A virtual tour of CES 2025

I attended CES 2025 for four days to see the exhibits, attend presentations, and meet with clients. It was impossible to visit all 4500 exhibits, especially since the show was dispersed among multiple venues that required at least a half-hour transit through traffic congestion.

I focused on exhibits that used leading-edge technologies in novel ways. Here is my selection of notable products. I included a web address (URL) of the manufacturer and a video URL about the product on YouTube. Each URL was checked before publication, but may change or be removed by the creator or by YouTube.

This article continues my overview of CES 2025, the Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas, published earlier this year in the ASHB Journal: “CES 2025: Focus on AI and Robotics.”

Enhanced vision

Halliday Eyeglasses with AI (www.hallidayglobal.com)

Billed as “the world’s first Proactive AI Glasses with an Invisible Display,” these eyeglasses include a built-in display projected onto the wearer’s retina. The display appears as a 3.5”-screen in a corner of the user’s field-of-view. The glasses link to a smart phone app via Bluetooth. This app captures discussions and then analyzes the conversation, checks facts, and offers insights via the glasses display.

The glasses weigh 1.2 ounces and include an eight-hour battery. This Chinese startup is selling Halliday glasses for $500, including prescription lenses.

AI Assistant in Your Glasses
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tA2u_V6pw0

Even Realities, Augmented reality (AR) glasses (www.evenrealities.com)

Even Realities makes prescription glasses with a built-in display projected a few feet in front of the glasses like a teleprompter. The data are fed via a Bluetooth link to a smart phone. As the manufacturer explains, “Micro-LED optical engines transmit content onto a pair of waveguide lenses, which then project it about two meters in front of you. It looks natural. Not in your way.”

Applications may include:

• A note-taker using the microphone built into the glasses.
• A real-time language translator.
• A real-time navigator while traveling.
• A teleprompter during a speech.
• A smart speaker with AI features to answer queries.
• Notifications with the option for more details.

Augmented Reality Glasses
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/eWAz_xxtt7g

Enhanced mobility and control

Hypershell X, Exoskeleton (www.hypershell.tech)

This exoskeleton assists outdoor hikers and climbers with a 30% reduction in physical exertion. It boosts lower limb performance by 40%. The equipment, including a battery, weighs about 5-1/4 pounds. The manufacturer claims that the motors produce a maximum continuous torque of 23-1/2 pound-feet with high-torque-density, thereby delivering “fluid and reliable performance.” Besides outdoor use, the Hypershell is recommended for long sessions of athletic training and for reducing industrial injuries while improving productivity.

A smart phone app can control, track, and optimize the Hypershell X. Three models are available ranging from $800 to $1500.

An Exoskeleton for Outdoor Adventures
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqWnPFjlVUo

NeuralLab, User interface (www.neural-lab.com)

AirTouch is software developed by NeuralLab to use gesture control in place of a mouse or touch pad for controlling a computer. The software interprets hand and body gestures via a web cam that is typically built into a laptop or smart phone. It is re-programmed to recognize six gestures and to avoid unintentional interactions.

Applications range from home control and gaming to office, medical, and industrial tasks. The cost is $30 per month per device for personal use and $300 per month per device for commercial use.

User Interface with AirTouch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9215La9PtKY

Overcoming limitations

WeWalk, “Smart Cane” (www.wewalk.io)

WeWalk sells a cane with embedded voice recognition including an “Intelligent Voice Assistant” and GPT for $600. It offers detailed navigation and includes sensors that detect obstacles and links to a smart phone via Bluetooth. The cane can report nearby shops, restaurants, and assist with public transit options and schedules. Options are chosen via push button accessible near the top of the cane.

Users can get training from Orientation and Mobility Specialists who use AI Mobility data from the cane sensors that track the customer’s use of the cane such as cane angle to the ground, sweeping angle, and distances walked. WeASSIST is a service provided by a remote agent (a real person) offering visual assistance using the customer’s smart phone camera. This can help users navigate locations such as airport or assist with shopping to find a store and specific clothing.

AI Cane for Visually Impaired
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOF1gol1Dyk

Artha, Sensory substitution (www.arthafrance.com)

Artha offers a novel method for those with visual impairments to navigate. Data from a camera clipped onto glasses are processed and fed to a lumbar belt worn by the user. The image is translated into tactile elements that recreate a sensory representation of the image on the back of the customer. Training is claimed to be quick: “Within a few minutes of use, users are usually able to intuitively perceive large objects thanks to the haptic representation provided by the device.” The tactile elements can represent moving objects. Users quickly integrate these back touches with hearing to discern the mass of an object. It may be used with a cane or guide dog.

Artha is based in Paris and is offering an initial “private sale” of the eye glasses clip containing a camera, microphone, and speaker, the haptic belt, and a smart phone app for $6960.

See with your Skin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILHDMkvrLWY

Audio

FIIO, Audio streamer (www.fiio.com/s15)

The FiiO S15 Music Streamer is a specialized decoder for producing high fidelity music from digital streams. It can be controlled via Bluetooth and a smart phone. The receiver is preloaded with decoders for a variety of popular formats. Since it runs on the Android operating system, apps can be downloaded to handle additional formats. This unit is interposed between the Internet connected via Ethernet or Wi-Fi or a local media player (CD, BluRay, TV, or USB flash) and an amplifier or powered speakers via RCA or XLR cables.

The S15 is built around a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip as used in smart phones with 4 GB RAM and 64 GB ROM. The unit includes an eight-inch touch panel for setup and can accommodate SSD disk storage using the M.2 form-factor common in laptop computers.

FiiO is a Chinese company with the goal “to raise the reputation of ‘Made in China’.” The S15 costs $1050.

High-Resolution Low-Noise Audio Streamer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncDVAVG9wPA

Liberlive, Smart guitar (www.liberlive.com)

Liberlive is the brand name of a musical instrument company applying technology for creating music with the mission to “Liberate Your Music Live.” The product looks like a guitar without strings. It is being pitched to beginners and “seasoned performers” for playing complex cords without the usual guitar finger placements.

Instead of strings Liberlive has a touch pad and a paddle. Playing instructions are presented on a smart phone app. The user sets the tempo and programs the guitar with up to 72 complex cords. It includes accompanying rhythm with a built-in drum machine and bassline. The music plays from speakers in the guitar body powered by a six-hour battery or can run for 12 hours when using external speakers. The guitar is being sold for $500 in four colors.

Stringless Foldable Guitar
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/KUaao8MzGHc

Enhanced health

Cosmo Robotics, Wearables (www.cosmo-robotics.com)

Cosmo-Robotics is a Korean company that develops machinery worn on the body to supplement muscular limitations for the disabled or the efficiency for labor-intensive tasks. This type of machine is called “wearable robotics.” Medical applications include lower-limb assistance and gait training for people with injuries, stroke, or neurological disorders. Various size units and features can be tailored to children, teens, adults, and the elderly. Sensors gather walking patterns for reprogramming unit to improve the gait. They can be programmed to provide various degrees of assistance.

These exoskeletons can also reduce strains when lifting heavy objects or people (such as a nurse), or performing repetitive tasks. The units are designed to be put on easily and to operate with a non-powered mechanism.

Help Children with Neurological Challenges
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3I3pB223A4

Willo, Toothbrush (www.willo.com)

Willo is an electric toothbrush designed for children. It brushes all upper teeth at the same time and then all lower teeth. The child bites onto a U-shaped tray that dispenses tooth paste and cleans each tooth at the same time in two minutes, then rinses the teeth with water. The upper and lower teeth brushing takes about two minutes each. The unit links to a smart phone app to monitor the child’s use of Willo. The cost is $200 plus $7 per month for toothpaste.

Automated Toothbrush for Children
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdCvO-j6aCI

Bzigo, Pest control (www.bzigo.com)

Bzigo is an Israeli company that offers the Bzigo Iris, a unique method for flying insect control. It uses AI vision to track and target mosquitoes. An infrared sensor detects the mosquito even in the dark, then a low-intensity laser beam shows the location of the insect. It also reports the results via Wi-Fi to one or more smart phones running the Bzigo Iris app, tracking one insect at a time. It is up to user to deal with each mosquito once located.

The unit measures 3”x3”x2.5”and weighs 2/3 lb. It costs $200. An optional electric swatter with a telescoping handle is offered for $50.

AI + Computer-Vision for Pest Control
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMDBvsPhHuA

Smarter homes

Savor Eat, Food preparation (www.savoreat.com)

This Israeli company combines AI and robotics into a machine that prepares a custom single-serving of food. Each meal is designed with a specified level of fats, protein, and doneness level. The food is chosen from a smart phone app based on the food components contained in cartridges inserted in the machine. The components are assembled with a 3D printer. The robot then cooks the food ranging from meat or plant-based burgers to cookies.

This machine is offered to diverse locations such as restaurants, corporate offices, airport lounges, and convenience stores. In a trial at the University of Denver plant-based burgers were prepared in 4–7 minutes with a rating of 8.7/10 for taste. The robot rents for $1500–$2000 per month including service and software updates and is being positioned as lower cost than human labor.

Robotic Food Preparation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=834gqo46ufo

2nd-CURV, Dishwasher (www.2nd-curv.com)

This mini dishwasher is a new Chinese product that washes a few dishes at a time in five seconds. It uses high pressure and high temperature water without detergent. The pressure is created by a low-noise water pump. It occupies the counter-space of a sheet of paper and includes a one-gallon tank for the wash water. Each wash uses about 20 ounces of water and about two cents of electricity.

5-Second Dishwasher
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5uAUPMN1Xk

UBHOME, Robotic lawn mower (us.ubhome.com)

UBHOME, a Chinese company, sells robotic lawn mowers for mowing any shaped lawn up to 34 acres including inclines up to 55%. It can mow sparse or thick grass covering ½ acre per day. The unit issues an alarm if moved beyond boundaries set by the user. It recharges automatically when the battery charge falls to 20%.

The mower receives navigation directions from a nearby base station via a wireless communications technology called LoRA (Long Range) wireless system designed for battery-powered IoT (Internet of Things) devices. A smart phone app allows the user to set a virtual boundary. The robot uses AI vision and RTK (Real-Time Kinematic) positioning technology in conjunction with the GNSS, the Global Navigation Satellite System, to follow this boundary down to an inch while avoiding children and pets. The mower is selling for $1600.

Robotic Radio-Controlled Mower
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB6x6dHkwCA

GEME, Composter (www.geme.bio)

The GEME Composter is a kitchen appliance that converts four months of food waste into garden compost continuously and automatically. The company describes the process as using “microbe bio-technology to enhance natural aerobic fermentation, making it a genuine composting process.” This process is claimed to be 1000 times faster than traditional composting.

This composter functions like a trash bin. It is about the size of a tower desktop company and costs $900.

Create Compost from Food Waste
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_grXv3We4rw

Unique products

Kuube, Smart bench (www.kuube.hu)

Kuube is a Hungarian company that makes a line of “smart benches” primarily for public venues. The benches include solar panels to provide power for 4G cellular Wi-Fi hot spot access, wireless charging of smart phones, and USB charging. They also include environmental sensors for temperature, humidity, air quality, and UV-index.

The benches are built for outdoor use in all seasons and are composed of aluminum, tempered glass, and hardwood. Various size benches from 70” to 87” are offered. A version with a built-in touch display and speakers is available.

Bench with Recharge and Wi-Fi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzBgCxpmByA

LiquidView, Artificial window (www.theliquidview.com)

LiquidView uses large high definition TVs installed vertically to simulate a window. The views can be programmed to adjust scenes to circadian rhythms. The maker claims these displays in a windowless room offer health benefits by tricking the brain. A Stanford University study states, “LiquidView windows reduces stress, lowers heart rates, calms the sympathetic system, enhances emotions, and alters brain wave activity.”

The displays show 8K videos produced by “National Geographic level cinematographers” with HDR (High Dynamic Range) and cost $10k for each window. If you prefer paintings instead of windows, the Samsung Frame TV, mounted horizontally, displays museum-quality works of art licensed through a subscription service. A subscription cost $5 per month plus $3 to $65 for each painting.

Create a Window on a Blank Wall
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIvsLH9gWtE

Invo Moon, Flying electric vehicle (EV) (www.invostation.com)

Did you know you can buy a real flying saucer? The Invo Moon is an electric vehicle that can transport up to six persons 300 miles, depending on the model. The inventor is Leo Kayali, a former EV auto engineer.

Advanced orders are being accepted online for a down payment of $2500 towards the purchase of a three-passenger “luxury model” with heated seats, mood lighting, an ice machine, and a smart TV for a total cost of $350,000. The company anticipates certification by the US Federal Aviation Administration in 2027 for urban use by 2030.

Your own Flying Saucer!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF9mntwVa5M

Retrospective

A History of Consumer Electronics

This is a display of Panasonic products from the 20th century.