2017’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has officially come to a close and boy, were there some intriguing tech gizmos, gadgets and games debuted.
Some of PopUp Play’s very own had the opportunity to experience CES for themselves. We’ve even compiled a list of some of our favorite highlights to keep you in the loop of the latest and greatest technological innovations.
Developments In How Kids Engage With Tech
Photo by She Knows
What It Is: The folks at Living In Digital Times put together a unique subset of CES that hosted a number of forums about how today’s youngest engage with technology. The Summit discussed two main ways in which technology affects today’s kids: how kids are engaging with tech (Kids@Play) and how families use technology in their day-to-day life (FamilyTech), such as with smart homes and wearable tech.
Why We Like It: Since we’re all about providing digital and physical experiences for kids, we love to keep up with what other businesses and experts in the field are saying about kids and tech! FamilyTech and the Kids@Play Summit covered a whole bunch of topics related to kids and tech, from AR and VR in tech toys to the growing trend of when physical and digital worlds collide (hey, that sounds familiar). Read about some of the other highlights from the Summit series here.
Our Favorite Part: One stand-out part of the FamilyTech Summit was a panel on the important role augmented reality can play in how our kids tell stories. Featuring some of the bright minds behind modern tech and toys, the panel predicted that 2017 is the year AR becomes natural to kids. We’ve discussed how important storytelling is to kids before, and we love to see the combination of storytelling with digital and physical components. While AR is cool tech by itself, we’re already looking toward the future of AR: what if you could create your own customized physical product that is then activated by AR? We’ve got some big plans for the future, so we love keeping an eye on all the emerging trends in AR–just think what could be achieved by the combination of AR and our PopUp Play custom design platform!
A Spotlight On Startups
Photo by Skilljar
What It Is: Eureka Park is the startup destination of CES, where numerous startup companies debuted their products, services and ideas. It covers various startups, from companies that have just launched and have prototype products to startups that have been progressing for a while.
Why We Like It: As a startup, we love to see the influence new and young businesses can have in their relative industries. Eureka Park featured startups that crossed a number of consumer technology categories with products and services ranging from gaming to wearables to robots and more. We believe that startups have the ability to significantly influence the way we communicate, learn, play and go about our day-to-day tasks, so we love seeing a spotlight on cool startups that are doing just that.
Our Favorite Part: There were so many neat startups we witnessed that we couldn’t just choose from one. One exciting startups that we got the chance to see included Blue Frog Robotics and their companion robot, Buddy. According to Blue Frog Robotics’ website, Buddy connects, protects and communicates with various members of a family to act as a personal playmate and helper. Another highlight was Go Touch VR, a haptic tech company that imitates the sensation of touch for users of their wearable VR. CES certainly had no shortage of VR, and VR that you can almost touch is a major achievement for the future of AR and VR. Who knows where VR can go from here?
Progress In Holographic Technology
Photo by Object-Connecte
What It Is: Remember when holograms were a mystic concept only seen in futuristic sci-fi flicks? As it turns out, that’s not the case anymore. Holograms made a debut at CES 2017 even outside the scope of no-touch automobile touchscreens, including holograms that work closely with AR, like this hologram-generating cube you can play with.
Why We Like It: Projecting an image into the air via tech is already pretty cool, but projecting custom images at scalable sizes, interactive holograms or holograms that follow your eyes? Now that we can get behind. More innovation in holographics could make for radical shifts in the way we communicate, how kids play and the ways businesses market and display their products and services.
Our Favorite Part: Kino-mo, the self-proclaimed creators of “new holograms” especially caught our eye at CES. While Kino-mo displayed a number of seemingly floating holograms of all shapes and colors, we’re particularly interested in Kino-mo because their holograms are comprised of customizable, scalable technology, just like our PopUp Play Platform. Similar to how our digital-to-physical platform syncs seamlessly with any brand’s marketing objective or product line extension to make creations that can fit on a tabletop, stretch across the living room or fill any size in between, Kino-mo create scalable holograms of varying content. We believe customization is key, and are tickled pink to see fellow companies recognizing the importance of customization too!
CES was a massive event, and we can’t cover every neat thing that happened or product that was debuted. So let us know, what were your favorite things about CES?