Let's start with numbers: Last year, I averaged 8.6 miles of walking each day at CES. It's that big.
And despite that . . . bigness, I always wonder when I book my tickets, "Do I really need all that time at CES?" And then as the year winds down and I begin to construct my CES agenda, the answer is, "Yes, I do."
This year, CES is all in on AI. Everything from ag tech to age tech to manufacturing to workforce development to healthcare. And it's not just the show floor – it's the conference sessions. The CES website has a "Tips for First Timers" page. Over the years, I've built my own strategic model: Pack the agenda and then pick a venue for the day and stick to it, because it can take 45 minutes or longer to shuttle from the Convention Center to the Aria or any of the other multiple sites across which CES is spread.
So, what’s on tap for this year? How industries will transform with AI. We are watching it here at home, with NTCA member submissions to the 30-Day AI Challenge. Member initiatives include everything from marketing to customer care. Not to replace people, but to enable people to perform better.
In other rural sectors, using AI to transform mental health care, a critical step forward for rural areas in which 96% of counties are classified as Mental Health Provider Shortage Areas.
So, what are we looking forward to at CES this year? Well, for one thing, hands. Hands are the most the difficult human part to replicate in robots due to the combination of strength, sensation and dexterity. Japanese XELA Robotics will unveil new sensors in a five-fingered anthropomorphic "hand." Blended with AI, the company envisions advances in medical, manufacturing and agricultural innovation.
Canadian Looki will present an AI-enabled bodycam that enables users to sort and search through recorded activities (I know – for those who have tired of friends posting their dinner plates on social media, this camera opens another unwanted window onto others' lives). While the marketing is geared toward ordinary consumers, the technology mirrors equipment that enables remote drone-carried infrastructure inspections or monitoring-and-alert systems, functions that can be critical in ag or physical security applications.
Israeli start-up Motioninformatics will share its Spatial StimelMD platform to support neuromodulation (yes, I had to look that up, too), which uses devices (implanted and/or external) to bypass the central nervous system and deliver electrical or other stimuli directly to nerve endings. The technology, AI-enabled, can be used to treat conditions including Parkinson's, epilepsy, chronic pain and depression.
And, on the lighter side, French Emoticonnect will present a study based on Taylor Swift's Paris concerts during the $2 billion Eras Tours. The company analyzed millions of online conversations to improve user experience and achieve a 27% decrease in post-event complaints (I am curious to see the company's privacy disclosures).
But, in the end, all of this – the robots, the entertainment, the profound advances in medical technology – combine to make three days in Vegas well worth it. My mileage tracker is waiting.