CES: What is the most impressive technology development this year?

LAS VEGAS — When I stepped onto the Las Vegas showroom floor at CES, the world’s largest technology industry trade show, earlier this week, I felt a sense of dread. I’ve been coming to the show off and on for 10 years, and the story is always the same. The industry has created new gadgets that are slightly better than the old ones. Despite the hype, it’s not often that something revolutionary happens.

However, the atmosphere was a little different this year.

There’s no shortage of new machines on the CES showroom floor that are certainly a little better than the old ones and make your life easier and more fun, including TVs, robot vacuums, and fancy cell phone chargers. It was. But what really stands out is the growing number of things aimed at making you and the planet healthier.

From advanced fitness trackers to portable solar energy systems, innovation means more than cramming more pixels onto a display or adding AI capabilities to your washing machine. Tech companies, while sometimes bringing depression and destruction to people, offer us hope that they may ultimately lead us to a better future.

CES, formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show, is in full swing in Las Vegas in early January. Last year, the show attracted nearly 140,000 visitors, including industry analysts, big-box buyers, venture capitalists, and journalists like me, and featured exhibits such as Samsung’s rotating robot that turns floors into floors. They focused on the latest gadgets and novel concepts. screen. This is a show that makes decisions about what kind of technology you can buy. However, that is only in the near future. It’s almost as fun as going to an amusement park just to watch the rides.

The show began as a much smaller event in New York City in the late ’60s, and over the years was where the first VCRs, CD players, Nintendo Entertainment System, and Xbox all debuted. But at this year’s show, I found myself spending more time in unexpected corners of the convention center, where categories like digital health and energy storage are on display.

When you think of digital health, you probably think of fitness trackers or Bluetooth-enabled blood pressure monitors, but this category is expanding in unexpected ways. There are new ways to collect health data, surprising ways to monitor brain waves, and even AI-powered platforms that promise health for the whole family.

And of course, there are fitness trackers. Following the Oura Ring’s widespread popularity, there were several other smart rings on display at the show, including a smart ring called Evie with an AI-powered chatbot trained on medical journals; There was also. There were also other ways to track health, like Lingo, an over-the-counter continuous glucose monitor that works with an app-based fitness coach. (This is the same kind of technology that doctors are now increasingly prescribing to diabetics.)

Speaking of coaches and AI, Panasonic is launching a wellness coach for the whole family powered by Anthropic’s Claude AI. It’s called “Umi,” and I’d like to use it with my own family to see how everyone is feeling and come up with ideas for fun activities we can do together.

Health trackers also adopted different form factors. Audio company Master & Dynamic is now selling a set of headphones that can actually read your brain waves, thanks to technology from a startup called Neurable AI. The earcups have electroencephalogram (EEG) sensors built into them that can actually sense how much attention you’re paying to something. I tried out the headphones and was surprised by their accuracy.

In much the same way, a Canadian-based company called Myant also makes “smart textiles,” which is a phrase I didn’t expect to encounter at CES. It’s literally a garment with sensors woven into its threads, allowing it to continuously monitor health indicators like heart rate and body temperature in underwear or on an armband.

This year, Myant is releasing a new generation of technology that can take electrocardiogram readings and continuously measure blood pressure. With all this data, doctors can get a much more accurate picture of your health than regular check-ins with a smartwatch or ring.

“We’re developing a DSL cable that connects to the human body to actually connect the human operating system,” Myant founder and CEO Tony Chahine said in an interview. . “Instead of thinking of us as a device for one thing, think of us as an interface for a lot of different things.”

Health-focused innovations are also expanding. Perhaps the most potentially powerful invention I saw at the entire show was the OnMed CareStation. This is essentially a mobile clinic that can be set up in underserved communities in rural areas or even in the middle of cities. When patients step in, they are greeted by a human medical professional on a life-sized screen and guided through a variety of diagnostic tests using tools such as a blood pressure cuff and an otoscope that drops from the ceiling.

This is essentially a more powerful and comprehensive version of making a telemedicine appointment over the phone. Everything works as long as it has a power outlet and thanks to Starlink it’s connected to the internet. But Karthik Ganesh, CEO of the company, insists that the premium kiosk is more than just hardware.

“We spent too much energy thinking technology was a silver bullet,” Ganesh told me, explaining that on-med care stations are redefining how people meet their medical needs. In some cases, they provide people living in medical deserts with access to clinics that would otherwise be unavailable.

While we didn’t expect to see so many exciting health-based innovations at the show, we did expect to see a lot of talk about sustainability and the energy transition. I was not disappointed.

A booth featuring three renewable energy companies provided great examples of how clean technology is being brought into the home in meaningful ways. One company, Biolite, started out making camp stoves that could charge cell phones, but now it’s moving into the home energy business with a battery called Backup that effectively acts like a generator during power outages. I’m doing it.

At the same booth was a similar company called Copper, which manufactures home appliances equipped with batteries, such as induction cooktops that can operate even during power outages. Finally, there’s Gradient, which makes window-mounted heat pumps (which don’t yet have batteries) that are expected to bring more energy-efficient heating and cooling to millions of homes. Masu.

In fact, energy transition is something that almost every company I spoke to is focused on. All of these new technologies highlight real changes at the show. For decades, innovation has meant making your TV look better or your speakers sound better, but if many of the companies attending this year’s CES are to be believed. , now using technology to make our lives, and the world, better.

John Deere is electrifying its tractor fleet and making tractors autonomous to save energy. Volkswagen is rolling out a series of satellite-connected electric SUVs under the former Scout brand. Samsung and LG are expanding their lineup of heat pumps and heat pump-powered dryers that are now all connected to the internet.

Sony also plans to start selling EVs in partnership with Honda. I sat there, surrounded by screens and lidar sensors, and felt like I was living in a sci-fi reality. (It cost about $100,000, so this was probably the only time I sat in that car.)

My CES adventure this year took up the best part of a week, but when I finally left the showroom floor, my fear disappeared and I felt somehow excited about the future of agriculture, smart cities, healthcare, and even cooking. I felt it. Of course, what exists now at CES could take months or years to appear in the real world. It’s okay to be anxious. Something good is in the works.