From delivery robots to electric cars and the latest transparent televisions, there was a wide range of innovations on display at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in Las Vegas. This year, CES 2023 brought together tech companies and industry leaders in health, manufacturing and automotive who showcased products that will shape the future.
These are some of the innovations that caught our eye.
Category: Smart cities
Product: Clean Water Pathfinder
One of the reasons water utility companies like Nairobi Water lose water is because of broken pipes. The solution to this, as proposed by ACWA Robotics, a France-based company for Robotics and Digital solutions for water distribution systems, is a little robot called Clean Water Pathfinder.
Clean Water Pathfinder promises to help water companies better manage water waste.
The intelligent robot is installed inside (clean) water pipes and operates while the pipes are still running. After being programmed, it will collect data over a few kilometres like high-definition images, and thickness measurements and locate where the pipes are corroded, letting water utility companies know the condition of the pipes.
Category: Mobile devices and accessories
Product: Traction
Although Traction was not on the CES 2023 Best Innovations list, it deserves an honourable mention as a 2023 Honoree. Traction is an app-enabled phone lock device that helps you to focus and block distractions from your phone. The internet is a place where most people get work done, but distractions are always a click away. However, once you decide it’s time to log off from WhatsApp, TikTok or Instagram and start working, all you need to do is place your smartphone inside Traction and set the timer. Until the time lapses, you can’t access your phone. What else then is there to do other than work?
Category: Digital Health
Product: AeviceMD
What if you could detect lung sound abnormalities and probably get ahead of any chronic respiratory diseases before it was too late? With continuing revolutionary advances in digital health, you can. The AI-powered wearable coin-sized stethoscope, AeviceMD, remotely detects and records chest sounds translated into heart rate and respiratory rate measurements and logs them onto a user-friendly app while flagging abnormalities like wheezing. The data collected on the stethoscope over time will give insights into a patient’s lung health and allow doctors to devise tailored solutions for them.
Category: Robotics
Product: John Deere Autonomous Tractor
One of the challenges that usually affect farmers is labour – finding people to do the work on farms, especially on large tracts of land like plantations. To fill that huge gap John Deere, the agricultural machinery manufacturer has broken ground with a self-driving tractor that can be controlled from a phone. The fully autonomous tractor uses GPS guidance, sensors and AI technologies and stereo cameras in front and rear of the tractor, and takes the farmer out of the tractor to go handle other tasks on the farm. As they see to other farm duties, they can monitor operations live through their mobile phone via an App.
Category: Gaming
Product: Alienware 500Hz Gaming Monitor
Good news for gamers interested in an ultra-smooth gaming experience. Alienware has unveiled a 500Hz desktop gaming monitor for people who take their gaming seriously. The Alienware AW2524H is considered the world’s fastest gaming monitor with a 500Hz refresh rate. The 24.5-inch monitor has a full HD display and a native refresh rate of 480 Hz, which overclocks to 500Hz. This is definitely a top pick for gamers looking to have an advantage over their competition.
Category: Software and Mobile apps
Product: AMLOS
After the Covid-19 pandemic, hybrid work became a big trend in the world of work, and to help it along, Canon has come up with a solution that will make hybrid meetings more engaging. Here is how it works, with one camera, multiple video streams can be created that show different views of a meeting. For example, someone working remotely can see the entire meeting room, the person hosting the meeting and even the whiteboard if anyone is taking notes on it.
Category: Accessibility
Product: Dot Pad
Mobile phones and tablets have revolutionised the way the blind and visually impaired community interacts with technology. Still, innovations for people with vision impairment who use braille are not enough. Dot, a company that seeks to remove all barriers for the blind and low vision from everyday life through smart technology, has taken a huge step with a smart braille device that allows for easy text and tactile imagery. The Dot Pad could potentially open doors for education and accessible content for the blind and visually impaired because it’s possible to display tables, graphs images and other resources. The Dot Pad has a grid of 2400 dots that bring graphics to their fingertips in real time, forms easily identifiable shapes and also letters. The device connects to Apple’s voice over screen reading feature making reading text or simple images a tap away. This isn’t the first digital braille reading device but it is light and slim and lasts up to 11 hours when fully charged.
Category: Video displays
Product: LG Transparent OLED Screen
Why on earth would anyone want a transparent TV? What would be the point of seeing things behind the screen rather than watching the content on the screen? The LG Transparent OLED Screen was one of the coolest displays at the CES 2023, and the idea is to let you see whatever is behind it, preferably where artwork is being displayed like a museum or beautiful retail spaces. This television that fades from view is a prototype but LG had other TVs to show off, like the LG OLED Flex that has the ability to curve itself from flat to a 900R curve at the push of a button.
Category: Cybersecurity and personal privacy
Product: Samsung S3B512C Security Chip
In a world where strong security technologies are needed to curb fraudulent authentications, Samsung pulled a first at the technology event by showcasing their new biometric card touted as the first of its kind all-in-one biometric security solution. The Samsung Biometric Card IC S3B512C reads biometric information through a fingerprint sensor, stores and authenticates encrypted data in a tamper proof way and analyses and processes data securely. With these three key functions integrated in a single chip, it can help card manufacturers reduce the number of chips required for biometric payment cards.
