6 exciting highlights of CES 2019

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES), held annually in Las Vegas, allows tech brands to show off their latest developments to consumers. If you didn’t attend CES 2019 this year, that’s no problem. Here’s a rundown of six things that captured attendees’ attention the most.

1. Advanced Ways to Help People Stay Healthy

People use technology in myriad ways, but CES 2019 emphasized how to tap into tech to improve health. Samsung unveiled two health-related robots, called the Bot Care and Bot Air, which track health statistics and measure air pollution and purify it when necessary, respectively.

Also, a brand called Somnox believes sleeping well helps people enjoy good health. Its sleep robot is a peanut-shaped pillow that simulates human breathing and reportedly helps users sleep more deeply and longer than they otherwise might, allowing them to wake up refreshed.

If individuals worry that excessive stress is negatively impacting their well-being, CES 2019 introduced them to Doppel, a stress-reducing wristband that makes a silent vibration based on a heartbeat to coax a user to relax or stay focused, depending on the vibration’s speed.

These products and others showed CES attendees that tech doesn’t merely entertain. It can also enhance people’s health.

2. The Engaging Speakers

Some of the highlights of CES included the speakers and presentations that helped people understand why the new offerings showcased at the conference are so meaningful.

Ginny Rometty, the CEO, president and chairwoman of IBM, got CES 2019 off to a strong start with her relevant opening keynote that discussed what’s next in the tech sector. Deep data and blockchain were two of the topics she covered, often by inviting other tech experts on stage for conversations that kept the presentation moving at a swift yet manageable pace.

Noel Lee, the founder of Monster, a tech company that got its start creating cables, celebrated 40 years in business. His presentation outlined the things the company will do to thrive during the next four decades. It also detailed some of the tech goodies people can expect from the brand soon. They included a thin, high-performance sound bar, power solutions that work with Amazon Alexa and headphones with 24-hour battery life.

Those are two examples of how the CES 2019 speakers contributed significantly to spread the word about tech’s progression and what it means for society.

3. Google’s Dominance

In 2018, Google Assistant was among the top CES tech trends, and Google envisioned how people could say “Hey, Google” to activate their smart televisions. Google seemed intent not to get overlooked at CES 2019, too. Besides mounting a massive Google Assistant ad on the side of the CES venue, the company constructed a sprawling booth to showcase its newest gadgets.

Google’s presence at CES 2019 was three times bigger than last year, and that’s due, in part, to how the company brought a roller coaster that profiled Google Assistant’s history. It didn’t feature any sharp turns or steep drops, but people who rode it said it was a creative and thoroughly impressive way to offer an interactive experience to guests.

4. The Awe-Inspiring Vehicles

You might not think of CES as a car show, but the vehicles presented at this year’s event may expand your previous assumptions. They included enticing electric models from brands like Nissan and Byton, and even a car with retractable legs marketed to first responders who deal with harsh environmental conditions.

BMW even debuted motorcycles with autonomous safety features like emergency braking systems and gyroscopes that keep a bike upright.

Moreover, one of the highlights of CES was undoubtedly a flying car made by Bell. The company will offer it to Uber, which will give users the option of taking an aerial taxi service by the mid-2020s. Nearly 20 other companies are also hard at work on flying car concepts, and that means they could stand out at CES for many years to come.

5. Retro Tech

Indeed, many of the products unveiled at CES this year made people marvel as they thought about how things they only imagined before had become realities. However, some companies instead chose to insist that what’s old is new again. They rolled out vintage-style gadgets that made some attendees think of their younger years.

There was the MIXXTAPE, which is a portable music library packed inside a case that looks like a cassette tape. Plus, the X-Mini Supa 2 has a modern sound system inside a body that appears as equipment from decades ago did.

Kodak appealed to people who fondly reminisce about instant Polaroid cameras, too. Its Smile camera has a collapsible viewfinder and a timer among its features.

These products showed how worthwhile it could be to take ideas from favorite gadgets of the past and update them to look delightfully old-fashioned and have the capabilities most people expect from their new tech.

6. The North Face Wants to Revolutionize Camping

As any person who’s gone camping probably realized, waterproof fabrics often don’t breathe well, and breathable materials may not promise dryness. The North Face brought out its FUTURELIGHT fabric, which uses a technique called nanospinning that layers fibers to make them both porous and able to keep moisture out.

The North Face applied the material to a pop-out camper at CES 2019 and will soon offer various kinds of apparel featuring the advancement. Camping lovers have yet to put FUTURELIGHT to the test in real-world situations, but if the fabric does as it claims, people can look forward to substantially more comfort when they get immersed in nature — even when the weather becomes unpleasant.

Something for Everyone

CES 2019 and the exhibitors it hosted proved how technology is so diverse, it won’t leave people disappointed. No matter how you use tech and why, the event likely promoted numerous things you’ll want to try.