The new face of the CES Show 2018

The CES Show was held in Las Vegas from January 9 to January 12 this year. For the last 51 years CRS has stood for the "Consumer Electronics Show". Although this was my first visit I have the feeling that the focus is no longer on consumer electronics. I was deeply impressed - no, positively bowled over. Perhaps also because although consumer electronics interests me personally, my professional attention is directed at other attractions - and these were precisely the topics which the show focused on this year.

But first a few figures. A total of 3,900 companies exhibited at the show: of these 900 were start-ups from 42 countries. In my opinion the exhibition was the main part of the show but there were also 200 events taking place under the umbrella of a conference, which I did not attend. Visitor numbers stood at 170,000 which must possibly be a record. Put a note in your diary: the show will be held again next year from January 8 to 11, also in Las Vegas. From an organizational point of view the trade fair is extremely ambitious and some people are saying that it has now outgrown Las Vegas, a city which is not exactly known as a trade show center. In my opinion this trade show is perfectly suited to Las Vegas with its glittering illusory world, and of course the many amazing hotels and the casinos also offer plenty of distractions after an exhausting day at the show. I deliberately selected a hotel close to the convention center. There are in fact two large convention centers, the East Center and the West Center, neither of which can be reached on foot. The shuttle buses were somewhat problematical. I only took the bus once but it worked excellently. The convention center is fairly distant from the Strip. In the evening I used Uber to reach the large hotels on the Strip in a few minutes and without any traffic congestion. Prices are, of course, horrendous and you have to view the whole thing as an investment and not get hot under the collar about the hotel prices which are hiked by a factor of three or even four during trade show times. In my view the signage and the various plans and Internet platforms are extremely confusing. On the other hand the app works extremely well. All you have to do is enter the company name and the app immediately shows you the shortest way to the company's booth, just like a good satnav. However, I think it is difficult to get a comprehensive overview. Although the various booth numbers are shown on the plans, what are missing are the large heading indicating what is located in the different halls. I suggest that you first take a look at what the large "Market Places" offer and then even use a pen to note the booth numbers. As well as these "Market Places" the show also includes what is called "Eureka Park" in which the start-ups exhibit their inventions. I found the hustle and bustle here particularly exciting. I was struck by the large number of exhibitors from France, a country which is not exactly known for the latest technology. Perhaps this is already due to some sort of initiative by France's very dynamic President, Emmanuel Macron. But in any event, France's presence was noticeable. What was also new was a huge marquee called "Design & Source" containing everything possible and impossible, mainly from Asia. I found it quite entertaining to walk along the gangways and actually discovered one or two exciting things. An event called "Showdown" was held just before the end of the show when many exhibitors sold off their goods to visitors. There were 700 companies in this marquee alone.

But now to the main themes. Everybody has, of course, their own impression and I sometimes felt that I had been transported into the future. In addition to the many newspaper articles which also swamped the pages of German local papers, there is an official report, the "CES Report", a copy of which I received just a few days ago. What is interesting here is that the main themes no longer have anything to do with the original topics of the CES i.e. consumer electronics. It is clear that the CES is becoming an industry show and that electronics is permeating all aspects of our lives. Thus the CES has become relevant for all areas. I find the slogan "CES is where ecosystems meet" very apt. The fact is that partnerships and alliances are forged as a result of the presence of different technologies accompanied by their experts. What were the four major themes? The first one has to be artificial intelligence and machine learning. The second major theme is language and the importance of voice recognition. Just a few years ago we were fascinated by the possibilities offered by an easy to use touch-screen but now we can operate devices and machines almost faultlessly with our voice. I view the third and fourth trends really as a single theme. The third trend is called "Mobility and Cities". The fourth megatrend is transportation. I believe that these two themes are very closely intertwined as they are predominantly trends belonging to urban spaces. Linking the urban areas has, of course, its own dynamics and opens up fascinating possibilities such as the concept of the "Hyperloop" – the rapid movement of people and goods in a hundred kilometer long, partially evacuated tube. It is possible to demonstrate how all these themes come together in the car. Naturally in this case it does not revolve around the flaunting displays of horsepower and incredible engine capacities that occurred at the Detroit Motor Show held the following week; no, at the CES the focus was exclusively on electric drives and, more particularly, on self-driving cars up to level 4. What is called the "connected car" in which voice, artificial intelligence, mobility and, of course, transportation are at the forefront. The penetration of electronics is prompting the emergence of completely new providers. Thus I was astonished to see a large car on Panasonic's booth.

Now for the individual themes. Concepts like AI and machine learning continue to be shrouded in mist. I think the important thing to do is to sort the data, create additional data and to interpret this intelligently. This can be done with rules. However, it will get really interesting when artificial intelligence writes these rules itself as a result of repetitive processes. In a seminar I was surprised to see that robots with artificial intelligence can train each other, and, for instance, improve their chess skills. This is somehow fascinating and frightening to the same degree. Nowadays the central point of artificial intelligence is to use data to perform a service for clients. It is true that in the past most manufacturers were focused on hardware and saw service as an add-on. Today it is the other way round. Service is at the heart of the user experience and perhaps some more hardware is also needed. It is no accident that the most highly rated start-ups in Silicon Valley are all software firms. The new smartphone Mate 10 with artificial intelligence from the Chinese manufacturer HUAWEI and the Sony Aibo dog full of sensor technology are cited as examples. I looked at both of them and it is fascinating how a robotic dog fascinates most people. I can well imagine that in future robot dogs can play an important psychological role for children and the elderly people. On the voice question, an incredible amount has been done since the launch of Alexa Echo in 2015, just a short while ago. So-called "smart displays", that is to say the combination of proven touch-screens and voice recognition, are interesting. It is somehow amusing how various manufacturers appear to have come to an arrangement with each other. "Hey Siri" is a command with which we have been familiar for a long time and we have often kidded her along. It's funny that Google launched its "Hey Google" at the CES and also produced incredible line-ups with gigantic competition stands. The prizes were substantial, as I learned when I asked. As well as six months of Spotify or a Nest thermostat it was possible to win a donut, which brought an agonized grin to the face of the lucky winner. Mercedes, of course, with its remarkable booth was not going to be left behind and called its voice recognition system "Hey Mercedes". The theme of mobility and cities sometimes appears rather ironical to people like me who has been living in the USA for the past six months. Even in Silicon Valley the infrastructure outside the well-known company headquarters is poor. It was also ironical that on the morning of the second day of the CES, Wednesday January 10 there was no power for about two hours from 11.15 am onwards. This was caused by unusual rainfall. Viewed overall, cities are becoming more prominent as places in which to live. The United Nations estimates that in 2050 two thirds of humanity will be living in cities or urban agglomerations. I was particularly impressed by one entrepreneur whose company, PAVEGEN, generates energy from people's footsteps. The company has completed 150 projects so far. But what I found to be most fascinating was a project in Brazil where the company fitted a soccer field with 200 large tiles. The players' steps operated floodlights at night. An amazing thing and a great idea for the efficient creation of energy. It will not solve mankind's energy problem but it is an inspiring add-on. On the theme of transportation, electric cars were center stage, of course. The Chinese manufacturer BYTON caused quite a sensation. BELL's flying personal vehicle was gazed at in wonder. Nissan launched its new "Brain to Technology" concept. Brain-waves control the car. Toyota presented an interesting concept in the form of its e-Palette. Everybody was talking about the death of fixed site trading and the future of e-Commerce. The e-Palette is a large vehicle which, so to speak, brings goods to the customer. It is possible to imagine the e-Palette halting in front of your house and you then briefly entering the vehicle to select clothing, for instance. It would also be great for a freshly-prepared pizza – and it is therefore no surprise that one of the first cooperation partners is Pizza Hut. The American automotive manufacturer Ford was a source of particular surprise for me. They really hit the bull's eye of the transportation theme with their "Connected City". Admittedly, in my opinion Ford is not exactly known for trend-setting cars. Here in the USA Ford is known for large pick-ups and eight cylinder vehicles. I am of the opinion that Ford has come out of this well as if there is no innovation in the core market it is just moved to a higher level and presents itself as the "savior of mankind". German automotive manufacturers such a Mercedes have, in my opinion, demonstrated that they have learnt something in recent years and have taken the right decisions. Tesla was not at the show. The hall with the candidates for the CES Innovation Awards which were presented in 28 different categories attracted a big crowd. Here we could wonder at 360 degree cameras.

In summary, the CES was like an adventure playground for people interested in technology. I personally learnt a lot about how technology communicates with people. In this process it is important that technology is not perceived as technology. My personal interest also extended, for example, to the many devices now called "wearables". One of these, for instance, was a quite normal suit in which controls were woven into the sleeves by means of which a smartphone could be operated. Therefore technology is becoming powerful but it is also disappearing in our everyday life and its minutiae. As a spectacle-wearer I have been waiting a long time for intelligent spectacles containing both the content of my smartphone and the controls; also with a small knob on the ear-pieces which I can put into my ear so I can make a phone-call and give other voice commands. A microphone for voice recognition is also included, of course. Spectacles like this do not yet exist but initial trials are already in place for projecting information onto the retina or, for instance the work for incorporating cameras into spectacles which has been ongoing for several years. There is a lot still to be done. The important point is, however, that every industrial enterprise must examine where its journey is taking it so that long-proven technology is not disconnected from modern user interfaces and, ultimately that humanity does not discover two worlds – the ultra-modern world located in the smartphone and an obsolete world among high-tech machines which however appear to be from another century through laborious operation. This is the formula for the success of Germany as an industrial location: the combination of high-tech, the best quality with software and electronics will ensure that German companies will continue to be world-leaders.