The 2024 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is expected to draw 130,000 attendees in Las Vegas this week.
The annual tech congress sees tech companies from all over the world unveil their latest technology, and this year there’s lots of different technologies, from hair dryers to air taxis.
Here are some of the weird and wonderful devices that have attracted attention so far at the world’s biggest tech fair.
L’Oreal’s hair dryer that uses infrared light
L’Oreal has developed a hair dryer that uses a combination of infrared light and air, unlike traditional thermal wands, to dry hair faster.
“We’ve created a whole new way of thinking about how to use a hair dryer,” said Guive Balooch, global managing director of augmented beauty and open innovation at L’Oreal Research.
“Having light not only allows you to heat the air more efficiently… It also makes your hair visually 59 percent smoother, so you get more hydrated hair, smoother hair, and less damage,” Balooch added.
The cosmetics company says the AirLight Pro uses up to 31 percent less energy than traditional hair dryers.
When users want to change temperature or style settings, the handheld device can be controlled using an app.
BMW’s automatic valet parking
German automobile manufacturer BMW invited its visitors to try its new concept car, BMW iX. One of its new features includes automatic valet parking, allowing teleoperation.
This means that the teleoperation driver can park the car without sitting in the vehicle.
BMW says the underlying technology can be used for both an autonomous driving system and a remote-controlled valet parking system.
The concept car can accelerate to 10 km/h when controlled remotely. Cameras on the vehicle send video images to the teleoperation work area where the images are displayed.
Control commands are then sent back to the vehicle via the wireless network.
“There are so many use cases… They [It] It can be applied in assembly factories, it can be applied to rental vehicles, it can be applied to car sharing vehicles. But there are other use cases for the end customer. “When you think about the car being driven while you’re doing your emails or something like that,” BMW’s Thorsten Schmitt said.
Creating an AI twin for creators
A new application from Hollo AI, a California-based firm, is designed to produce artificial intelligence twins for humans in just minutes.
The company hopes its app will help creators with their time-consuming work and help them connect with fans around the world without language barriers.
“We built this around the idea that a creator can monetize a user while they sleep and interact while they sleep. So their fans can interact and talk to them in 29 different languages,” said Rex Wong, CEO of Hollo AI. .
Hallo AI says all you need is your selfies and voice notes and the app will create a ‘Chat GPT’ that shows off your personality in minutes.
“Social media isn’t a 9-to-5 job. It’s a 24-hour job. There are no breaks. So I definitely think having Hollo AI will give me a break because they just don’t want me like that anymore,” Los Angeles-based content creator McKenzi Brooke said. “I talk face to face, but they keep me on the phone 24/7,” he said.
Hyundai unveiled its air taxi
Supernal, Hyundai Motor Group’s air taxi subsidiary, has unveiled its new aero taxi, the S-A2, built for affordable, everyday passenger air travel.
The 4-person electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle (eVTOL) is designed to reach a speed of 193 km/h at an altitude of 457 m.
It has eight fully tilting rotors, and Supernal says the battery-powered aircraft should operate more quietly than traditional helicopters.
“The beauty of this is that it’s all powered by a battery. So there’s no emissions. And because the rotors are smaller, the wings are smaller and distributed, it will be quieter, much quieter than a helicopter,” said President Jaiwon Shin. Founder of Hyundai Motor Group and CEO of Supernal.
The company will target urban areas first, Shin said, because routine commercial operations in aircraft-populated areas are currently limited.
“It will support land transportation by opening the skies over our cities,” Shin added.
The company’s president said he believes the device will enter the market by 2028 and that regulations for this type of air travel should be ready by then.
Foldable OLED screens from Samsung
Samsung Display says its latest foldable OLED displays are more durable than ever.
They have passed a series of tests, from folding in extreme temperatures to basketballs bouncing on the panels.
“What we have been able to achieve is the highest military standards. From temperature shocks of 60 degrees to -20 degrees, to acceleration, drop testing and icing, many tests have been carried out to ensure that the user has confidence in the OLED foldable display you are purchasing. Chirag, Senior Director of Business Development, Samsung Display Marketing Whatever the user scenario is, it will be perfect,” Shah said.
The company says OLED displays are better suited to vehicle interiors than LCD displays because they are less affected by freezing temperatures.
“OLED offers highly customized capability and flexibility to customize a display,” Shah said.
“There is a passenger information screen. There is a group information screen. We have side mirrors or electronic mirrors,” he added.
The annual CES trade show will be held from January 9-12 this year.
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