The Best Of CES 2024: AI and Transparent TVs Steal the Show

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The future peeked through the curtains last week in Las Vegas at CES 2024, the world’s largest consumer tech expo gathering over 100,000 industry insiders eagerly exploring the latest innovations. While flying cars and robot butlers remain pipe dreams, attendees caught glimpses into what may soon be possible through advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and display technology. What wowed crowds amidst the sprawl of booths and demo areas this year? Let’s explore some of the hottest trends and most buzzworthy products revealed at CES 2024.

Transparent TV Screens

One eye-catching theme at CES 2024 was transparent displays. LG unveiled the world’s first wireless transparent OLED TV that made images look like they were floating in mid-air. Unlike traditional screens coating images onto black backgrounds, LG’s virtually invisible panel reveals whatever sits behind it – so you can gaze out a window while catching the game or blend the set into sophisticated decor. It accomplishes this feat through self-lit pixels emitting their own light. LG promises enhanced color fidelity and seamless views from any angle.

Though not cheap, pricing falls in line with existing premium screens as the technology scales. Over time, if LG can make the technology more affordable, it could redefine living spaces. TVs of the future would no longer dominate the room and instead integrate more thoughtfully into multifunctional homes.

Not to be outdone, Samsung presented their own take on transparent displays through micro LED technology – slim panels made up of tiny LEDs allowing light and images to pass through. While visually stunning, Samsung aimed their first versions announced at CES 2024 towards large commercial installations like SpoVi’s AR fan experience overlaying field projections onto real players during sporting events. Home models remain reserved for those with Scrooge McDuck money stacks.

We can probably expect interfaces receding over the next decade with content only appearing on surfaces when desired through projectors and micro LED setups. Picture messaging friends debating what to watch by using options appearing then disappearing on kitchen counters or office walls.

Samsung’s Ballie Robot Home Assistant

Beyond avant-garde screens, anticipation ran high for Ballie – Samsung’s BB8-like rolling assistant revealed during opening keynotes. The ambulatory sphere glides autonomously over to greet you, assist elderly relatives through built-in fall monitoring, snap family photos during holidays, and control smart devices via integrated Alexa and Google Home capabilities.

More than just a novelty, Ballie represents the continuing march towards intelligent companions subtly enhancing domestic life through learned behaviors – getting the coffee brewing when you wake, reminding about appointments, turning off forgotten lights – while avoiding creepier sci-fi overtones.

rabbit R1 AI Assistant

Also drawing oohs and ahhs, Taiwan startup rovingLab‘s handheld rabbit R1 acts as a universal remote handling tasks too complex for smart speakers and appliances. William Chung demonstrated how the candy bar sized gadget can not only order Ubers and control smart home devices, but also automatically book travel itineraries through accessing apps and services on your behalf. “Think of it like a shared brain,” Chung explained, saying the AI assistant learns by observing how you use apps over time. The upcoming consumer version even identifies objects held before its camera and listens for instructions in natural language about what to do with things around it – ‘rabbit, order more paper towels’ or ‘rabbit, add Rocky Road ice cream to my Instacart order.’

Wearables & Accessibility Tech

Tech improving accessibility also earned applause, with companies like Xenoma demonstrating their haptic jacket conveying game action through sensation without needing to see what’s on screen. And iPhone keyboard case maker Keys-U displayed wearables placing responsive keys under fingertips for those needing tactile response.

How Much Tech From CES 2024 Has A Real Future With Consumers?

Of course CES has never met a zany gadget it didn’t like, so ultra-niche smart products also joined more ambitious endeavors on stage and behind velvet ropes. Take smart chopsticks detecting salt levels or the yoga mat analyzing poses.

Who knows which prototypes replace skepticism with wonder enroute to mainstream adoption. Perhaps some of the crazier concepts unveiled at CES 2024 this year will eventually shift from “what were they thinking” towards “how did we ever live without.”