My Top Picks from CES 2019

Here are my top picks for the crazy awesome things I saw at CES 2019.  These are in no particular order.

Nura Headphones - https://www.nuraphone.com/   

These personalized headphones fit perfectly, and after a 4 minute customization calibration, my own tuned version of the software allowed me to toggle between regular sound (which was amazing), to enhanced sound (which was incredible) and then allowed me to control the depth of sound (basically the bass).  The sound was great, the experience was wonderful and the app was simple and elegant and best of all, the noise cancelling has a talk over button that allows for natural conversation in loud places...like CES. And, they are coming in an earphone version soon! I give these headphones a 10/10

HP / Orbbec 3D Scanner - https://orbbec3d.com/products/

This year, HP and Orbbec had a joint booth and they were demonstrating their incredibly fast, accurate and precise 3D scanners combined with the HP Sprout and some simple to use software to stitch it all together.  In about 4 minutes, we created a high-resolution 3D object from a physical one. When I went back to try the demo again, the demo person could not replicate the simple to use process and for that, I give it a 7/10.

Bell Nexus Helicopter - https://www.bellflight.com/company/innovation/ces

This showstopper looks like a gunship from Avatar with its rotating jet like vertical propellers and sleek looks.  It is a beautiful concept that promises Uber for the sky with 5 passenger capacity and autonomous future roadmap, this very well could be how we get around soon (they probably have them in Dubai already).  I didn’t get to fly in it, but I really really wanted to so I give it a 9.5/10.

nReal AR Glasses - https://www.nreal.ai/

The brainchild of a former Magic Leap Engineer, nReal are the first AR glasses I have seen with a full 52° field of view and 1080 resolution.  These are also the smallest form factor I have tried on which is accomplished by taking the processing power off the headset and porting it to a USB-C Android processor (which got very hot).  With $15M in fresh funding and a very good product, I think nRreal is now a real competitive participant in the AR glasses market. With Meta and ODG out of the way, I think nReal has a good shot at being a leader in the space.  I give them an 8.5/10. Watch the video here:

Qlone 3D - https://www.qlone.pro/

One of my favourite tools from CES is similar to the Orbbec 3D scanner, but 100% software-driven from ANY mobile device.  By using a genius algorithm that creates an augmented reality dome over the object you wish to scan by localized the checkered mat under the object.  The results were incredible and it took minutes. They even incorporated a crazy awesome feature near the end of the video (I won’t spoil the surprise!).  For the sheer math involved in making this happen, I give Qlone a 9.5/10.

LG R9 Rolling TV - https://www.lg.com/ca_en/ces/products

What can I say, this is the first time in the world any company has rolled up a 60” 4K TV screen.  And they did it all choreographed with audio and other visuals. I am not sure what anyone would need with a roll-up screen, but why the heck not, maybe you want it for your 160’ yacht.  For the sheer amazing of it, I give these TVs a 9/10. Bonus! LG Video Wall - While I have no idea what the product is, this display was EPIC! (see video)

Hypervsn - https://hypervsn.com/

Once again, this amazing new tool for presenting pseudo-holograms blew me away.  Their booth was 10 times the size and I cannot think of why these displays are not in every retail store in the world yet.  They even had a competitor take their space at CES from last year, but the lack of quality was noticeable so I think it was in their best interested.  Amazing product, great execution at the show. I give Hypervsn a 10/10

TAP Input Device - https://www.tapwithus.com/

One meeting that we had was with TAP, the incredible wearable that let's you type with one hand without a keyboard. By using very precise taps on any surface, these finger rings execute a letter in the alphabet. It is pretty easy to learn the new alphabet (the first lesson is AEIOU tapped from thumb to pinky). This has far reaching potential as we move to wearable computing, we will need alternative input devices like TAP. I give this a 9/10 for ingenuity and problem solving.

Well that concludes my Top Picks from CES 2019, I hope you enjoyed it. If you made it this far, you might as well share it with your network, as they say, sharing is caring!

Til next year, I'm going to sleep for a week!

Alan Smithson