performics at
ces 2015 day 2
the internet
even plants
At CES 2015, the Internet has extended to just about every “thing” imaginable. From home appliances to sinks, beer kegs and plants, countless new items can be controlled and monitored via the Internet. Some of the favorites at CES 2015 include:
Intel SteadyServe iKeg The iKeg monitors the level (and type) of beer in each keg. It transmits data to a cloud-based tracking and analysis engine. Users can then access keg status reports from all their devices - making sure a new keg is ready to go when one gets low!
Samsung SmartThings Samsung’s SmartThings can connect to sinks, air conditioners, fridges and just about anything else. They’ll tell you - via your phone from a remote place - if your sink is leaking or your fridge door is open. They can shut off the water to prevent a flood. Super smart! Here is a picture of the sensor under a sink.
Parrot Plants The Internet of Things has even extended to plants. Parrot Pot is a connected plant pot with an automatic watering system that monitors plant health in terms of sunlight, soil moisture, temperature and fertilizer levels. Parrot H2O senses your plant’s thirst and waters them while you’re away.
safety first
It is not unusual for CES to look like a car show with its massive exhibits from brands like BMW, Toyota and Volkswagen. So what’s standing out in auto this year? Safety innovations. Smarter Headlights BMW’s booth is impressive- one of its highlights is the M4 Concept Iconic Lights exhibit. These new headlights are integrated with sensors to sense shadows and shapes, giving drivers new vision at night. The headlights adopt based on information provided by the sensors, looking 650 yards down the road to detect things like turns, narrow passages, pedestrians or animals. They visualize other road users and dim down so you don’t blind other drivers when passing by. They see turns through GPS and light them for drivers. This new era in headlight technology will surely make the road a safer place.
Screens Replacing Buttons Screens are starting to replace buttons and dials in cars: The new Volkswagen touch-and-gesture car lets you open windows, activate buttons, etc. with just a gesture - the idea being that if you’re not feeling around for knobs, you’ll be more focused on the road. In addition, Volkswagen has vibration technology to guide your fingers in places where buttons are not easily accessible. Some models barely had buttons or knobs at all.
Eye Tracking Beyond headlights, Intel car integration tracks eye movements to increase safety. Sensors can read drivers’ eyes, making sure that they’re paying attention to the right things on the road (and not texting while driving).
Self-Driving Cars And, of course, autonomous self-driving cars are everywhere at CES this year. Self-driving cars can assist drivers in parallel parking and even automatic braking when things jump out in the road. Some of these cars can even be controlled via watch by a person outside of the car. Implications of Tech Advancements These advancements and innovations in auto technology will bring far-reaching implications from impacting street signs and road infrastructure, to mobile communications while on the road, and maybe even insurance rates.
new utilities for
augmented
glasses
Augmented Reality (AR) glasses are moving beyond just providing wearers with directions or personal notifications. Sony showcased Smart Glasses at its CES booth- and highlighted a few applications for different industries. What makes Sony’s Smart Glasses unique from other wearables is they do not have a defined use (e.g. tracking your activities or giving you meeting notifications) - they’re completely open. This means the possibilities for the glasses are endless. Sony exemplified practical uses of Smart Glasses, such as: • Wearing them to find boxes in a warehouse • Locating misplaced books in a library • Walking a mechanic through engine repairs or other technical tasks The cool feature of Sony’s Smart Glasses is it’s totally up to the user these glasses can do whatever you want them to. Sony will allow developers to access the API to write programs. Because the sky is the limit, businesses will likely use glasses like these to solve challenges and speed up tasks in the near future.
the evolving
world of fitness
technology
There’s certainly no shortage of fitness wearables at CES 2015 - including bands, watches, headphones and glasses. Wearables with heart rate monitoring, GPS, calorie counts, mileage counts, timers, activity tracking and fitness programs are everywhere, including:
Headphones from brands like Jabra and Sony that wirelessly monitor heart rate (some bulkier than others)
Headphones like the Sony Smart B-Trainer that selects songs from your music library to play based on your heart rate to really get you moving
Garmin wearables with GPS
Fitness bands, like the new Sony SmartBand Talk, are becoming quite streamlined vs. bulkier products like the Microsoft Band (which actually can interfere with your workout by bouncing around or getting in the way). The SmartBand Talk also enables users to instruct the fitness technology to make and take calls. You can even verbally record notes on the band when you’re on-the-run (literally).
But what we were really in search of at Tech East was the ultimate fitness wearable. Something that went beyond activity tracking, calories, heart rate or tailoring music. Is there a wearable technology out there that could act as a personal trainer, and really integrate with your body to push you to the limits? The answer is, probably not yet. Samsung is coming closer, however. In the Samsung booth, we saw a demo of the Samsung fitness band integrated with a Life Fitness treadmill, via the health monitoring app on a Samsung phone.
Beyond cardio, the Samsung fitness band can also track weight lifting routines - like biceps curls - and count out the reps based on your movements. This capability is currently limited to basic movements, however. Currently, these wearables aren’t going to be able to track something like a high-intensity Insanity or Cross Fit routine. Fitness wearables are evolving, and becoming a highly competitive space. But don’t fire your personal trainer just yet.
EVERYTHING ON DEMAND: The Democratization OF
3D PRINTING
Although there’s a lot of debate about the consumer adoption of 3D printers, there is no doubt that 3D printing will change commerce and society. Previously, 3D printing has been slow and costly, but with new advancements, the speed and capabilities will soon approach current mass manufacturing techniques. Things that were almost impossible to create before, can now be imagined and printed. Today at CES we witnessed a vast array of printers with prices ranging from $200 to $19,000, with print areas from half a square foot to almost a square meter. These printers could print the standard plastics, as well as materials containing wood, bamboo, copper, kevlar and carbon fiber. The printing techniques ranged from the simpler and lower cost (and resolution) additive method to stereolithography using lasers or UV light. Some of the brands mentioned that because of the low cost of entry, individuals (families) and schools can now easily afford this technology, setting up a generational explosion of interest in STEM and more specifically, creating a new era of creative innovation, where ideas won’t be limited by conventional manufacturing techniques. An example showcased at CES is the Spider Dress: 3D printing, robotics and bio-signals creates a dress that responds to your mood
Fireside Chat with
yahoo!’s
katie couric & zenithoptimedia’s
steve king
At CES on Tuesday night, Yahoo!’s Katie Couric sat down with ZenithOptimedia’s Worldwide CEO Steve King to talk about the “value exchange” from Katie’s perspective in her current role at Yahoo!. The New World: Katie’s Leap from TV to Digital Everyone is grappling with disruption in the media landscape. In TV, Katie noted that consumers have different expectations and the industry must adjust. Younger people aren’t going to TV—they’re consuming everything online. Therefore, Katie was excited to move to Yahoo!; she’s been talking about the Internet since 1994 and was interested in jumping into the brave new world. Yahoo! has given her a playground to focus on what she loves, including substantive content, important issues in serious times, curiosity and talking with people (vs. anchoring (and reading) the evening news). The beauty of online content is that people watch it whenever and wherever they want (but Katie does miss the old TV beauty of people watching something on a regular basis). The Right Type of Value Exchange: Online Content There’s no shortage of content on the Internet; but there’s a huge shortage of quality content. That’s why, at Yahoo!, Katie is focusing on telling important, powerful stories. And although numbers and viewers don’t motivate Katie, she’s found a strong audience. Yahoo! is a great opportunity for Katie because, as TV audiences get smaller, most TV content strives to engage mass audiences. But at Yahoo!, Katie can do things differently and cater to more specific audiences, with longer, deeper conversations. And advertisers are proud to be associated with the high quality work and content. The Democratization of Media At Yahoo!, Katie has an opportunity to create conversations. But the democratization of media is a double-edged sword. We live in a polarized environment, and we can’t please everyone. Content, advertising and experiences aren’t “one-size fits all.” Katie’s Passion: Informing People Of late, Katie has been particularly passionate about helping with childhood obesity. Her “Fed Up” documentary is the number 1 downloaded documentary on iTunes. She found that sugar consumption has doubled since 1977 due to the low-fat food craze. For her, the most gratifying aspect of the documentary is having an impact on how people are eating and thinking about food. She’s now working on (1) a documentary on guns and gun safety- taking a historical perspective and (2) a documentary on death and dying. Katie thinks it’s important that people know what they are talking about before they take a position. She wants to give to people by informing them and believes that documentaries are the new long-form journalism. Katie’s Most Memorable Interviews Katie noted that Yasser Arafat was intimidating as he was very challenging and kept her waiting. Ross Perot was also intimidating when he was running for president. And Captain Sully Sullenberger was memorable because, at the time, people were looking for a hero. He put so many hours into the bank of experience that he could perform when needed. Hillary and Bill Clinton were also incredible interviewees, able to talk seamlessly without notecards. Katie particularly enjoys interviewing writers because they pour their hearts and souls into their projects. She loves to interview people to show how they can affect others’ lives. She noted that it’s all about chemistry, and clicking with the right people. Next, Katie would love to interview the Castro brothers in Cuba and the Pope, who has been a transformational figure. Katie’s Biggest Stories of 2015 In 2015, Katie noted that the upcoming election will occupy a lot of bandwidth. ISIS will continue to be a big story and global hotspots will be concerning. Privacy in the U.S. will also continue to be a hot topic.
t u o b a e r o m n r a e l o t s u 5 follow 1 0 2 s e c t a s c i m perfor performics.com
facebook.com/performics
twitter.com/performics