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Consumer Electronics
Show 2018

I

TOP: Jason Miller checks out an autonomous vehicle.
ABOVE: The FoldiMate, a laundry-folding robot coming to
a store later this year.

impressive new technology
n early January, I made
there? That is no simple
my annual pilgrimage
question because wherever
to Las Vegas for the
you turn, there are impres-
Consumer Electronics
sive tech innovations that
Show (CES). A couple days
will revolutionize our
before the official opening
world.
of the largest tech expo in
The show has grown over
the world, the Consumer
Rabbi Jason
the years and now seems
Technology Association
Miller
to take over the entire
(CTA) puts on an event
Vegas strip. More than
called CES Unveiled to
3,900 exhibitors showcased
provide a small taste of
world-changing technolo-
what attendees can expect
gies that spanned more than 2.75
to see at CES. As I walked into the
million square feet of exhibit space
hotel ballroom for CES Unveiled
across Las Vegas. Shapiro’s excite-
this year, I saw a photographer
ment for CES was shared around
taking a photo of the CEO and
the world as there were close to
president of CTA, Gary Shapiro,
a million tweets about CES 2018
who commutes from his home in
on Twitter. This year’s CES will be
Franklin, Mich., to the CTA offices
remembered as the year when a
in D.C. Shapiro jumped off the
blackout shut down large parts of
ground as high as he could as the
CES for over an hour, but overall
photographer managed to catch
this was a minor interruption in an
him many feet off the ground in
extraordinary event.
mid-air.
As news reports correctly
That photo was appropriate
pointed out, the Amazon Alexa
because it summed up Shapiro’s
and Google Home technology is
excitement for the 51st CES —
becoming commonplace in most
the largest show in CTA’s history.
home appliances and tech prod-
Trying to put into words every-
ucts. Kohler even unveiled an
thing I saw and experienced at
Amazon Alexa-controlled toilet.
this year’s CES is an impossible
Yes, a toilet! Intel even got itself
task. The most common question
into the Guinness Book of World
I receive after I return each year
Records when its advanced soft-
from CES is: What was the most

ware fleet of 100 drones, controlled
without GPS by only one pilot, put
on a spectacular light show over
the water at the Bellagio Hotel.

AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

While the big news coming out of
CES was about the billion-dollar
brands like LG, Samsung, Google,
Amazon and Panasonic that show-
cased their latest consumer prod-
ucts, what I always enjoy most is vis-
iting Eureka Park at CES, which has
900 startups reflecting the vibrant
future of the global tech industry.
I loved learning more about tech
innovations like virtual/augmented
reality, 5G, smart cities, digital
health and artificial intelligence.
What I was excited to understand
further were autonomous vehicles.
Before CES officially opened on the
first day, I headed to the area in the
parking lot where the ride service
company Lyft was offering com-
plimentary rides around the Vegas
strip in autonomously driven BMWs.
I inquired as to how I could get a
ride and was told to use my phone at
exactly 10 a.m. to order an autono-
mous Lyft ride.
I then headed to a conference ses-
sion on the state of artificial intelli-
gence featuring Deepu Talla, the vice
president and general manager of

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March 8 • 2018

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