CES 2018 has been a washout (literally). Even so, it's seen a number of worth spending your cash on.
But away from the glamour of Vegas, robots have been stealing the show. And for all the wrong reasons. The robotic fails from the show underscore how far this is to go until bots are a significant feature in our daily lives.
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Expectation:
This AI suitcase from the Chinese company, ForwardX, is programmed to follow its owner at about 11kph wherever they may go, without being carried. The owner wears a wristband that the suitcase tracks, but it can also follow you with an inbuilt camera.
The smart suitcase is supposed to recognise hand-gestures and voice commands. As a cross between a suitcase, a fiercely loyal pet and a Segway the idea is admittedly pretty neat – if it all works.
Reality:
At maximum capacity, the battery can only last four hours. In demonstrations, the wristband ran out of battery and couldn't be opened or replaced quick enough for a journalist to carry on their demo. It also spent a lot of time falling over, which isn't much use in a crowded airport.
Expectation:
CLOi was supposed to demonstrate how LG's new ThinQ artificial intelligence software could work seamlessly with home appliances and improve the kitchen.
Although LG uses Google's Assistant in its newly unveiled TVs, it has chosen to rely on its own program for CLOi. It was described as being "ultimate in simplicity" by LG's marketing staff before its performance.
Reality:
This could easily be considered the biggest gaffe of CES 2018. The audience watched on with awkward laughter as they realised CLOi was suffering from stage fright. In a room full of journalists, LG's US marketing chief, David VanderWaal asked CLOi what a good washing machine setting would be? He was met with silence.
He then asked for a recipe involving chicken. He repeated his question two more times, but again was met with excruciating silence. VanderWaal continued on with his script. But, the damage was already done.
Expectation:
The exhibition halls of CES are filled with humanoid robots. It's not difficult to identify one: they're mostly manufactured with white plastic and have large sadness-filled eyes. This year Chinese company YYD was showing off its latest robot.
It's supposed to be capable of monitoring a person's well-being, including: "the health status of the body and health alert of chronic diseases to users". Marketing also claims it has facial recognition and can store a database of familiar faces.
Reality:
When BBC journalist Spencer Kelly came across YYD's stand the robot wasn't responding. The screen, positioned on its face, was supposed to be connected to an Amazon URL but a problem resulted in an awkward error page. Maybe this shouldn't be considered as a surprise since YYD's homepage is also down.
Separately, WIRED's product editor Jeremy White came across a clearly distressed version of Softbank's Pepper humanoid. It doesn't look like the robots are going to rise to power anytime soon.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
