Quick Takes from CES 2020

I just returned from my first trip to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and I’m still trying to organize my thoughts around everything I saw. CES is massive, both in physical size and in the amount of information you consume. It has over 4,400 exhibitors and is attended by 170,000 people from 160 countries. 

If you are a company or an organization that is charged with evaluating new technologies I would highly encourage you to send as many people as you can to these types of events. Innovation can not be hatched in isolation. If you are truly interested in pushing the boundaries of what’s next, then you have to break out of your daily bubble, interact with other technologists, and explore the different edges and angles of alternate industry solutions. 

Given the scale of CES, I planned my approach meticulously prior to attending. I identified vendors I wanted to meet with and technologies I wanted to explore. I had my maps and my schedule of events marked out and I was ready to go. After 4 days, multiple sessions, and thousands of steps I was able to hit the 50 vendors I had identified plus some extras along the way. 

Here’s what I learned.

Transportation technology is exploding

We are at a unique convergence in time where numerous innovations are colliding and multiplying. Autonomous vehicles (AVs), electrification, ride-sharing, and micro-mobility are all expanding at a rapid pace and redefining how we move. AVs and their concepts were everywhere on the show floor, including personal AVs as well as public transportation options such as buses. 

Bosch autonomous shuttle concept vehicle. Image via Car Talk

The ride-sharing economy will drive AV adoption even further as more people opt out of car ownership. This is especially true given it is expected that 68% of people will live in cities by 2050. Ride-sharing is also becoming more entrenched in your comprehensive travel experience. For example, Lyft and Delta Airlines have formed a relationship where your Lyft miles also count toward Delta SkyMiles. Lyft is also partnering with the city of Los Angeles to bring more transportation options to its citizens. As we move forward, it’s clear that transportation boundaries are beginning to blur. 

The benefits of electric vehicles, along with technological improvements in that space, are creating an inflection point for electrification. Given the impending threat of climate change, it is more important than ever to change our ways and to move away from the days of combustion engines. There are massive opportunities available in the market to support electrification beyond the vehicle as well, including the support needed for a nationwide charging infrastructure. 

I heard a statistic during the conference that there are approximately 40 types of electric vehicles available today yet in the next couple of years there will be well over 200. Interestingly, the introduction of electrification allows non-traditional companies to enter the automotive industry. This next phase of automotive design won’t be dependent on the traditional car companies like Ford, Chevrolet, and Honda. Their historical car building expertise is no longer a prerequisite. Now, entrepreneurs are able to launch new car brands that loosely involve creating a computer with wheels.

Fisker is one brand bringing economical electric options to market, including this SUV which costs less than the Tesla Model 3, and includes a solar roof. Image via Extreme Tech

Ground transportation is not the only focus. Hyundai and Uber displayed their air taxi prototype with ambitions for launch in 2023. Delta introduced a number of concepts they are working on as they set out to lead airline innovation. This includes having your bags picked up and delivered directly to your hotel so you don’t have to stop, tracking your kids and pets when they travel alone, viewing parallel reality signs in the airport where multiple people looking at a single display will see personalized content, using virtual queuing to board by seat and not by group, implementing exoskeletons for superpowered workers, and using your seat back console to have food ordered and delivered to your gate upon arrival. 

These transportation innovations along with the abundance of micro-mobility options such as scooters and bikes shows that a truly integrated and multi-modal travel experience is upon us. 

Your reality may never be the same

How we interact with the world around us is also on the cusp of extensive change. Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) were everywhere. Glasses and goggles allowing users to expand or escape their current state were in abundance. Form factors are slimming and capabilities are expanding. Industry has moved on from the Google Glass debacle in 2012 and is introducing new ways to experience our world. I saw glasses that included 4 cameras, two in the front and two in the back on the temple tips, allowing a full 360 degree experience. I also saw the TESLASUIT which is a full body haptic AR/VR suit which according to the company “accelerates the improvement of movement, reflexes and instincts, allowing faster, better improvement of the human mind and body”. 

The TESLASUIT means we are one step closer to Ready Player One.

I know what you are saying. “We have been promised the explosion of AR/VR for years!” And, you’d be right. We actually heard the same thing about biometrics for years. And just like biometrics, that year will ultimately come for AR/VR. Even if this is not the year, it certainly is a marker of the early stages of mass adoption and significant daily use.

Form factors of glasses, battery technology, and computer vision capabilities have all improved to a point where use is not only acceptable, but enjoyable. With more and more large brands developing solutions related to glasses (e.g. Apple) and the evolution of spatial computing, the future is bright for these technologies, especially AR. 

Inclusion remains important to innovation

Outside of the technology itself, it was refreshing seeing so much diversity at the show, both with those attending as well as those presenting. I spent some time at the Equality Lounge and got to hear perspectives of women in tech from Microsoft, Google, and other major industry players.

Hanging out in the CES Equality Lounge with a few inspiring friends.

I also attended the Ignite the Night pitch competition for NASA and was inspired by the diverse range of brilliant entrepreneurs.

While it is encouraging to see this in practice, there is still so much more that needs to be done. CES, and conferences like it, have the opportunity to continue to serve as a platforms to showcase and embrace inclusion. By doing so, individuals in attendance and the greater industry will ultimately be better off.

Drinking from a fire hose

One blog post is not enough when it comes to covering the sheer scale of topics, technologies, and innovations hitting the market. This is already a long blog post and I have yet to touch on Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics, digital health, biometrics, smart cities, blockchain, sports tech, gaming, family tech, cloud, wearables, home automation, 5G, quantum computing, and drones,

Take a minute to read that last sentence again.

These truly are exciting times to be alive. Technology is moving at an unparalleled pace across a wide swath of industries, and I can’t wait to see what’s next.

If I had to define one key takeaway from CES 2020, it is this - our future is guaranteed to look vastly different from how we live today.