hair loss.

Corning, creators of Gorilla Glass, is redoubling its focus on auto glass improvements as well as expanding further into home products like the Fitness Mirror prototype.

HUMANIZING CHATBOTS

ME MYSELF AND AI

Although robots and AI are nothing new to CES, and chatbots were far and few between this year, AI had a surprising presence in the child and elderly care category.

Several companies know that children, today, grow up with more technology than ever before, and are eager to define that relationship.

Starting at the earliest point in baby’s life, Happiest Baby introduces an automated baby crib, complete with soothing sounds, rocking, and built in swaddle. The crib constantly listens to the baby to detect when comforting is required, and detects a

custom amount of rocking and volume to send baby back to sleep.

Woobo introduced its furry and friendly child companion, an AI stuffed animal designed to learn and develop a child’s interests. Instead of acting as a teacher, Woobo is designed to act like a child’s peer and enforce good habits.

And for tech to provide independence for elders and those with disabilities – giving caretakers a helping hand – AI can go a long way. For instance, Cutii from Yumii, provides a friendly voice interface to enable interactions with loved ones, medical staff, and more.

CUSTOMER-CENTRIC CANNIBALS

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES

Although CES broadcasts the optimistic aspects of new technology, the social impacts of innovation were subtly present.

This year the FAA created a booth about physical safety guidance and laws being put in place for drones. Although, they have yet to address privacy policies, this is an area they will be looking towards.

XpertEy revealed its future vision for surgeries, where surgeons utilize AR and VR to perform procedures they may not be familiar with.

We saw many companies keeping the ecosystem and green engineering at the forefront of their visions, addressing the limited supply of rare minerals needed for chips and processors.

Slide Products and Services (Clockwise from upper left corner)

5 Buddy from Blue Frog, Aelos robot, Ewaybot, Ekko by Miliboo, Yuneec drone, TwinswHeel delivery vehicle, Flash Robotics robot,

7 DK Aura Cinematic VR Cam, WeeView Eye-Plug Lite, VISA – Formula E Vegas eRace, TNT Inside the NBA, Samsung – Live FIFA Tournament

9 Samsung NEXT, Samsung C-Lab, IndieGoGo partners Whirpool Division W Lab and Amazon LaunchPad, Engie Lab

11 LightUp, Panasonic Window AR Projection, Tanvas Touch, TILT Spintales, Beam Labs Beam, iCAROS

13 Honda - Neu V Ride Sharing Concept, Honda – Ride Assist, BMW I Inside, Panasonic – Future Car 2025, Toyota – Concept I, VW Home-Net

15 Panasonic Kitchen Stove Top (1) and Refrigerator (2), LG Hub Robot, Suning – Hololens Software, Emotech - Olly

17 Hyundai – H-Wex, Wiithings – Hair Coach, Corning Glass Fitness Mirror prototype and Auto glass display

19 Wiki Toy – Neil the Little Explorer, Cway – Meemo, Woobo, Yumii, Volkswagen & Amazon Alexa, Mastercard – Chatbot

21 FAA, XPERT Eye, VW, King Abdullah Uni Science and Tech

SEE SOMETHING YOU LIKE?

Cover photo courtesy CES 2017 Media

SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!

FJORD

trends.fjordnet.com

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