People attend the opening day of CES in Las Vegas, Nevada, January 9, 2018.
This year’s CES was a sensory overload. And no pun intended.
There was so much to feast the eyes across multiple ecosystems, industries, and spectra. Tech from Head to toe! I saw smart toothbrushes that show which teeth have or have not been brushed correctly, whether too much or too little pressure is being applied thereby linking incentives, rewards, and gamification to children based on completion of the brushing task. They even had with built-in timers.
There were adult brushes with cleaning and diamond polishing modes, intensity adjustments and more. There were the visually mind-blowing colors and sounds of 3D VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) technologies. I even saw a less than $50 pixelated portable light box radio with a wide range of personalized art capacities. For the nose, was the smell of burned rubber on asphalt wafting from the BMW drifting experiences
Still staying at or near the head, were the smart bike helmets and a wide range of smart hearing aids, hearing amplifiers, headphones, and eyewear. At the throat/stomach interface, I saw FDA-approved nausea relief wearable bracelets for motion and sea sickness and for chemotherapy. For healthy eating and for the taste buds, I saw state-of-the-art air fryers which capture excess oils in a dedicated tray to reduce aerated fats for healthier eating. For the eyes and ears, were the wallpaper-thin high-resolution TVs, and an array of sights and sounds DJ Highmaintenance spinning live in South Hall.
Moving down from the head region to the heart, I saw smartwatches that automatically and seamlessly shift from running to swimming modes, trackers for kids that employ incentives reminders and an array of fun games to engage and entertain. There were wearable video cameras embedded in watches.
On the chest level, there were smart lightweight breast pumps some with removable bags and others that pour directly into a bottle. There were sensors embedded in fabric for sport enthusiasts and athletes, and to detect medical conditions. One company (still at the chest) had fabric embedded sensors in a bra, tank top or T-shirt that provided clear graphic information about pretty much anything one needs to know about the heart and lungs that compares well with a 6500.00 Holter monitor for under $100. For the feet, there were the very cool treadmills, smart shoes, and insoles for work and play to prevent slipping, falling, losing balance, and avoiding injury.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
And who can forget robots. There were dancing robots, baby robots, robots doing tai chi, ping pong playing robots and a potpourri of other cool robots of multiple sizes, shapes, colors, and functionality. Nearby was an army of drones.
This year had an amazing array of smart home and IOT exhibits too. There were the smart beds, smart pillows, snoring, and sleep apnea aids. There were upscale and very smart home exhibits with clean air temperature controls, smart refrigerators, security and a vast array of intelligent and connected consumer products.
I was so captivated and fixated by the exhibits that I never left the many exhibit halls. Last year, I had exhausted the exhibit floor in two days. This year four days was not enough. Last, but of course not least, were the esoteric devices that may not dazzle but can free you from mundane chores – for example one device that can fold your clothes for you to better pack your suitcase on your way home from these exciting experiences.
Photo: DAVID MCNEW/AFP, Getty Images
