On the flight home from Las Vegas in January 2020, I wrote a piece for CNN Business about how the technology of the future paints a very lonely picture for all of us. I just saw robots calling 911 if you fall, mechanical companion cats that can keep your company and ‘artificial people’ away from Neon can do the same.
Two months later, my neighborhood in New York became one of the first in the country to be closed; and it’s just so long ago that I was able to embrace some of the people I love the most. A virtual reality trip with them to the Amalfi Coast would be a welcome change to our routine FaceTime bookings, not quite the unusual concept I thought of just a year ago.
If loneliness was the unspoken theme of CES 2020, this overall digital event was full of anxiety and tension, both the everyday variety and the kind specific to the current health crisis. At the event, which took place online this week, was the portable for the ears that claims the gentle vibrations regulate tension; the small smart storage box with a fingerprint scanner to lock your pill supply or credit cards; the larger lock case that prevents patio pirates from stealing your Amazon packages; a car seat pad that sends a warning if you forget your child in the back seat; and the robot that loads your dishwasher.
The robot, Samsung’s Bot Handy, is only in development at the moment, but that’s the company’s vision for a ‘better new normal’, as more people work, cook, eat and drown at home than ever during the global pandemic. As seen in a video, Bot Handy sets the table, pours wine and reminds you of upcoming meetings.
“The technologies in your home need to work harder to adapt to this new standard,” the company said in its session description on the CES website.
And then there were the masks. There was one with built-in earbuds and microphones to make calls, and one to monitor air quality. AirPop Active + Smart Mask monitors and filters the air around you, blocking dust, allergens and microbial particles. It lets you know when you need a new filter and follows your breathing with its sensors.
Maybe the disturbing takeaway from CES this year is that we are not good, but maybe technology can help.
Managers and thought leaders have virtually come together to provide solutions to the challenges that many industries are currently facing. A session on the future of contactless payments, with a description on the website that led to ‘The less you become, the safer you will be’, discussed how retailers can drive the momentum of the booming trend past the pandemic. Another on the challenges of distance education has debated what is next for future classrooms, and whether certain technological tools can make telemedicine visits more meaningful.
“We live in a time when most things we took for granted now seem like distant memories,” said Brian Kwon, CEO of LG Electronics, in a video before the company’s presentation. “Life has changed in so many unexpected ways. Although our approach to life may be different now, we keep going.”
Not exactly the uplifting speech you would normally expect to hear during a product launch.
Apple, which regularly makes headlines at CES without actually attending, used this week to provide more details about its $ 100 million racial equity initiative. The company, which was launched in June following the news and protests surrounding the death of George Floyd, has announced where more of its funds will help address systemic racism and create more opportunities for colored communities.
CES 2021 still had a part of fun innovation: the rollable phone, the transparent TV, Cadillac’s self-driving party bus concept, just to name a few. But the technology that found the most appeal reflected our current gloomy world at a time when many of us were just trying to get through the day.
The self-driving party bus will be a great way to celebrate the end of the pandemic when the time finally comes, but for now, I just want that Keurig-like ice cream machine to soothe my soul while I wait things out at home .
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