As if scripted by some unknown irony god, the power went out at tech and digital economy trade show CES due to rain, The Guardian reports. In a giant convention center room in Las Vegas, the event dedicated to revealing the latest industry technology went dark for a short time. Event coordinators declared that this was due to heavy rain earlier in the week. Lucky for LG and Samsung the power was restored before long, as their booths relied, like every other company in attendance, on electricity. Seeing as 92% of trade show attendees actively look for new products at these events, and 83% of business owners see an increase in sales due to LED use in signs, it must’ve been a tense time for those awaiting the restoration of power.
The show must go on, though, and on it went. Winners from various categories are being celebrated and have started making the social media rounds. Xenoma e-skin pajamas won the accessibility award for integrating washable vital signs sensors into smart fabric pajamas. Black Box VR won the best startup award for creating the world’s first virtual reality gym. They aim to gamify by connecting the personal units to a platform displaying worldwide and local top scores. L’Oreal UV Sense took the top spot in both the wearable and digital health and fitness categories. It’s a device barely bigger than a dime that tells you how much UV radiation you’ve been exposed to today. Toyota e-Palette won in several categories including ‘best of the best’. The e-Palette is an autonomous-ready electric transportation vehicle that can be customized. Little more than an empty box on wheels, the possible uses range from mobile office to self-operated food cart. Products like this are the precursors the promised eventuality of a fully ‘driverless car’. The theme of CES was smart cities, but a broad range of unique and fascinating displays was rolled out in front of potential buyers. The coming years promise to be revolutionary when it comes to virtual reality, augmented reality, and automation. Now, if these bright minds knew how to keep the lights on, that would be truly spectacular.
