CES 2024 Live Blog: News, Gadgets, and Photos From Tech’s Big Show
EVERY JANUARY, THE giant trade show known as CES takes over Las Vegas. It’s a global bazaar featuring the best and worst tech ideas the industry has to offer. The products on display are by different turns wearable, pocketable, audible, rideable, mountable, and—in some cases—digestible. There are also a few dozen new cars to ogle, with most major automakers present. Here on this page, we’ll be keeping a running report of everything we find interesting, from fascinating new EV concepts to bio-scanners to the latest smart home tech.
Live coverage kicks off around 8 am Las Vegas time—that’s 11 am on the East Coast, 4 pm in the UK—and will pause at the end of each day. We’ll be here all week, so check back often.
Play XR Games While You Give Blood
Blood donations are down. Only 3 percent of the eligible population donates blood annually in the United States, and that donor pool is rapidly aging and becoming less diverse; in the last ten years, blood centers have lost 30 percent of donors under the age of 30. That’s because, honestly, the experience of donating is boring, slightly painful, and unpleasant. It’s six minutes of sitting there staring at a wall while someone pokes needles in your arms. Not that I’m recounting this from experience or anything.
To lure these younger donors in, the medical device company Abbott Laboratories has unrolled a mixed-reality experience at blood donation centers across the United States. (Interestingly, Abbott has had a mixed-reality team since 2020.)
The program is intended to help ease the anxiety and discomfort some people feel when giving blood. The experience centers on the use of the Microsoft HoloLens 2, a pricey mixed-reality headset that has two important advantages over, say, the PSVR2 or Meta Quest 3. The see-through visor allows phlebotomists to see the donor’s eyes and face so they know if they’re getting sick or going to pass out (or have passed out). You also can use eye tracking to play games and don’t need to move your hands.
We had an opportunity to try Abbott’s game and play a soothing game involving planting seeds. Why not let them play Animal Crossing, you ask? Well, you don’t want the donor to forget that they’re sitting there entirely and try to get up or jerk around or gasp. This is a use of mixed-reality that we can really get behind. Schedule your donation here.
A beauty company has never delivered a CES keynote address before. However, in light of the fact that the consumer tech industry has been driven forward by chemists and engineers for decades, it should probably be a little less surprising that L’Oreal CEO Nicolas Hieronimus is addressing the crowd here tomorrow morning.
We’ve long been fans of L’Oreal’s work around accessibility and sustainability. (Last year, we saw the Hapta, a motorized makeup applicator for those with hand-motion disorders or arthritis). This year, I spoke to Guive Balooch, L’Oreal’s president of augmented beauty and open innovation, about the company’s strategy of using technology to make products that are more inclusive instead of making flashy concepts that chase the trend du jour.
“You can’t start with the tech,” says Balooch. “You have to start with what people need.” From 2018’s UV sensor to detect skin cancer, to being one of the first companies to debut virtual makeup try-on with augmented reality, Balooch has spearheaded development that addresses the beauty consumer’s needs—which includes the desire for more efficient and sustainable products. “Some people ask, ‘Why would a beauty company work on water technology?’” says Galooch, referring to L’Oreal’s water saver showerhead, which the company developed in partnership with Swiss startup Gjosa and debuted at CES in 2021. “Our commitment to sustainability is not just something we talk about. We want to work on all adjacent areas to sustainability.”
As for this year’s buzzword? L’Oreal is incorporating AI, but more in its research and development teams to model what the next generation of cosmetics will look like and how they’ll be applied. “People want easier and faster ways to apply makeup mess-free, or not have their fingers be the barrier to what they want,” Balooch says. “All of those are opportunities for how AI can help us create services … One day, The Fifth Element idea of makeup where you put glasses on your face and it’s done, that’s not as far as we think, thanks to AI.”
L’Oreal will have some product news to share tomorrow, so stay tuned for that.
Eureka Put a Robot Vacuum at the Bottom of a Washer
I’m officially declaring this CES as the CES of the Things That Are Also Other Things (CES, hire me as your copywriter!). If it’s not a stethoscope that’s also a thermometer or a car that’s your best friend or a robot vacuum that’s also a stick vacuum, it’s also a washer that has a robot vacuum stuck underneath. Eureka’s Dual Washing Bot is … well, it’s exactly what it says it is. A robot vacuum with AI stain detection lives in the bottom of a combo washer-dryer unit. It doesn’t have any particular special properties beyond the ability to save you tons of space, but who needs more than that? For those whom this may not thrill and delight, the 100-year-old company is also releasing a standard robot vacuum, the J20, and a standard stick vacuum, the Omniverse, at CES as well.
In 2020, Samsung made waves with its Ballie smart assistant. Not merely a voice-activated speaker, Ballie was a literal ball that could follow you around the house (unless you go upstairs). This year, Samsung brought Ballie back with an updated look, a built-in projector, and some new AI-powered tasks like coming to you when you call, or following you around the house. Its projector can be used to display media or show status info about other devices that don’t have screens. It can even project onto walls or floors, and adjust to find the ideal angle based on where you are and the ambient lighting conditions.
Source:Wired
