The document provides an overview of key highlights and trends from CES 2017, the annual Consumer Electronics Show. In 3 sentences: CES 2017 saw over 3,800 exhibitors and 165,000 attendees from 150 countries showcase innovations across traditional and emerging tech sectors, with notable growth in robots, drones, smart home devices, and autonomous vehicles. New trends included a focus on mixed reality, personalized AI assistants, and reimagined concepts for shared and connected transportation. Companies also demonstrated expanding capabilities and partnerships to enable wider scenarios within and beyond their existing domains.
2. 50 YEARS OF
WHOA
The 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
3. 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
4. CES GOES BEYOND
TRADITIONAL TECH
Traditionally, 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
5. THIS YEAR VS LAST
YEAR
Compared 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.
6. TRENDS 2017
AT CES
With 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 at
http://trends.fjordnet.com
7.
8. 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.
9.
10. 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.
11.
12. 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.
13.
14. 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.
15.
16. 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.
17.
18. 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.
19.
20. 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.
21.
22. 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.
23. 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
24. SEE YOU
NEXT YEAR!
FJORD
trends.fjordnet.com
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