CES calls itself the “stage for innovation” and works as a good snapshot of what is happening across the industry. Here’s what we learned this year:
French startup Pollen Robotics demonstrated its Reachy modular robot, with arms that can be fitted with anything from hooks to humanoid hands. Watch it grip a coffee cup here.
Big companies are getting in on the act. Samsung unveiled a set of robot chef arms that Samsung that are able to whip up 35 different recipes, rummaging through cupboards, adding ingredients and chopping and stirring, using computer vision and AI algorithms. These are not the first robot chef arms that we’ve seen. The UK’s Morley Robotics developed a set a few years ago, but the arms are now getting more streamlined and consumer-ready.
This may be less the case with Samsung’s other robot, Ballie, a tennis ball-like personal assistant robot that follows its owner around like a pet, and which can help manage the home, operating robot vacuum cleaners and TVs. It is cute, but it can’t follow you upstairs. And, given that Ballie looks like a tennis ball, it is only a matter of time before it is chewed up by the family dog.
Boundaries in the car industry are getting increasingly blurred
Sony became a surprise entrant into the car industry when it unveiled the Vision-S concept car, a vehicle that is unlikely to ever be produced, but which demonstrates just how much audiovisual technology you can put into a vehicle, with screens running right across the front dashboard.
At least the Vision-S had a steering wheel, though. This was done away with completely in the Mercedez Benz VISION AVTR concept car, where driving is done through a “multifunctional control element” that keeps in constant biometric contact with the driver, monitoring heartbeat and breathing patterns.
There are also more urban mobility options in addition to scooters and bikes including Segway’s S-Pod, an armchair on wheels, a kind of giant baby’s push-chair for adults, that can be driven around at 24 miles an hour. It looks more comfortable than a scooter, at any rate.
Source:https://sifted.eu/articles/corporate-innovation-weekly-ces/
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