The document summarizes 5 key consumer technology trends from CES 2021: 1) Covid-tech including smart masks and devices for remote health monitoring, 2) Technologies for working and learning from home such as ergonomic office chairs and education robots, 3) Advancements in home entertainment like invisible TVs and wrap-around gaming screens, 4) The growing role of 5G in enabling new connected devices and experiences, and 5) Developments in transportation including electric aircraft and vehicles with advanced driver assistance systems.

1. The Top 5 Consumer
Technology Trends
From CES 2021

2. © 2020 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Title
Text
Introduction
Introduction
CES is the world’s largest tech show focusing on customer electronics. It’s where many of
the world’s biggest brands reveal their latest technological innovation and gadgets. Here
is an overview of the key ones for 2021.
For the first time in its history, the world’s biggest consumer technology show, CES 2021,
was an entirely virtual event. This meant that rather than hundreds of thousands flocking
to Las Vegas, potentially millions could experience it from their own homes.
The Top 5 Consumer Technology Trends From
CES 2021

3. © 2020 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Title
Text
Introduction
Introduction
There were still all the big announcements, launches, and insights into upcoming tech
and trends that we expect from the event every year. Some things were inevitably
different, though, due to the changing times we’re living through.
Understandably, technology related to healthcare and safety was more prominent than
it has ever been in the past. Another focus was technology designed to help us adapt to
home working, homeschooling, and our increasingly housebound lives.
But there were also ideas and concepts that look forward to a time when traveling,
socializing, and partying is back on the agenda.
Here are some of the key trends I picked up on, giving us a glimpse of the cool tech-
enabled toys, gadgets, and gizmos we will be able to spend our cash on now or in the
near future.
The Top 5 Consumer Technology Trends From
CES 2021

4. © 2020 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Covid-tech
Of course, one area of tech development with a strong presence this year is assistance in
the fight against Covid-19 and other potential pandemics.
Razer, most known for its gaming-oriented laptops and accessories, doesn’t seem a likely
source of covid-busting technology, but they've put their expertise in hardware design
into creating the Project Hazel smart face mask that combines UV sterilization capability,
voice projection, and of, of course, cool multicolored LED lights, in an n95-grade mask.
Smart thermometers were also a trend, including one developed by Kinsa that collects
aggregated data from thousands of devices used in homes that can be used to detect and
predict viral spread and outbreaks.
And LG had an autonomous anti-covid robot that uses UV-C to disinfect spaces and
surfaces that it will start to put to work in schools, hospitals, and workplaces early this
year.

5. © 2020 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Covid-tech
Remote and telemedicine is another strong theme this year, with Philips, Omron
Healthcare, and South Korea's ICON.AI demonstrating variants of the “remote health
monitoring platform." CarePlus.AI showed off a system that can be used to monitor the
health and safety of elderly people in their own homes, using AI to learn their routines and
raising alerts if it senses unusual behavior.
Another exhibitor, Nobi, has built similar functionality into its smart bedside lamp.
With virtual home visits being safer and doctors and other caregivers coping with heavy
workloads, devices like this will undoubtedly help to save lives throughout 2021.
For those who still need to go outside, Targus unveiled an antimicrobial backpack with
embedded antiviral and antibacterial materials built into its fiber mesh, helping to make
sure you don't bring any unwanted visitors back home with you.

6. © 2020 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Working and Learning from Home
One sector where activity and innovation have certainly exploded over the last year is
working and learning from home. Everyone from furniture to computer manufacturers is
looking for ways to get their tech solutions into the millions of newly-established home
offices and classrooms that have become part of our lives.
Need an office chair, but looking for something a bit flashy now that their office chair is
also home furniture? You might want to take a look at X-Chair’s X-HMT. As well as being
ergonomically designed to provide excellent support, it has built-in heating and
massaging functions - which X-Chair says is a first for an office chair - to keep you warm
and relaxed as you work.
Other areas of innovation include bringing OLED technology to the computer monitor
screens we’re staring at for hours every day, courtesy of LG.

7. © 2020 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Working and Learning from Home
The amusing and embarrassing things that can happen if we accidentally have a webcam
running during a meeting or work call have been well documented in Youtube videos and
gif memes during the pandemic. Dell is hoping that its new Latitude laptops will save
some red faces, with a built-in automated, physical shutter, designed to bring peace of
mind when you wonder whether you remembered to switch off your camera after your
last meeting.
Remote education is a reality for many of us now, and one company showing an
interesting new platform is Engageli. It has been described as “Zoom for teachers” and
provides videoconferencing tools built around recreating a classroom environment
remotely. It natively offers features and functions designed to help teachers keep groups
of fidgeting children engaged with their lessons.
Home robots undoubtedly have a role to play in education, too. Moxie is a learning robot
that uses AI to enable play-based activities and games and was the recipient of an
honorary 2021 CES Innovation Award.

8. © 2020 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Working and Learning from Home
And finally, because we’ll all be so busy working and studying from home we won’t get
any housework done, Samsung showed off three domestic robots. The most advanced is
the Bot Handy, still a concept model but strongly suggesting robots capable of complex
manual tasks such as loading a dishwasher, doing the laundry, or serving drinks might be
in our homes soon.

9. © 2020 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Home Entertainment
Or just "entertainment," as it may as well be known now. With nowhere to go out,
manufacturers are keen for us to spend the money we've saved by not eating out or
attending sports events and concerts on flashy toys to watch, listen to or play with at
home.
LG showed off its 55-inch "invisible" OLED TV. In a world where modern homes are getting
smaller, and TVs are often the focal point of a room, it offers new interior design
possibilities such as screens that act as windows. The technology is also being developed
for installation in sliding doors.
And if you happen to live in a smaller home but like the idea of watching TV on a 140-inch
screen, you might want to try out TCL’s wearable display headset, which uses two 1080p
OLED displays to give the impression the viewer is watching a much larger screen.
Also aimed at those with space considerations or single occupant homes, Razor’s Project
Brooklyn concept gaming chair featured a 60-inch wrap-around screen that rolls out from
behind the chair.

10. © 2020 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Home Entertainment
Also aimed at those with space considerations or single occupant homes, Razor’s Project
Brooklyn concept gaming chair featured a 60-inch wrap-around screen that rolls out from
behind the chair.
Dell said they had seen a surge in sales of gaming hardware like its Alienware gaming
laptops – announcing that the newest generation of these devices will make 8K resolution
games running at 60 frames per second the standard. This will mean more detailed and
realistic game worlds to explore and more immersive experiences – particularly in virtual
reality environments.
Asus also showed off its ROG Flow X13 gaming laptop, with up to three dedicated
graphics processing cards - the sort of graphic power you’d normally need a desktop case
to contain.
If you want to take your music into the shower with you, Ampere showed us the world’s
first water-powered Bluetooth speaker. Designed to be built into a showerhead, the
Shower Power has a mini internal generator that converts kinetic energy from the falling
water into electricity to keep it charged.

11. © 2020 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
5G
Nearly all of the amazing new toys and gadgets on show need data to power them, and
5G was everywhere at CES this year, promising to pipe digital information into our lives
quicker than ever before.
It was so prominent that it was the subject of the show’s first keynote, given by Verizon
CEO Hans Vestberg. Vestberg spoke about the impact that 5G is already having in many of
our lives and how this has been accelerated by Covid-19. You can watch his keynote here.
Most of the big handset manufacturers promoted new 5G-enabled phones, and we saw a
clear shift towards budget models, following the introduction of the technology to high-
end handsets last year. Motorola unveiled a 5G handset that will retail for under $400.
Meanwhile, Qualcomm introduced the Snapdragon 480 processor, providing the
computing grunt needed for the new standard in a chip that is far less costly to produce
than most 5G-ready processors. Laptops with built-in 5G modems were also unveiled
from Dell, Lenovo, and HP, among others.

12. © 2020 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
5G
Samsung unveiled a 5G-based telematics control unit that uses features of the advanced
network such as beamforming to boost connectivity used in cars, enabling them to
communicate more quickly with devices in other vehicles, carried by pedestrians or
embedded in roadside infrastructure.
And another recipient of an honorary innovation reward was Inseego, who has created the
world's first mobile 5G hotspot as well as developing a range of in-home 5G routers that
will bring super-fast speeds for home offices and entertainment centers.

13. © 2020 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Transport and mobility
When the pandemic is over, we’ll all need to get around again. So, it’s good to see that
vehicle makers are still working away to solve the problem of getting us from A to B as
quickly, comfortably, and safely as possible. This year the trend shifted from ride-sharing
vehicles towards more personal and private forms of transportation.
Among the most impressive on show is GM’s personal electric Vertical Take-Off/Landing
(VTOL) Cadillac. A battery-powered one-person aircraft that we’re unlikely to be able to
buy any time very soon, but gives an exciting vision of how personal transport is evolving.
Similar vehicles already exist and operate as autonomous taxi services, so it looks like
flying cars are becoming a reality.
GM also put its Halo self-driving car concept on show, a pod car designed to carry the
passenger in luxurious comfort and using biometric sensors to adjust lighting,
temperature, humidity, and even scent to their liking.

14. © 2020 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Transport and mobility
Sono Motors demonstrated its Sion solar-powered car that uses 248 panels to generate
the electric power to drive around 22 miles per day (if you live somewhere sunny) at up to
87 mph.
And the first completely electric Hummer demonstrated its “crab walk” mode that lets it
angle its wheels at up to 10 degrees in order to move sideways (as well as forward) while
not changing the direction it is facing.
Mercedes-Benz is doing away with buttons on its new EQS electric sedan. The whole
dashboard is replaced by an OLED display called the MBUX Hyperscreen, which gives the
driver and front-seat passenger access to all the readouts, navigation, communication, and
entertainment technology built into the car – including the amount of g-force the driver is
experiencing.
With "micro-transport" still a strong trend, Segway was on hand to show off its range of
electric scooters, including the self-balancing eScooter T, child-friendly Ninebot S Nano,
and the eMoped B, which it says is designed to "revolutionize the way we commute."

15. Bernard Marr is an internationally best-selling author, popular keynote speaker, futurist, and a
strategic business & technology advisor to governments and companies. He helps
organisations improve their business performance, use data more intelligently, and
understand the implications of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data,
blockchains, and the Internet of Things.
LinkedIn has ranked Bernard as one of the world’s top 5 business influencers. He is a frequent
contributor to the World Economic Forum and writes a regular column for Forbes. Every day
Bernard actively engages his 1.5 million social media followers and shares content that
reaches millions of readers.
Visit The
Website
© 2020 Bernard Marr , Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
© 2017 Bernard Marr , Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
© 2020 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Bernard Marr is an internationally best-selling author, popular keynote speaker, futurist, and a
strategic business & technology advisor to governments and companies. He helps
organisations improve their business performance, use data more intelligently, and
understand the implications of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data,
blockchains, and the Internet of Things.
LinkedIn has ranked Bernard as one of the world’s top 5 business influencers. He is a frequent
contributor to the World Economic Forum and writes a regular column for Forbes. Every day
Bernard actively engages his 1.5 million social media followers and shares content that
reaches millions of readers.
Visit The
Website

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