CES Experience 2019: How the Ground Is Shifting

The directors who traveled to Las Vegas to attend NACD’s CES Experience were well prepared to walk onto the showroom floor on Tuesday. A lively panel moderated by Nichole Jordan, Grant Thornton’s national managing partner of markets, clients & industry, helped prepare participants on how to best to sift through the hype and sheer size of the annual technology extravaganza that this year features some 4,400 exhibitors sprawled over 11 venues. Said panelist Nora Denzel, a CES veteran who serves on the boards of Advanced Micro Devices, Ericsson, and Talend: “Look at how the ground is shifting.”

Small group tours of around 20 directors and guests each were led by The Palmer Group, with CES Experience attendees separated into two groups led by Shelly Palmer and Jared Palmer. Each group toured two massive halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center, which one of several major venues for the trade show and where some of the most impressive exhibits are on display. Tour groups explored the north and central halls of the convention center, focusing primarily on vehicle, audio, and video technologies.

Some observations from today’s CES tour follow.

Voice is now the ubiquitous interface. While Amazon’s Alexa and other voice-command applications were built into nearly everything yet again this year, the systems are always getting smarter. While touring an exhibit of the Kohler connected bathroom exhibit, one director pointed out that he was interested in understanding the use in geriatric care application, while another director mentioned that he had already outfitted his mother’s home with the devices. From controlling the temperature of your bathwater to using on-the-spot translation technologies, voice command is here to stay—and improves with use. Directors should ask their managers have a strategy to include the application, even in ways that might not seem obvious.

The 5G revolution is getting closer. Be aware: there aren’t many 5G devices that companies were ready to display. However, Intel, Qualcomm, Dlink, and others demonstrated future applications or actual hardware slated to be released later this year. Autonomous vehicle technology displayed by automakers showed the promise of what may come with minimal latency and a wealth of sensors. Ford, for instance, demonstrated an intersection without stop lights. The catch? Once 5G technology connects to in-vehicle sensors, cars will theoretically be able to talk to one another and make real-time traffic calculations. While the promise of what 5G could do to transform cities is alluring, we’re not quite there yet. One director asked Jared Palmer, engineering lead at The Palmer Group and one of our tour guides, when he thinks we’ll see cities build the infrastructure for this future. The answer? “Whenever we can pass an infrastructure bill.”

Wearables make providing health care data easy. Would you be more likely to wear a heart rate monitor on your morning run if you were able to wear it on a specialized washable shirt? Could your skin chemistry change how a wearable medical device is used? These are questions that companies such as 3M and Qus are helping wearable medical technologies answer. CES exhibitors also showed off the “gamification” of health care, including an application that identifies where teeth need the most attention while brushing, as well as many devices to escape from technology.

Everyone loves flying cars and robots. As cities see changes in how people get around, companies are exploring innovative, more varied solutions. One of the most jaw-dropping new technologies at CES this year was Bell Flights’ flying car concept, which could be available from Uber as soon as 2020. Meanwhile, one of Samsung’s many impressive displays included a family of domestic robots. These exhibits showcase incremental improvements in day-to-day life that have become commonplace at CES—and yet are no less awe-inspiring. While in recent years CES has become less about paradigm-shifting mega-releases of products, companies are moving so fast to create new versions of products and release them that each year demonstrates something a bit better than before. The same can be said for these Bell and Samsung products.

The mind truly reels walking amid competing exhibits, faces colored by neon display lights and the shine of new electronics. The only way to fully appreciate the size and possibilities represented at CES is to see it for yourself.

NACD will deliver more short videos on its social channels and look for coverage of NACD and Grant Thornton’s CES Experience in the March/April 2019 edition of NACD Directorship.