CES 2013: Some of the most innovative technology showcased in Las Vegas

The Consumer Electronics Show 2013 in Las Vegas today comes to an end, running from 8 to 11 January it revealed a number of exciting innovations such as a water-proof smartphone, a robot doctor, futuristic ‘wearable technology’ and every slacker’s dream: a TV you can control with your eyes. According to Jeff Joseph, Senior Vice President of Communication, the exposition has previously been a ‘launching pad for some of the greatest technology the world has ever seen, the VCR, the DVD, satellite radio [and] HD-TV…’ Here are some of the most interesting innovations at the expo:

Vuzix Smart Glasses M100

Just one of the many wearable technology innovations featured at CES, the glasses are more like a headset moved out of place to cover the eye rather than the mouth. The idea is to place a tiny screen in front of one eye, displaying images while connected via Bluetooth from the user’s Android smartphone. The eyepiece has an inbuilt head-tracker and GPS.  The device could be used as a GPS, with a small arrow being displayed in the eyepiece pointing in the correct direction. Vuzix Smart Glasses arrive amidst the buzz being created by Google’s Glass project, a similar concept which is possibly even more dorky-looking than the Vuzix Smart Glasses.

Sony Xperia Z Waterproof Smartphone

The Sony Xperia Z is a quad-core Android smart phone with a stunning display, running at 443ppi. Perhaps the most astounding feature is that it is waterproof. Many smartphones have been lost to the toilet, bathtub, or swimming pool, but with the Xperia (which has a plug for the headphone socket, in case you were wondering), water will no longer be the smartphones number one predator.

RP-VITA: The Robot Doctor

Now the doctor can come to you with iRobot and InTouch Health’s RP-VITA. iRobot, the inventers of the Roomba, have given the robot doctor the ability to move around a hospital with obstacle censoring and avoidance technology, allowing the real doctor to remotely care for a patient via an LCD screen. Some might call it lazy, others lifesaving. It would certainly be useful in getting specialised doctors from different hospitals to diagnose and care for patients remotely.

Samsung Flexible Display Prototype

During a Samsung keynote speech, Microsoft’s Eric Rudder revealed a smartphone featuring Samsung’s flexible Youm display. During the speech, the display was bent and flexed while the image on the screen remained stable. This flexible display could potentially be used to wrap around objects, or to allow the screen to bend around the side of the phone, as seen on the Samsung flexible OLED phone prototype.

Haier’s Future TV: Brainwave/Eye Controlled

There’s nothing worse than losing the TV remote just as the Go Compare man starts singing (before he was killed off by his own people), but if Haier’s TV moves past the prototypes, changing channels will be as easy as blinking.  The TV could be controlled using brainwaves and the user’s eyes, and is set to usher in a new and greater era of laziness for TV watchers everywhere.

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• Tom M

  I’m way ahead of the pack here. I have an inbuilt control system that enables me to communicate with other people, to see, to think, and to make plans. And I can walk, run, jump, etc. I can programme myself to perform almost any task. I continue to function underwater. I don’t require batteries, and I update myself automatically.I can find my way around any city. I can source an infinite amount information, on demand, from other devices similar to myself. I can speak perfectly fluently. I can respond to spoken text received by my antennae. I can even pick up on the other device’s intended meaning, and I can tell the difference between truth and lies. I can also detect when people are talking bollocks. All in one device. Beat that – if you can.

• Tom M

  I’m way ahead of the pack here. I have an inbuilt control system that enables me to communicate with other people, to see, to think, and to make plans. And I can walk, run, jump, etc. I can programme myself to perform almost any task. I continue to function underwater. I don’t require batteries, and I update myself automatically.I can find my way around any city. I can source an infinite amount of information, on demand, from other devices similar to myself. I can speak perfectly fluently. I can respond to spoken text received by my antennae. I can even pick up on the other device’s intended meaning, and I can tell the difference between truth and lies. I can also detect when other devices are talking bollokcs. Beat all that – if you can.

• JeuxSansFrontieres

  Quite frightening really, AI come true!

• BigBernard

  It wasn’t funny first time round.