Sony presented their Vision-S Concept Car at CES. The car was completely nondescript and wouldn’t get any notice on the street from the outside. If you were to blend Mazda, Honda, Nissan, Toyota, and Subaru, this is about what you’d get. Sony sees the auto platform as the newest entertainment space, so they are focused on what that will mean in the future.

As a side note, don’t expect to see this as a real thing for a while. As I’ve looked at autonomous vehicles over the years, and the promises broken, I see the technology flowing from most safe, to most risky as a general time line. I’ll give you an example. The Roomba would be considered most safe. It can damage some furniture, spread dog poop around the house, but it won’t kill anyone. That would be the first phase. Next, a similar device moves outside the house, but remains in a building. You see this with hotel delivery robots.

The next phase is delivery robots in a closed campus environment, moving mail on a college campus, or having a beer cooler follow you around. Next phase is to add people, but in a slow campus environment, where again, the chances of injury are low. This is followed by street applications, again at low speeds, followed by the last category, which is high speed freeway use.

What we noticed throughout CES was the high number of automotive component companies. We saw numerous battery design and solutions. Some from companies I wasn’t expecting such as DuPont.

This was the first year that automotive component companies were there in force, in part because the Detroit Auto Show, which would normally overlap with CES moved to a new date. Someone was telling me that that auto show executives were there in mass. Every hall had something dedicated to automotive.

There was also a shift to North Hall for a few of the bigger players such as Qualcomm and now Amazon for the first time. More on that further down.

The primary emphasis of CES was on support for either electric vehicles (EV) or some form of autonomous driving. I was surprised by the number of exhibitors who were displaying everything from headlight solutions to battery packs, to some form of technology they think will change the automotive world.

Hyundai took an entirely different approach this year and didn’t show their cars at all. Instead they displayed a large passenger drone in partnership with Uber. Getting into the aircraft manufacturing business is no small feat. It’s one thing to get through FAA certification, it’s another to turn out production aircraft under that certification. It’s a very different proposition than building cars. Just ask Honda.

There were two drone passengers solutions at North Hall. One was from drone and aircraft manufacturer experts, Hyundai. I’m kidding, and I’m making a point. The other was from Bell Textron, which has the experience. I’m not at all a fan of drones as a passenger solution given my experience flying helicopters and knowing a few things about rotorcraft.

First, we already have a wonderful more cost effective solution known as a helicopter. It is less complex, has a better safety margin and it has range. I don’t see these passenger drones providing a cheaper, safer, more versatile solution. I see just the opposite. We already have a problem gaining helipad acceptance in an urban environment, and I don’t see this as a quieter solution.

What we didn’t see this year were all the small passenger drone companies of years past that have not advanced much of a solution. I’m glad there remains a fascination with flying and the possibilities of highly efficient light weight propulsion, however don’t expect to be flying in one any time soon.

Intel

Intel over the last few years made a huge presentation in Center Hall, but not this year. They were off in a corner at the Sands. We see this ever so often when some of the big silicon players step forward, then back, depending how how much money they have or how they feel threatened. Two years ago they were flying drone demonstrations, this year they were hard to find.

When it came to the big Korean rivals, Samsung and LG, I didn’t go away all that impressed. They both continue to advance various TV technologies. All claim to have the best picture, etc., but I didn’t see as many go-to-market solutions in cutting-edge areas. Both put on very impressive booths, but they didn’t dazzle this year. Samsung demonstrated a ball robot that to me looked like a complete waste of time. I can’t imaging it advancing all that much in the market.

Robotics overall are not that ready for primetime. The problem is most of the useful ideas still move too slow and lack any sense of convenience. I do think that cooking solutions are something to consider with robotics, but outside of a Roomba, I wasn’t seeing much that made me think I wanted it now.

Sharp

Sharp increased its presence at CES, however it’s still Foxcon with a new name. There was a lot of IP inside sharp before it went into bankruptcy about six years ago. Now the name is dusted off and it’s back making a big splash at CES. Most people don’t know it’s an entirely different company. I didn’t see anything in particular that impressed me in their booth.

We did see some technologies finally in working form that I do think have application. My favorite is the slightly opaque glass that can transform into video images. I see that as a future window and signage technology including the obvious screening applications.

See Through Display

In around 2014, Sharp talked about someday creating a see-through display. They used a glass bowl as a demonstration and talked about what the technology would look like at some point. I was thrilled to see it finally on display at CES.

What I loved about this technology were all the possibilities, from controlling room ambiance from outside conditions to vision enhancement. I see this as a potentially massive category, assuming the costs can be brought down significantly.

I still have a lot more to cover in Part 3 of my week at CES. More to come!