CES2020: Setting The Stage For Display Of Innovation

Consumer Technology Association set the stage for the Consumer Electronic Show as the world’s gathering place for people to experience learning and information exchange at such an exceptional level that it all was so much to see that we were not able to fit it all in. To assist in the experience there was complimentary shuttles to transport visitors from location to location, as well as tech tours and demos. If you haven’t been to this event we do highly recommend saving the date to go next year, which will be in Las Vegas held on January 6-9, 2021.

While I would love to talk about the many amazing technologies we saw such as the autonomous buses, air taxis, race and luxury vehicles, house sized televisions, computers, sound systems, 3D printing, sustainability, AI, robotics, and many award winning technologies we are about anti-aging, longevity, health and wellness, so I must fight the urge and stay on point and talk about a few of the many wonderful technologies we saw geared towards our interests over a few articles. Pardon me while I try to contain my excitement...

There was no shortage of wearables whether they be wrist worn, belts, or clothing to monitor a variety of variables. LifePlus showcased their device which is the world’s first clinical grade non-invasive continuous glucose wearable smartwatch monitor. The LifeLeaf solution consists of 4 major components: multi-sensor smartwatch housing the algorithms, a mobile application, cloud based data hosting, and an artificial intelligence driven analytic desktop portal which combine to generate a user friendly interface for personalized actionable insights in real time that can be shared with family and medical communities, and it is also aggregated to compile population health statistics to deliver intelligence to the deep learning engine in a closed loop system. 

Curaco Carebidet received a CES2020 innovation award for this smart assistive tech. This technology is an automatic toilet system designed for bedridden patients. This tech is a substitute for adult diapers or bedpans that affords significant benefits by promoting personal hygiene while maintaining patient dignity and lessening the burden of caregivers. When a patient urinates or defecates while putting this tech on it detects the elimination with built in sensors and immediately flushes them away, then cleans and air dries the patient’s private parts all in one process. The waste is washed into a system that will put the waste into a sealed container that purifies any smells to await for removal and disposal which can be flushed away. The device is not attached to the bed making it even more convenient to use. 

Hyperfine showcased their bedside point of care MRI technology for anytime, anywhere use. The low field system wheels to the bedside which can be plugged into a standard wall outlet to generate the first sequence within minutes running off an iPad. The operating system is easy to use, control, view, and share images to workstations, tablets, or phone within the networks allowing to reduce costs by as much as 20 times with its full use of modern computational power and deep machine learning advances with reduced magnetic fields and strength in a simple design to complement conventional approaches. 

Anatomage Table is a revolutionary and powerful clinical tool, and is the world’s first and only virtual dissection table. This advanced 3D anatomy visualization system for anatomy and physiology education is currently being adopted at many leading medical schools and institutions for its innovative approach to anatomy presentation. This technology replaces the need for a cadaver with its operating form factor which is combined with renowned radiology software and clinical content which can provide segmented details of real anatomy and accuracy as a powerful effective educational tool. This is the only fully segmented real human 3D anatomy system in which users can visualize anatomy exactly as they would on a cadaver, and allows for exploration as well as learning beyond what a cadaver could offer to lead to a more enhanced effective educational outcome without chemicals, smells, recurring facility costs, and regulations. 

Saykara showcased Kara 2.0 which is the first fully ambient artificial intelligence augmented healthcare voice powered assistant which learns and improves over time by actively listening to physician patient encounter to auto-generate clinical notations and record entries without any voice commands which promises to eliminate hours of charting, record entry, and simplify the documentation process for physicians. The AI powered voice application listens to interactions, transcribes them to text, parses the text into structured data, and completes each form in the patient EHR and automatically generates clinic notes including patient history, physical, assessments, plans, orders, and referrals with its speech recognition. AI and deep learning machine capabilities are supported on the back end by human feedback to enable the system to train itself faster to meet mission critical accuracy requirements of the healthcare space to beneficially impact physician quality of life and work life balance. 

Existo is a lightweight exoskeleton designed to help human empowerment and augment capabilities in daily living for those who may have had an injury or suffer from grip strength decline and reduced hand function. This technology is designed to function as a robotic sixth finger and is able to adjust to different sized and shaped objects which is controlled remotely by the user through a ring or EMG band. There were actually a number of cutting edge technologies at the e-Novia booth all working to push the machine-human collaboration envelop to higher use and standards, some of which won CES2020 innovation awards such as hiride suspension, wahu, and smart robots. 

One booth that I almost walked right past on the lower level of the Sands Expo in Eureka Park was different than the rest, this “innovation” was a stunt, the smart potato is basically the vegetable equivalent of a Magic Eight Ball. Complete with antenna and movements NeuraSpud connects to any smartphone over Bluetooth to its accompanying app where users can ask questions and it will reply with a random answer on the screen. This may have been a stunt but the booth was packed to see his ridiculous invention. However, his point was not lost on me, which is about the torrent of smart gadgets that make it to the show that really don’t solve any problems and how products which don’t align with the goals of the show even make it there. While there is a criteria for exhibitors there are thousands of applications, which can make it difficult for individual application attention. Stunt or not his point does have resonance, while “smart” devices are not a fad, simply adding a chip to a device doesn’t mean it will be any more useful or revolutionary: Buyer Beware. 

CES is huge, and is fast becoming the go to place to learn, share information, attend lectures/presentations, and discover cutting edge technology, break through innovation, as well as see award winning developments in a wide range of categories all while having a great time. We are already looking forward to attending next year’s exciting, powerful and rewarding experience.