This year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the world's largest technology conference, concluded last week in Las Vegas amid a flash of tech spotlight, major pizzas and futuristic gadgets. As always, most of the coverage focused on the new, cool, and weird gadgets filling the showroom floors. it was there Transparent TVsGaming consoles, laptops that have become more powerful, everyday objects that have become smart, and Electric sleds without snow (why not?).
But beneath the toolkit, CES also revealed the undercurrents that will shape the technology landscape and change how people interact with technology, and thus their lives and the world. Here are the six trends that we believe will matter most in the coming years.
AI, AI, and more AI
Generative AI made amazing progress last year, and one thing was clear at CES 2024: no one wants to be left behind. Each wing seems to be capitalizing on the hype by integrating AI into every possible application — even if the AI in question is more traditional than productive.
Virtual assistants based on artificial intelligence have already found their way into cars Popular Rabbit Rey device. Companies like Walmart and L'Oréal have proposed AI methods to make shopping smarter. Artificial intelligence powers everything from apps that translate babies' cries and robots that house-sit your dog to pillows that stop you from snoring. He has even become a trend-setting designer with a range of fashion clothing.
Ultimately, CES revealed that industries across the board are trying to figure out how to use this multi-purpose technology, rather than definitively showing us what comes next. Figuring this out will take time, experimentation, and a lot of real-world testing, so we expect AI to continue to dominate tech conversations throughout CES 2025 and beyond.
Industrial Revolution in the Metaverse
For most people, the metaverse has yet to prove compelling. The promises of virtual offices and social hangouts hold true when they have real-world spaces for such activities — not to mention the costs of a modest VR setup. This year's CES changed the script of the Metaverse by promoting concepts that, while more niche, might be more compelling.
During his keynote address, Roland Busch, CEO of Siemens, the German multinational giant, presented “Industrial Transformation.” Using virtual reality devices and real physical simulations, Bush proposed virtual spaces where engineers and logisticians could work on building accurate models of life (also known as digital twins). These virtual twins will allow professionals to build prototypes of everything from cars to planes to entire factories in virtual spaces. They can then be tested in real life in those same places, allowing companies to save on prototyping and construction costs.
Other companies are looking to change the way we engage with these virtual spaces. HaptX demonstrated haptic technology that allowed users to feel virtual objects realistically, providing more realistic experiences in virtual spaces. Meanwhile, Sony introduced a new mixed reality (MR) headset designed for “immersive architecture” to match Siemens' industrial transformation concept.
Travel looks forward (but stays grounded)
Self-driving vehicles continue to dominate the imagination and booths at CES. LG's latest concept car not only rethinks the passenger experience in self-driving vehicles, but also the experience of pedestrians around them. One of its many proposed features is the ability to display a green crosswalk on the street to let people know it is safe to cross.
But even with many billions in spending and decades of testing, CES presentations made clear that the promise of Level 5 autonomous vehicles remains elusive. Now, many companies are also offering intermediate ways to reimagine travel.
BMW showed off a remote-drive SUV that doesn't require any additional hardware to be added to its existing vehicles, just some software modifications. While the company has introduced the concept of remote valet parking services, it could theoretically expand to longer travel distances. Meanwhile, electric vehicles also had a strong presence at the show, such as an electric pickup truck unveiled by VinFast, and the integration of artificial intelligence promised drivers the opportunity to interact with their car systems through natural language.
Looking to the future, companies like Hyundai have promoted flying taxi concepts that would operate on “highways” in the sky, but of course, a set of regulations must be put in place before these concepts can take off for the average consumer.
Take the pulse of proactive health
Sanitary ware has a long history at CES; However, while devices like smartphones and smartwatches give us a snapshot of our overall health, this year's batch promises to provide a richer understanding of our bodies — and, ultimately, more information to make better, healthier decisions.
The new Withing BeamO health monitor combines a stethoscope, oximeter, ECG and thermometer in one device. The device not only opens the door to a wide range of self-monitoring data, but also allows the user to record the data and send it to the doctor. With such data in hand, doctors can make telehealth diagnoses more accurate by recognizing symptoms that may not appear on a digital camera or through a quick conversation.
Other health tools aim to help people with disabilities connect more seamlessly with the world through technology. TranscribeGlass provided the deaf with a glasses attachment that recorded conversation in real time and displayed it as captions, while Lumen glasses replicated many of the tasks of a sight dog for the blind. Gyrogear's new stabilization glove hopes to help people with tremor disorders regain control of their hand movement, and Tandem also showcased the world's smallest automated insulin delivery system.
Technology is linked to nature
Much of the technology at this year's CES looked to sustainability and ways to reduce technology's environmental impact. Agapyo introduced a biodegradable plastic that can be added to a standard compost pile, while Neoplants designed a pothos houseplant to remove 30 times more pollutants from the air of indoor environments.
But many of the booths also showcased technology to help people reconnect with nature in unique and meaningful ways.
For bird lovers, the Swarovski Optic Ax Visio Binocular can identify any bird you see with it. It also takes a photo and creates a record of the discovery. Meanwhile, the Haikubox, a home device that listens to the songs of birds in your area, also identifies the bird and records the song and time of day for your collection. Both devices provide a way for users to not only interact with nature, but also create data that they can refer to for their own education, or even deepen the resources available for large-scale scientific data collection.
Business aims to be smarter, not harder
This does not mean that all technologies are on the rise. Many of the booths on the showroom floors showed off ideas to make our work lives easier, more productive, or smoother.
AdHawk Microsystems showed off glasses that analyze the wearer's subtle eye movements, detecting patterns that determine whether they're in the zone, need to take a break, or perhaps should stop working. As data accumulates, users can eventually log their day to know when their core work hours and rest hours are.
Meanwhile, Apple Vision Pro, which was technically announced last year at Apple's Developer Conference, hopes to bring spatial computing and augmented reality to work by expanding the footprint of our workspace beyond the edges of the screen and into our full field of vision. Because almost all of the technologies we mentioned will require faster, more reliable internet, the Wi-Fi Alliance announced at CES that it has begun certifying Wi-Fi 7 devices.
Of course, with more than 4,000 exhibitors and enough visitors to fill a small American city — not to mention the conversations taking place beyond the convention — CES is too big and wide-ranging to provide a comprehensive overview. There is no doubt that some trends have passed under our radar while others will grow to become more prominent in the coming years.
But one thing is certain: the future of technology is going to be wild.
