UTOPIA OR DYSTOPIA?

Life in 2020, according to CES

Life in 2020, according to CES
Image: QUARTZ/EMILY WITHROW

Las Vegas, Nevada.

The year is 2020. Three reporters stand before the city’s convention center, ready to scout out the world’s most cutting-edge gadgets—and to experience the future firsthand. Self-driving cars patrol the streets, and a cacophony of voice assistants and slot machines fills the air.

Around them, the testosterone is palpable. It’s raucous and alcoholic. A mountain of bodies pours through the doors, and suddenly, thousands of salesmen begin hawking their wares, to everybody and nobody in particular.

Better clothes, better food, better lives. More automation and more cameras, if you can handle it. The chaos builds to an electronic crescendo. Here, we envision your best/worst life, as prescribed by CES 2020.