A Virtual Tour of CES

by TODD STOLARSKI | Jan 12, 2016

At the 48th annual Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Vegas last week, a veritable smorgasbord of technologies was showcaserd. Throughout all of the noise , a few distinct technologies shot to the forefront of what will pave the way for the built tomorrow’s built environment.

IoT and the Smart tomorrow: Everybody is racing to provide a the path to full connected tomorrow. Bosch showed off their plans for what they plan to do inside your house, while the big boys went beyond the city limits. Intel has plans to improve municipal district distribution for their connected infrastructure while AT&T announced that they will be rolling out a new plan in Atlanta, Chicago, and Dallas. The new AT&T initiative will allow cities to remotely monitor their infrastructure. Sensors in buildings, parks and roads can alert the authorities when repairs are needed. Smart cities first, SmartWorlds next!

The wrap around line at for the OculuS Rift

Virtual and Augmented Reality: During CES, it was announced that the pioneering VR headset, the Facebook-owned Oculus Rift would be going on presale that Wednesday of the conference. Despite its hefty $599 price, the line to demo a Rift never seemed to die down. People aren’t just intrigued by the possibilities of what VR can do, there was a palpable sense among the crowd in line that this technology is poised to revoultionize how we work and live.

Demo with @DAQRI smart helmet at #CES2016 pic.twitter.com/37mQPA2THo

— James Benham (@JamesMBenham) January 8, 2016

It was a big week for Augmented Reality (AR) and jobsite safety. Augmented Reality safety helmet DAQRI announced the will officially release to the consumer market in Q1 and their official partnership with Intel. No concrete price or release date was announced, but our buddy James Benham got his hands and his head on it to take it for a spin.

Sony took their view directly to the jobsite with the Smart Eye Glass. This AR protective wearable from Sony makes Google Glass look haute couture, but at least the EyeGlass can be purchased now. One drawback, it must be plugged into a bluetooth enabled Android mobile phone.

As with many of these maverick technologies exhibited on the CES floor, some are in their first iteration and while others are in beta. As these exciting technologies grow, what powers them will too. It’s only then will we truly see their capabilities on the jobsite and at home.

View our gallery from the CES floor below.

Panasonic lightweight headset