Dan Feinberg: A CES 2019 Preview

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

The Saturday before CES begins is a transition day here in Las Vegas. The weekend sports fans and partygoers are leaving, and floods of techies from around the world are pouring in. This afternoon, a number of the very first 2019 public relation gatherings—showing mostly startup companies—are open to the press. Since I was here in time to attend an early event, we decided to accept an invitation from Uproar PR to get a first look at new devices and technologies being shown this year by some of their clients.

Uproar PR is a global PR and social media firm that has been in the tech space since its inception in 2011. The agency works with tech companies to generate brand awareness. This year, they had some interesting product showings that grabbed our attention. In addition, they responded quickly to our last-minute inquiries. Some of the more exciting showings include:

•  Eyetracker: Glasses and hardware that let you active things and turn them on or off by simply looking at them. If you want to turn on that light across the room, just look at it.

Figure 1: Eyetracker.

• FLEXIT: A technology-based way to use any gym or workout center that is part of their group nationally. You pay a reasonable price based on the time you use their facility without having to join any specific gym. This is for those of us that do not want to commit to a specific gym. Just open the app, locate a gym, and check in with a click.

• Forward X Robotics: An autonomous robot suitcase with facial recognition that knows who you are and follows you as you walk from baggage claim to and from almost anywhere. Very impressive.

Figure 2: Robot suitcase and handle cameras.

• eSight: An advanced wearable device that uses real-time video, enhances it, and projects it onto two glasses-mounted OLED screens that allow the legally blind to actually see. This is a very impressive, extremely valuable, and heartwarming device [1].

Figure 3: eSight.

The next event—and the official kickoff to CES—was CES Unveiled. This year, Unveiled seemed significantly larger. I was barely able to do a complete walkthrough in the two hours available before heading to the NVIDIA event. It seemed like most of the devices and apps being shown were more evolutionary rather than revolutionary.

HyperX was showing some high-end computer peripherals such as a new keyboard and mic that add customizable capabilities and include personalized RGB LED lighting. Most of us that build computers instead of playing golf wouldn’t think of getting an add-on without having RGB customizable lighting, but this is an example of an evolutionary product.

Figure 4: HyperX.

One revolutionary exhibit was by iSpace (it has anything to do with Apple). iSpace has designed and built a lunar rover that they plan to land on the moon. The launch will be by SpaceX—one of a few private companies planning to explore space with the help of launch companies such as SpaceX.

Figure 5: Private lunar explorer.

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