LAS VEGAS (AP) – Welcome to CES 2024. This multi-day trade event put on by the Consumer Technology Association is expected to bring 130,000 attendees and more than 4,000 exhibitors to Las Vegas. The latest advances and gadgets across personal technology, transportation, healthcare, sustainability and more will be on display, with the growing uses of artificial intelligence almost everywhere you look.
The Associated Press will keep you up-to-date on everything interesting from the CES floor, from the latest announcements to the most unusual smart gadgets.
GYROGLOVE WORKS TO HELP WITH HAND SHAPES
Roberta Wilson-Garrett was a morning person who would jump out of bed at the crack of dawn. Until, that is, she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease six years ago.
Now his hands twist and tremble, which makes the morning, when his medicine wears off, especially difficult. It takes her hours to get ready for the day. All their coffee mugs now have lids on them.
Boston-based medical technology startup GyroGear debuted a wrist-stabilizing glove at CES 2024 that it hopes will help people like Wilson-Garrett regain control of their lives.
“It makes life normal for me again. The things you take for granted, I don’t take it anymore,” Wilson-Garrett told AP on the show floor with her right hand shaking. “It gives me a piece of my old life back when I wear the glove.”
When Wilson-Garrett slipped on the black glove, her right hand relaxed, and she was able to hold a pen and write her name.
The GyroGlove is available now for $5,899.
ADVANCE AI WITH FORTUNE TELLING
Can AI generate your future? A fortune teller unveiled by South Korean manufacturing and IT services giant SK Group at CES gives us a glimpse this week.
AI Fortune Teller SK, which is powered by high-bandwidth memory technology, claims that it can tell users their fortunes by reading their emotions. The machine takes a photo of your face and, naturally, asks you to choose a card from a deck on the screen. Within moments, the AI analyzes facial characteristics and produces a Tarot card-like print with a message or short piece of advice that looks into the future.
This AI teller isn’t available to consumers outside of CES, but it’s making an appearance at the Las Vegas show to help showcase SK’s latest technological and sustainability advances. Other attractions announced at the interactive “SK Wonderland” exhibition include an all-electric dancing car and a train that can be powered by hydrogen energy.
Hyundai Lands NEW FLYING TAXI CONCEPT AT CES
A new flying taxi concept, dubbed the S-A2 by Hyundai, debuted at CES 2024.
The South Korean vehicle manufacturer envisions the electric take-off and landing vehicle as a commuting solution for urban areas with heavy traffic.
Hyundai claims the vehicle will be able to cruise at 120 mph (190 kph) at an altitude of 1,500 feet (460 meters) while operating as quietly as a dishwasher.
The S-A2 builds on the Hyundai S-A1 concept, which debuted at CES in 2020. Company officials say they are working to prepare the vehicle to meet flight standards set by nations around the world.
GARMIN FOR SMOKE IN
GE Appliances wants to change the way you smoke with its new $1,000 indoor smoker.
About the size of a toaster oven or microwave, the GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker can fit a whole brisket cut in half, 40 chicken wings or three racks of ribs. It still uses wood pellets to achieve smoke flavor, but its technology captures the smoke indoors, making it “perfect for people who live in urban environments,” like high-rise apartments, Whitney said. Welch, a spokesperson for GE Appliances.
PROFESSIONAL ACCESSIBILITY FOR INCLUSION
There is an increasing focus on accessibility in the gaming industry. Just this October, Sony launched the Access controller for Playstation.
To talk about the wins so far and the road ahead, there was a panel of four players at CES 2024 for “Evolution of Accessible Gaming”.
For Paul Amadeus Lane, an accessibility consultant and broadcaster who moderated the panel, gaming has been a lifelong passion, but when he got into a car accident that left him unable to use his fingers, he first thought that his gambling days were over.
“It was like I lost a good friend. But that good friend came back together when I found out about all these accessibility features,” Lane said during the panel.
Mark Barlet, founder of AbleGamers, said that people with disabilities are 56% more likely to be socially isolated, and that’s what drives his organization to fight. Besides, he says it’s smart business.
“Twenty percent of the population has some form of disability and you start seeing game companies competing for eyeballs – all of a sudden, talking about, ‘Hey, do you want to sell more games?’ it will be a really powerful conversation.”
When asked what advice they would give game developers, panelists Liz Schmidlin, head of user research at PlayStation, and Michele Zorrilla, senior user experience researcher at Insomniac Games, made a similar statement: Start working on accessibility conversations early in the process design. .
Barlet added, “Good design is good accessibility.”
YOUR OWN PERSONAL ROBOT MASTER
Artificial intelligence was seen powering smart home hubs, cars, TVs, medical devices and even fingerprint printers at CES 2024. Now it’s giving massages.
Created by the French company Capsix Robotics, iYU uses artificial intelligence to perform a real-time body scan and recommend the best type of experience for the user. A robotic arm then performs various massage techniques.
DO YOU HAVE A PHYSICAL KEYBOARD IN YOUR IPHONE?
It’s a new product but the functionality might sound familiar – Clicks Technologies’ iPhone keyboard is making a splash at CES 2024.
According to co-founder Johnathan Young, the smartphone accessory is aimed at three core audiences: iPhone users who have dexterity or accessibility issues, the younger generation who want to stand out, and people who miss their previous smartphone keyboards.
Prices range from $139 to $159.
GET YOUR PHONE BACK
Dutch startup Whispp aims to use AI to help millions of voice-impaired people speak in their natural voices again.
While many current technologies focus on speech-to-text or text-to-speech, Whispp is using audio-to-audio-based AI, making speech conversion almost real-time.
Users can recreate their distinctive voice by providing recordings of their current or past voice, adding a personalized touch to their own communications.
At CES 2024, Whispp launched an AI-powered speech and phone call assistant app.
MARTHA STEWART, TECH
On Tuesday, businesswoman and media personality Martha Stewart took to the kitchen stage at the Samsung CES booth to make her “Martha-tini” and mash potatoes using the company’s SmartThings technology.
As a bonus, the famous cooking, entertaining and home-making celebrity revealed how she tackled the tech culture for the first time.
“Well, I got my first computer in 1982. IBM. I still have it. … and all my friends and I would sit up all night trying to figure out what the computer could do for us.”
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Associated Press reporters Wyatte Grantham-Philips, Rio Yamat, McKinnon de Kuyper and Shawn Chen contributed to this report