Here are my personal thoughts on this year’s L-G-S show:
What makes this event a unique CES experience is that the audience gets to vote after five-minute pitches, and this type of interaction adapted well into this year’s virtual platform. Twenty-one years ago, GM’s On-Star was the first technology presented at the Last Gadget Standing, and the Rumba vacuum appeared in 2020. This year’s top finalists do not appear to be in the same league as those inventions, but there are still quite innovative including a tri-folding laptop, a button-free VR controller, a reader for the visually impaired, an augmented reality contact lens and a smart ring that remotely controls mobile devices.
· The Lenovo X1 Fold is the first laptop that folds in half. It has a 13” display and lists for $2,500.
Yes, laptops already fold, but the X1 Fold has a seam down the middle of the display, and with the detachable keyboard it’s technically a tri-fold. The engineering feet is impressive, and when you get over any concerns about fragility, the opportunities to take advantage of a thicker book-fold versus a thinner tablet seem rather limited, perhaps the convenience of fitting the device into a handbag; but with fewer people commuting to the office these days, the convenience alone was not enough to give this product highest marks on Last Gadget Standing.
· TG0 makes touch and pressure-sensitive controls for automotive interiors and computer peripherals like the Etee, which is a finger, touch, gesture and pressure sensing controller for VR.
What makes Etee interface noteworthy is that there are no buttons on the controller to figure out for game play. Using the device is supposed to be intuitive which could be very effective for picking up and manipulating objects in virtural worlds.
· Orcam, the makers of MyEye , a voice activated reader that attaches to glasses, presented their next generation of the product called the Orcam Read.
This portable version has optical character recognition that allows greater flexibility. Just point and click to read. The reader is fast, reliable and does not have to connect to the internet, and it’s convenient to pull it out and snap a picture to read anything including a prescription bottle. The base price is $2000, with optional features so that the tool can match to specific user requirements.
· The Arc-X Smart Ring is intended for active sports and allows to control playlists and take split times.
Wearing the waterproof controller on your finger (even with gloves) means the phone can stay protected in pocket or backpack, so that the focus can stay on the workout. There are other smart rings on the market, intended to capture heartrate and calorie burn, where is as this is just a controlling device.
· While Mojo Vision Lens appears to be device that someone with serious visual impairment would implant over their eye, it’s actually an augmented reality/heads-up overlay in the form of a contact lens that anyone can wear.
What makes the Mojo appealing is that there no bulky glassware involved, and it only has to cover one eye. There is lots of potential to partner with wide range of content developers to provide solutions like tracking vitals during sports but may be a challenge to get a product that you stick in your eye approved by the FDA.
· The Last Gadget team used a real-time survey tool to gather feedback from the audience.
With 60% of the votes, the Mojo Lens was the clear winner of CES Last Gadget Standing 2021. The audience appeared to respond favorably to wearable technology that can help the human condition over tech that simply provides greater convenience. This may be a consumer trend to pay attention to over in the coming years.
Reference: Last Gadget Standing, CES 2021