What Marvels Will CES 2024 Deliver For Us At This Year’s Show

In a world driven by technological marvels, CES 2024 stands at the forefront, promising a dazzling array of innovations to redefine the tech landscape, and beyond. As we step into the 58th year of this unparalleled consumer tech conference, the spotlight is undeniably on Artificial Intelligence (AI). With the rollout of OpenAI’s generative AI tool at the end of 2022, AI dominated the headlines for the better part of 2023. The AI conversation is still a hot topic and we expect it to be an integral part of CES 2024.

CES is the Room Where it Happens  

In the realm of expos and trade shows, CES stands out for its ability to draw the top names from the top brands in technology and beyond. Attendance is up this year with 130,000 in-person attendees vs 115,000 that came out for the 2023 show. Approximately 60% of Fortune 500 companies will have representatives in attendance. Executives from tech giants like Samsung, LG, and Microsoft, will host presentations alongside thought-provoking discussions led by thought leaders like Snap co-founder Evan Spiegel and Walmart CEO Doug McMillon. Executives, buyers, investors, and deal-makers are all in attendance looking to get a jump on the next big technology rollout. 

AI Will Continue to Dominate the Conversation

This year, a lot of the attention will continue to focus on AI. Last year was all about what AI could do and how well it performed. Now that AI has been out in the wild for the past year, we expect that there will be a tighter focus this year on the variety of ways that AI can be incorporated into existing products or services to increase their value. We also expect that there will be continued interest in AI-powered tools that streamline production and business operations as well. Where last year’s deal-makers were asking, “What can AI do?”, this year’s attendees will want to know “What can AI do for me?”.

The CES showroom floor is expected to showcase the latest and greatest AI use cases from ANSSil’s SleepInBody-Incline Smart Mattress and the “AI Family Hub +” built into Samsung’s Bespoke line of smart refrigerators making our homes smarter to the incorporation of AI in the latest chips coming from NVIDIA and Intel, there are a wealth of possibilities to explore. Panel discussions will take a much-needed look at some of the existential concerns arising from the use of AI with conversations about AI's potential impact on employment and the ethical considerations surrounding its use in everyday life.

AI is Making for a Bigger Technology Tent

Top investment analysts and industry thought leaders alike have expressed the view that the future of all tech products will include AI in some form or another, and AI is already beginning to play a decisive role in reshaping the product landscape of companies outside the tech realm as well. 

With AI now being incorporated in a broader range of products technology is going to need a bigger tent to hold all the non-tech companies that now have bleeding-edge tech components and functions. New this year, CES will now have an entire product category dedicated to the Beauty industry, a realm previously considered far removed from technology. L’Oreal CEO Nicolas Hieronimus is delivering a keynote, showcasing how industries, like the beauty industry, traditionally perceived as unrelated to tech, are embracing AI and becoming part of the tech fold. 

Transportation Technology Still Rules the Showroom Floor

The automotive sector is a big draw for CES and 2024 is no exception. Attendees love the powerful toys on display, the bigger, faster, and smarter the better. CES 2024 is definitely delivering with electric boats, self-piloting recreational boats, innovative electric vehicles, and even John Deere tractors on the floor this year. The show's reputation for showcasing diverse forms of transportation doesn’t stop at the ground either. Hyunadai’s subsidiary, Supernal has its electric air taxi on display as well. Whether intended for ground or air attendees encounter tons of cutting-edge technology from other categories incorporated into the CES 2024 automotive space. 

Redefining Reality Beyond the Gaming World 

Mixed reality accessories take center stage at CES 2024 with next-gen wearables and a smorgasbord of devices and technology taking Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) beyond the gaming realm to enhance everyday living and working experiences. BMW is grabbing attention with an all-electric BMW iX M60 EV showcasing the addition of AR driving enhancement with a pair of Xreal Air 2 AR glasses. Sony, in partnership with Siemens, unveiled their Sony XR headset intended for enterprise users designing prototypes in the metaverse. These were just a few of the exhibits highlighting the expansion of mixed reality beyond gaming by displaying its potential in automotive, industrial, and entertainment applications. With the imminent release of Apple's Vision Pro later in the year, there are a wide range of companies jockeying to establish their presence in the AR and VR space. 

Voice Applications & Smart Speakers Staging a Comeback

Voice-activated devices and smart speakers were a big hit in earlier CES shows but didn’t gain the expected traction in the real world. CES 2024 is showcasing the next generation of voice-activated devices using generative AI technologies and other advanced technologies to facilitate more intuitive and useful voice interactions. Smart speakers are getting a serious upgrade as well, like Neurable’s MW75-Neuro headphones that can read your brainwaves and know when you are focused and when you need a break. 

Brain-reading headphones seem like the perfect segway into our final section, where we take a look at some of the top innovations from CES 2024.

The Pinnacle of CES 2024 Innovation

We know that people don’t look to CES for the practical, they are looking for the futuristic, over-the-top, adventurous exhibits …and robots. CES 2024 delivered plenty of these groundbreaking innovations, and of course, plenty of robots as well. Ogmen Robotics introduces ORo, a robotic companion for your dog that offers mentally stimulating play and training sessions, pet health monitoring, and even records videos for social media. MOBINN's M3 delivery robot promises to deliver ‘anytime’ and ‘anywhere’  with a LiDAR-based mapping system and independent wheel system that can climb stairs and crawl over all kinds of obstacles, presumably without spilling your coffee.

With CES 2024 wrapping up for another year it is now time to sort through the dizzying array of AI and other innovative technologies presented at the show and give serious thought to the ideas and challenges discussed in the keynotes and lectures. There is plenty to unpack and more than enough to keep us talking until it is time to start planning for CES 2025.