My first day at CES 2018 was kind of split into two categories. I spent the first half of my time at a press conference and a market research report. This may not sound fun to you but this information is why I’m here. There’s lots of information being shared and learned here that can benefit parents as we work to raise healthy kids in this digital culture. Along with a couple of videos, I wanted to present a simple list that will show you a little bit of what I learned here at CES on media day one.
Day One Takeaways
- Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality are being used for diagnosis and treatment by doctors and other healthcare providers.
- Voice Controlled speakers were the name of the tech industry game in 2017 with a 279% increase in purchases with another 60% of growth expected in 2018.
- 715 million connected devices are expected to be sold in 2018 to the tune of $351 billion.
- Augmented reality will be making its way into our everyday lives with uses like shopping, gaming, and health tech.
- Companion robots are bursting onto the scene. Used as a “family companion,” photos and video, security, speaker, entertainment, and even sleep and home health management.
- People are more aware of how artificial intelligence (how websites and connected devices collect our data) works and getting acclimated to using it.
- Virtual reality is becoming a real tool for the fitness and home gym industry.
Family Tech Product Releases
- Alexa ready baby monitor. By Project Nursery (More in videos)
- In device augmented and virtual reality toy gun with 6 depths of field. By MERGEVR (More in videos.)
- Jimu build and code robot. (Also in video)
Final Thoughts
Technology is continuing to move forward faster tthanwe can imagine. The biggest talk at this year’s CES is about voice command technology like Alexa and Google home, self-driving cars, and augmented reality content. As parents, our we should understand that our kids are going to be some of the first adopters of much of this technology and so it is important that we understand it. Kids aren’t watching content just on their televisions anymore, they aren’t having to type search terms into Google, and they are always always connected. That is what was said at day one the most, we are moving from the digital age to the connected age. You’re connected, your kids are connected, and so is everyone else so be sure to stay in the loop so that you can keep every connection safer.
Stay tuned tomorrow for my report on day 2 of CES Media Days where I’ll talk about teen market research and more about the future of connectivity. Share this article with your friends and let them know that you’re keeping track of the latest tech trends by following FamilyTechBlog.com’s reporting on CES2018.