CES: Startup Leverages AI to Address Problematic Acoustics

There are a growing number of companies working on technologies that strive to make a person’s voice more intelligible to the listener over speakers, headphones, hearing aids and other consumer audio devices. Augmented Hearing, a Danish startup launched two years ago, is one of the more interesting companies at CES 2023 focusing on this space. The firm’s software-based solution runs on iOS, Windows and other CE operating systems. Their solution could mitigate the current trend of people across all age groups turning on closed captioning because they often find video dialogue difficult to understand. Continue reading CES: Startup Leverages AI to Address Problematic Acoustics

CES: Superimaging Creates New Clear Window Display Tech

Last year we told you about VideowindoW, a high resolution clear-glass display that transforms windows, including the entire glass curtain of a skyscraper, into a black and white video screen. This year at CES, Superimaging Display showcased a proof-of-concept demo of a simpler approach to transparent window displays. The company has developed a thin film embedded with nanophosphors that display visible RGB images when excited by ultraviolet light from a DLP projector. The thin film can be attached to any glass surface, and the image is visible but translucent in daylight. Continue reading CES: Superimaging Creates New Clear Window Display Tech

CES: Razer Updates Kiyo Pro to Launch Its First 4K Webcam

Razer introduced its latest plug-and-play webcam at CES, the Kiyo Pro Ultra, a $300 4K device that features AI-powered face-tracking and an HDR mode. The company claims its first 4K webcam touts the “largest image sensor ever used in a webcam” and promises “DSLR-like video quality.” The new device — which records 4K at 30 fps or 1080p at 60 fps — has a dust cover similar to that of its predecessor, the Kiyo Pro, but Razer has introduced additional protection with a built-in physical privacy shutter. It has also added an omnidirectional microphone, which should help it compete in the webcam market. Continue reading CES: Razer Updates Kiyo Pro to Launch Its First 4K Webcam

CES: Tech Industry Aims for Connectivity to Everyone via 5G

Government and industry executives discussed their roles in ensuring Internet connectivity to all Americans via 5G. Moderated by CTA vice president of regulatory affairs J. David Grossman, panelists touched on the major obstacles to ubiquitous connectivity. Qualcomm senior director of government affairs Leslie Barnes noted that, “it’s important we consider all the technologies for last mile connectivity.” “Where fiber is impractical or cost prohibitive, fixed wireless access is a possibility, and it’s cost effective,” she said. “It’s a fast-growing solution that now covers over 35 million households and 2 million businesses.” Continue reading CES: Tech Industry Aims for Connectivity to Everyone via 5G

CES: Government Plans to Address the Digital Divide in 2023

Consumer Technology Association (CTA) vice president of regulatory affairs J. David Grossman introduced U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce Alan Davidson, NTIA administrator, who addressed the CES audience on federal plans to expand broadband access in 2023. “As you all know, the Internet today is the essential tool in our modern world,” he said. “Yet, in 2023, millions of people in this country don’t have the access or skills they need to take advantage of the Internet.” After 20 years of talk, he added, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will now provide over $65 billion to invest in that mission. Continue reading CES: Government Plans to Address the Digital Divide in 2023

CES: Samsung Introduces an Easy-to-Use Smart Home Hub

Samsung Electronics announced its new $60 SmartThings Station, which the company describes as “an easy-to-use, affordable smart home hub and fast charging pad.” The product is designed to provide consumers with “simple control and interoperability of multiple connected devices.” SmartThings Station is one of numerous solutions touted at CES that are compatible with a growing collection of smart home products, including those that are labeled as Matter devices. The Matter home automation standard, which helps connect devices built with the Thread low-power mesh networking protocol, had a significant presence at CES. Continue reading CES: Samsung Introduces an Easy-to-Use Smart Home Hub

CES: Contact CI Shows Maestro EP Haptic Feedback Gloves

Ohio-based startup Contact CI has launched its Maestro EP haptic gloves that work by mirroring the human body’s sheathed tendon design. They provide light- to moderate-haptic feedback by pulling on a cloth sock covering each fingertip. There is also vibrotactile feedback technology in the glove’s fingertips. The “multi-force ergonomic haptics” product is compatible with any system designed for hand tracking (for example: Meta Quest 2). The Department of Defense and enterprises are already purchasing the gloves at $3,750 a pair, primarily for simulation training purposes, while Contact CI continues to improve the design for a wider commercial rollout. Continue reading CES: Contact CI Shows Maestro EP Haptic Feedback Gloves

CES: Experts Ask If Gaming Will Lead Shift to the Metaverse

The idea that gaming might be the industry sector that eventually leads everyone else into the metaverse is being discussed extensively online and elsewhere. During a compelling CES panel, GamesBeat lead writer Dean Takahashi moderated an exploratory conversation about that possibility with a group of today’s leading game innovators and executives. Takahashi noted that the panel’s concept comes in part from Meta vice president of content & play Jason Rubin, who said that the metaverse will need a game engine, therefore game developers will be the first to create it. Continue reading CES: Experts Ask If Gaming Will Lead Shift to the Metaverse

CES: Magic Leap 2 Exhibits Impressive Dimming Capabilities

The most impressive feature of the Magic Leap 2 demo at CES 2023 involves Global and Segmented Dimming. Global Dimming is a feature that dims the entire display without dimming digital content to make text and images more solid and precise. Segmented Dimming dims specific portions of the display to enhance legibility and clarity of selected content, and can also be used to focus attention to areas or components of interest. Both of these features produced outstanding visual results during our CES demo. Segmented Dimming produced very bright digital objects in front of a well-lit room, while Global Dimming could be used for VR immersion. Continue reading CES: Magic Leap 2 Exhibits Impressive Dimming Capabilities

CES: Federal Tech and Innovation Priorities for the New Year

Senator Jacky Rosen (D-Nevada), a former computer programmer, brought Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia) and Ben Ray Luján (D-New Mexico) to the CES stage to talk about their top technology interests in the new year. All of them serve on committees with core interests in the future of technology. In addition to serving on six committees, Rosen is on the subcommittee on cybersecurity; Warner is chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence among other committee assignments; and Luján is a member of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation among others. Continue reading CES: Federal Tech and Innovation Priorities for the New Year

CES: Focus on People Component for Strong Cyber Strategy

Cybersecurity was a major topic at CES 2023, and one panel described strategies around one of the important and often ignored components: people. Moderated by Strategic Cyber Ventures chief executive Hank Thomas, panelists examined people’s personal relationship with cybersecurity, how they fall victim to cybercrime and how they could be incentivized to take more responsibility for their online activities. Terranet Ventures executive in residence Carole House, who was recently director of cybersecurity at the National Security Council in The White House, said that seeing individuals badly impacted “elevates cybercrime as a national imperative.” Continue reading CES: Focus on People Component for Strong Cyber Strategy

CES: Sony Focuses on Creators and the Power of Technology

Inspired by the “universal human desire to experience joy, wonder and amazement, moments that move people’s hearts and connect them to one another, what we call Kando,” Sony chairman, president and CEO Kenichiro Yoshida began Sony’s CES media briefing by celebrating creators. Evident was a more unified corporate direction and concrete examples of Sony divisions working together. Movies, television, music, games and sports, and ways for audiences to experience them, were prominent examples. Following an exhilarating clip from the upcoming feature “Gran Turismo,” based on the PlayStation game, the prototype for the first Sony Honda Mobility car rolled out. Continue reading CES: Sony Focuses on Creators and the Power of Technology

CES: Canon and Sony Tools Provide a Virtual Take on Sports

At CES this year, Canon and Sony both showcased multi-camera capture technologies with an eye towards attracting a younger generation of viewers. Canon’s Free Viewpoint video system (using an AI-powered ring of high-resolution cameras in a stadium or arena) and Sony’s combined tools from its Hawk-Eye vision processing company and recently-acquired AI-based data visualization firm Beyond Sports can create low-latency virtual reproductions of live sports. The capture from multiple angles enables the virtual reproduction to offer interaction that a simple video stream does not, though each technology is distinct in what it offers. Continue reading CES: Canon and Sony Tools Provide a Virtual Take on Sports

CES: Addressing Challenges to Creating Global AI Standards

Both the European Parliament (the EU’s law-making body) and the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) were represented on a CES panel on “AI Rules and Tools,” moderated by CTA vice president of emerging technology policy Doug Johnson. Also on the panel were executives from Facebook parent Meta Platforms and insurance provider Elevance Health, for a robust discussion on how to arrive at standards and regulations for the powerful — but often industry-based — AI technologies that will also be accepted by countries around the world and industries with competing interests. Continue reading CES: Addressing Challenges to Creating Global AI Standards

CES: Podcasting Industry Evolves as Listenership Skyrockets

Actor and director LeVar Burton, the multi-award-winning host of PBS’ “Reading Rainbow,” has more recently made a prominent name for himself as a podcaster, with 25 million downloads of his “LeVar Burton Reads,” which features storytelling. During a CES panel on “SXM Media: The Evolution of the Podcast Industry,” moderated by SiriusXM vice president and global head of revenue partnerships Kelli Hurley, Burton and two other panelists described the factors that have made podcasting such a dynamic industry sector, for creators and audiences. For Burton, having creative control was key. Continue reading CES: Podcasting Industry Evolves as Listenership Skyrockets