Closed the doors of the THOSE, the technology sector is ready to focus its attention on the Mobile World Congress 2022, which will be held in Barcelona from February 28 to March 3. But we would like to take a step back because the Las Vegas fair still has something to tell us.
After returning to Italy, we analyzed the 5 days of the event with a cold head to understand what they are the tech trends seen at CES that will surely mark our future.
1 – Robotics will shape the automotive industry
At some point we realized that machines were more accurate than man. Today, entering any factory dedicated to the production of automobiles, you would find yourself surrounded by robotic arms that take care of lifting, moving, assembling and screwing components of all kinds.
In the future, things will change.
In a few years the robot will not be the “worker” who builds your car but the means of transport that will accompany you around the city.
In a few years the robot will not be the “worker” who builds your car but the means of transport that will accompany you around the city.
In fact, the car manufacturers are dedicating themselves to the creation of robotic platforms. An example is Stellantis with Citroen Skate, a sort of robotic table with spherical wheels. Its features? Moving around the city alone and hosting different cabins above you, designed to marry different types of service.
Hyundai shares the same objectives with modular platforms Plug & Drive e Drive & Lift presented right in Las Vegas. The scenery painted by the Korean giant is truly suggestive, with personal pods that are placed directly in the house, turn into elevators and then into small cars.
The future that awaits us could be just that, with cars giving way – or simply space – a compact and autonomous means of transport which can, if necessary, change shape to adapt to the transport of goods and not just people.
2 – Green is better
The sustainability it has been a secondary theme in the tech world for years. Then the environmental question became urgent, central and no longer ignorable. Companies have therefore begun to make more and more obvious changes such as eliminating the charger or using recycled materials for new products.
In 2022, this trend will continue to grow, as it has shown Samsung which, at CES 2022, presented itself with the remote control that recharges with solar energy e TV boxes that are designed to be reborn to a new life, becoming toys and cardboard sculptures for young and old.
New startups are also aiming for green. The US is an example RainStick, who devised a shower capable of recover 80% of the water and energy used, giving you information on how much you have saved and even interacting with Siri and Alexa to allow you to operate the shower remotely.
RainStick
Auto instead he proposes a smart sprinkler that waters the garden according to its real needs, also using data relating to weather conditions. In addition, you can add special mixtures that work as a repellent or fertilizer.
Oto’s sprinkler
The Dutch delegation led to the CES WasteShark, a sort of huge drone that, positioned in a body of water (ports, bays, rivers, etc.), takes care of gulp down all kinds of waste: organic, glass, metal, paper, rubber… It can be both remote-controlled and autonomous, thanks to the LiDAR that allows it to avoid obstacles. Furthermore, while it “feeds” on garbage, collects data and creates a report which is uploaded to the RanMarine portal.
WasteShark
But this seems like just the beginning. Young companies seem determined to do something for our planet, at least as far as possible.
3 – The metaverse in the center
The metaverso, as we conceive it today, it is an evolved version of the Internet, a place to access using mainly virtual and augmented reality and where we can move, converse, work and buy just as we would in reality. Since it was announced by Facebook last October, it has exploded: everyone wants to enter the metaverse.
The Las Vegas fair has done nothing but confirm this trend, with more or less established companies bringing their version of this new and fascinating world to CES.
Hyundai gave life to an entire stand where it was possible create a virtual avatar and try – always virtually – some concept cars. In addition, the Asian automaker, fresh from the acquisition of Boston Dynamics, explained how robots could become the link between real and virtual. The example given by Hyundai is that of smart factories: in the future we will have a digital twin of a factory located somewhere else in the world and we could intervene remotely by exploring the virtual version of the factory and guiding the robots, present on site, to carry out specific operations.
Also Procter & Gamble they threw themselves into the metaverse. Their proposal is called BeautySPHERE and helps users to
discover the product portfolio in a virtual way, by accessing directly from a PC.
There are those who have instead decided to focus on hardware. InWith, for example, it showed some smart contact lenses that support Extended Reality, that is a mix of real and virtual. Basically a wearable gateway to the metaverse.
The lens of InWith
But be careful not to get caught up in easy enthusiasm. Many companies are working in this direction but, we would like to reiterate it, the real metaverse is not yet a reality. Not to mention that, in the frenzy of the moment, we certainly begin to abuse the term.
The metaverse is certainly a trend of the present and it will also be of the future but, to transform it into something shared, extended and usable, it will take time.
4 – The experimental notebooks
Foldable smartphones are now a reality. We have in fact passed from the experimental phase to a period of consolidation, with the technology that still costs a lot but continues to improve, making foldables reliable companions.
The next step? Folding PCs. At least according to ASUS. At CES 2022 the Taiwanese company showed its Zenbook 17 Fold OLED, a laptop that folds from 12.5 to 17.3 inches. And no, don’t call it a tablet: the 12th generation Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM and terabyte of internal memory make it a finished notebook, complete with a PANTONE Validated touchscreen.
Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED
Lenovo instead he took a different approach, proposing the ThinkBook Plus Gen 3. It does not fold but on the other hand is equipped with a second 8-inch screen, located in place of the numeric keypad. This secondary display, with a resolution of 800 × 1280 pixels, can perform different functions, from previewing an image to the calculator to extending what is displayed on the main screen.
Finally, even the world of notebooks is ready to renew itself, with solutions that may now seem like experiments but that in the years to come could really change the way we interact with these devices. Or even to conceive them.
5 – The important thing is health
The last but not least trend is the related one to health and well-being. We are not just talking about technologies developed to deal with the current pandemic, but about innovations aimed at improving the quality of our life.
From Japan, for example, comes the gadget for monitor glucose in a non-invasive way, therefore without withdrawing fluids and without even noticing it; the Quantum Operation product, which resembles a watch in every way, uses in fact a particular sensor developed ad hoc from the company to continue monitoring your parameters, transferring them to an app that allows you to easily consult them.
alive
alive instead it presented a technology that allows you to do the urine test at home and then receive personalized advice regarding lifestyle or eating habits while Circular Ring it is a ring capable of analyzing bio-signals and then providing you with them detailed information on health and wellness.
The Korean company Conway instead he showed the world his own Air Mattress, a mattress consisting of 80 air cells – 40 on one side and 40 on the other – that self-adjust to help you rest better. In addition, with the dedicated remote control, you can choose whether to have a harder or softer mattress according to your tastes.
Technology therefore permeates every aspect of our life and no, not only by providing tools to distract us, cheer us up or make us strain less. Innovation helps us live better and take care of ourselves.