CES: Go Digital or Go Home

01.26.23

John Emmaneel, SVP, New Verticals, General Manager, Chicago

Sam Williams, Senior Producer, Gaming Expert

CES 2023: Go Digital or Go Home

The 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) exceeded event organizers’ projections and expectations with over 115,000 international attendees and 3,200+ exhibitors. InVision sent internal experts from both our gaming and innovation and digital team to check it out. While there, our team observed substantial progression around the impact innovative, metaverse-inspired technology is making on engagement and for the future.

“Brands really wanted you to experience their product. It was the booths with immersive activations that generated way more engagement than the talking heads.” — John Emmaneel, SVP, New Verticals, General Manager, Chicago

Digital activations for the win
In a change from previous years, many exhibitors this time around designed impressive, more open digital activations to grab the attention of visitors wandering the bustling expo floor. From walking through LG’s larger-than-life OLED wall into their massive booth full of ingenious smart home products, to Caterpillar’s enormous driverless, autonomous Truck 777 which is controlled remotely, there was no shortage of innovation for tech enthusiasts.

LG’s OLED Wall

Caterpillar autonomous Truck 777

In fact, the more traditional booths with standard signage, tchotchkes and featured commentators were comparatively dated, bland and noticeably less attended. This comes as no surprise considering how consumers—after a long pause in large gatherings—are likely more eager than ever for human-to-human interactions and gravitate towards demos that allow touch and play. They don’t want to be talked to; they want to do. Especially this audience.

Technology reimagined
Most of the activations were not just for the sake of one-upmanship, though. A number of brands—specifically outside of gaming who practically dominate the market of immersive digital experiences—showcased innovative products and solutions created by metaverse-inspired technologies that will impact the future of work and enrich lives…which really excited us. Why? InVision believes that technology should have a purpose and that leveraging technology and innovation together can create powerful solutions. And what we saw at CES proved just how far technology has advanced in just the last couple of years. 

“It felt like I was walking through living examples of activations from our own Innovation Playground workshop.” — Sam Williams, Senior Producer, Gaming Expert

When we take people through our Innovation Playground workshop—a series of metaverse-inspired, digital experiential activations for people to interact and physically experience—our intention is to inspire and awaken the imagination. From haptics to virtual reality, avatars to holograms, it was exciting to see these same tools from our digital toolbox in action across many industries and the influence they’re making to improve lives and how we work. Here are a few of our favorites from CES:

Photo credit: Dassault Systemes

Dassault Systemes

Dassault Systemes aims to revolutionize surgery. Similar to how engineers would build a car before they begin the physical work, Dassault Systemes used digital twin technology to create virtual real-world scenarios for surgeons. Visitors strapped on an augmented reality headset where they would interact with 3D-printed replicas of a heart and brain. As they moved around, their actions were mirrored in real-time on a screen with a digital recreation of themselves.

Samsung Electronics

Samsung featured its Ready Care system to make driving safer by monitoring driver cognition and focus using machine learning, which is an application of AI technology. If it senses a distraction, the system alerts you immediately. To show how Ready Care works, Samsung built an immersive virtual simulation experience of a car for visitors to “test drive” and witness the technology in action.

Photo credit: The Bolt

LOTTE

South Korean conglomerate LOTTE took us another step closer to the metaverse world. They announced the debut of a hyper-realistic shopping experience in the metaverse that will literally affect our senses through touch and smell. Visitors to their shopping pavilion at CES were given a taste of what the virtual reality experience will be like launching by the end of this year.

Siemens

Everyday Siemens software and technology helps turn ideas into innovative, world-changing realities. Siemens brought customers to show the power of Siemens products in action, most notably their digital twin software. Visitors explored Space Perspective’s space balloon simulation to experience and hear how Siemens digital twin’s software helped them design it digitally first and then perfect it, without paying the high price of costly physical prototypes.

Photo credit: AjnaLens (Twitter)

AjnaLens

Haptics heighten the feeling of reality in a virtual world by providing the sensation of real-time feedback with devices worn by users. At CES, AjnaLens stood out by using haptic technology and virtual reality to transform the way we learn and practice new skills for any industry from automotive to beauty and fitness to manufacturing.

While the metaverse itself is still in the early development stages, it’s important to see from these examples just how close digital technology is getting us there. When synergized with imagination, they can revolutionize the way you engage with your audience or customers, enhance lives, educate and solve business challenges. And you can too. Innovative technology is not just for video games or fancy smart home devices; it can apply to almost any business. And whether you believe the metaverse will happen or not, a metaverse-like world using immersive, persistent technology to drive transformative change is not only more accessible than ever, but inevitable.

If you’re interested in learning more on how innovative technology can boost engagement for your program or solve a business challenge, we recommend our on-hands proprietary Innovation Playground Workshop for you to experience a range of the latest digital and metaverse-inspired activations. Contact your Account Director or info@iv.com for more details.