CES 2023 tech to watch: EVs, the metaverse, NFTs, and more

The annual Consumer Electronics Show is just around the corner (January 5th to January 8th), and, like last year, will be a hybrid event held simultaneously in Las Vegas and within a browser-based virtual conference hall.

back to las vegas

The expansion of physical venues in Las Vegas for the 2023 show shows a thirst for face-to-face interaction, despite the continuing digital element, according to a statement decades ago. said the Consumer Technology Association, the sponsoring organization of the show.

According to the association, the CES goal is more than 100,000 attendees. Attendees come from 173 countries and regions, with over 4,700 registered media members.

CES Vice President and Acting Show Director John T. Kelley said in an interview with ZDNET in New York: .

Kinsey Fabrizio, senior vice president of membership and CES sales, said at the same conference: For example, this time the entire show floor is him 70% bigger than last time.

Also: Best CES 2022 tech gadgets you can buy right now

Exhibitors who couldn’t attend the last show will return in 2023, with more than 3,100 exhibitors, Fabrizio said. About 1,000 of them are exhibiting for the first time.

“In addition to the exhibition space, they also use the conference room,” said CES exhibitor Fabrizio.

“Our Innovations Awards Program also has a record number of submissions,” said Kelley.

Key themes and hot tech

EV and self-driving car

A major theme at CES 2023 will be automobiles and vehicle mobility technology, said Fabrizio.

These categories have moved to the recently constructed West Hall, located across Paradise Road from the existing Las Vegas Convention Center. In January, we had CES as our first tenant. Space in the West Hall is sold out, Fabrizio said.

CES will also use the existing Central and North Halls, but the South Hall will Refurbishment of multiple parts of the center.

The Central Hall is connected to the West Hall via an underground tunnel created by Elon Musk’s The Boring Company, which carries passengers in a Tesla. The Tunnel Station extends past the West Hall to the Resorts World Hotel. Across South Las Vegas Boulevard from Wynn, next to The Circus, The Circus.

Also: CES 2022 Preview: Crowds Set To Return To Las Vegas, But Digital Elements Remain

“You’ll find a lot of self-driving technology,” said Fabrizio, in West Hall and electric vehicles, which includes solar-powered electric vehicle maker Light Year. John Deere and Caterpillar will also be exhibiting at his West Hall, with the latter likely to feature an autonomous tractor.

In addition to cars, nautical technology, including electric yachts, will have a large presence, along with brands such as Volvo and all kinds of marine technology, said Fabrizio.

digital health

Another major theme will be digital health technology, which will be placed in the North Hall as last time. Areas of digital health include sleep technology, digital therapy, mental health, and new diagnostic technologies.

“Commercial hearing aids are the big thing we’re seeing,” Fabrizio said. This means that consumers can purchase hearing aids without a prescription. (Congress he passed legislation on mitigation in 2017, and President Biden implemented an executive order this year. The CTA helped work with the FDA on enforcement.)

The over-the-counter approach means that “people don’t have to have that kind of conversation with a doctor,” part of the stigma of self-consciousness and shame that may have held individuals back about getting hearing aids in the past. remove the part.

“Many companies at CES are now releasing products in this category,” said Fabrizio. .”

Also: An All-Digital CES 2021 Isn’t Your Average Online Event

Digital health also includes the “Future Emergency Department” compiled by the CTA and the American Association of Emergency Physicians.

According to Fabrizio, the emergency department of the future will feature “telemedicine and a lot of remote patient monitoring” to reduce congestion in emergency rooms and “allow people to be triaged differently.” I’m doing it.

“And the various instruments out there, image analyzers, diagnostics, just to facilitate treatment.”

Also: CES 2021 will be all virtual, and fatigue and confusion will suddenly disappear

AI, robotics, metaverse

Sharing the North Hall with digital health are enterprise technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, FinTech and the Internet of Things.

For the second year in a row, The Venetian Hotel will return to its former Sands Convention Center with many grouped exhibits, including a food technology exhibit, a smart home category, and a very broad category of accessories. product.

Sands is also home to Eureka Park, a long-running tech startup cluster. At this year’s Eureka Park, he will showcase over 1,000 startups from over 20 countries. Ukraine Tech also has a pavilion.

According to Kelly, the Metaverse was first spotted at CES and will be “widespread throughout CES” this year. “There is actually a dedicated area for his Web3 in the central hall. [companies]there you can see companies like Magic Leap that focus primarily on hardware.” Business use of technology.

Also: Immersive AR for consumers is ‘five years away’, according to Magic Leap CEO

Microsoft will also be participating in the Web3 area, and in the hall’s dedicated studio, “thought leaders from that community will present onstage and discuss digital assets, blockchain technology and the metaverse,” said Kelley.

“Web3 will be prominently discussed throughout the CES program,” says Kelley. “Mainly focused on the Metaverse and his NFTS. [non-fungible tokens].”

According to Kelley, Web3 is appearing in a growing number of novel applications.For example Olfactory Virtual Reality startup, or OVR, “By adding a sense of smell to the headset, we are now able to smell in the metaverse,” said Kelley. A real-world application would be emergency response training, such as sniffing fire, he said.

The latest partnership is between BMW and chip powerhouse Nvidia to showcase the factory of the future, Kelley said. Partnerships like this, he said, are “fundamental building blocks of what the future will look like” in the Metaverse and his Web3 mashup.

“Beyond all gamification, it’s pretty cool to see how much it’s moved in a year,” he said.

Also: CES 2020: The best shows? Some of this will last, but most won’t

“I think we’ll see a show where companies introduce physical products and then launch extensions to the metaverse,” said Fabrizio.

NFTs

Kelly said the Aria Hotel will have a “fairly small” dedicated area dedicated to NFTs, which “will at least give companies the chance to spread their brand so they can be part of that conversation.”

Best known for stunts such as The Bored Ape Club, NFTs are finding new uses in the industry, Kelley said. For example, in the event business, it will be the access key for the attendees, so for example, after-party.

“As an owner of this NFT, you have access to events that are starting to become popular,” said Kelley. That same NFT could be a “unique passport” for brands to connect with consumers differently than email, he said. And of course, NFTs can be bought and sold on the market.

keynote headliner

This year’s show headliners feature keynotes from AMD CEO Lisa Su, BMW Chairman Oliver Zipse, John Deere CEO John May, Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian and more. .

On the digital side of the show, keynotes will be live-streamed as before, exhibitors will have digital booths, and digital-only attendees will be able to click through to information about their exhibitors.

“There are two things that people have really liked as a result of COVID,” Kelly said. “One is the ability to watch content after the event.

“And the ability to find vendors before the show and build better relationships with some exhibitors, like messaging them to set up a meeting,” says CES Digital. platform.

According to Kelley, there are enhanced search capabilities, such as searching for exhibitors by category (such as the metaverse).

“We have a larger digital audience than where we were fully live pre-COVID, so we have refined our tools recognizing that audiences have changed a bit.”

The magic of trade fairs

Digital cannot be perfectly captured In-person exhibition experience, however. Consider the tremendous utility of face-to-face meetings. A CTA analysis found that companies that attended physical tradeshows had an average of 29 meetings, which could mean ’29 fewer flights’ that companies would have to take. said Mr Kelly.

And, including possible chance encounters, “things get lost in the Zoom world,” says Kelley.

“There are unexpected encounters, like standing in line for coffee, bumping into someone, making business connections,” said Fabrizio.

“That’s the magic of trade shows, the unexpected moments,” says Kelley.

Fabrizio says all digital features are “great add-ons.”

For media, CES starts earlier than the show floor: January 3rd. That day, CES 2023 will feature an afternoon research summary presentation by CTA data representatives at the Mandalay Bay Hotel, followed by a pre-show exhibition called Unveiled. You can see several exhibitors with tables set up in the ballroom.

Then, on January 4th, the day will be devoted to exhibitor press conferences. There, usually after long lines to get into each briefing, the media are in a rush to remove details of new product announcements.

CES is not open to the public. For exhibitors, tech industry insiders and the press, there are multiple prices for attendees (Click here for frequently asked questions about registration).