Tom Frey, Director of the DaVinci Institute and world class futurist, is visiting Las Vegas from Denver to keep up with everything that’s new at the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
Mr. Frey describes attending a CES show as an adventure. The show is broken out into different types of electronic devices. However, frequently the operators of the show don’t know where to place a particular innovation amongst the 2800 exhibitors. So, he says, “You just need to go wandering and explore. You never know what you will find in the next booth. And, when you get there, you often need an education on what it is.”
So far, he has seen several glimpses of the near future to the frivolous. Horizon Fuel Cell is marketing a fuel cell that generates power for recharging batteries and USB devices. General Motors and Segway have teams to create a two-wheel concept car (very small). Sharp Electronics displayed its 4 color (RGBY) pixel LCD screens that enable 3D image presentation without use of special glasses. Another company offered a case for an iPad that makes it looks like an Etch-a-Sketch.
He had a chance to see a product demonstration of Sphero™ by local Denver company Vualla Inc. / Orbotix - www.orbotix.com. They had several small robotic balls running around on the floor controlled by a smartphone. He is still puzzling over whether there are any commercial applications for this capability. Maybe they should hold a contest?
Getting around to all of the different exhibit halls, which are scattered across Las Vegas, is quite a challenge. Local transportation going from one hall to another can eat up a lot of time. In addition, you need to adapt to public smoking. Mr. Frey described Las Vegas as a place for ‘smoking marathoners – a niche market.’ Compared to the almost universally smoke free confines of Denver, Las Vegas is quite the switch.
You can get updates on the travels of Tom Frey through CES via twitter @ThomasFrey.
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