Metaverse, NFTs expected to grab eyeballs at CES

The two new technologies have generated a lot of curiosity in the past one year following Facebook’s massive plans to become a metaverse company and a surge in NFT sales. NFT has been added as a new category at CES 2022.

“We shall see an impact of this on CES 2022, with various organizations referencing the metaverse. While we will not see major AR (augmented reality) glasses or VR (virtual reality) headsets being launched at CES 2022, metaverse will be omnipresent,” said Harmeet Singh Walia, senior analyst, Counterpoint Research.

At CES 2022, Samsung will demonstrate its version of metaverse, called My House, which will be hosted on South Korean company Naver Z’s metaverse platform Zepeto. Samsung will use My House to showcase its products and how they can be used by consumers to improve their homes.

Healthtech has also been added as a new category at the CES, to showcase the achievements of startups fighting the covid pandemic with unique tech solutions. More than 100 health firms are expected to participate. Opteev will demonstrate its breath analysis and instant covid-19 room detection device, while Breathings will showcase a device that measures lung health.

Robert B. Ford, chief executive of Abbot, a medical devices and healthcare company, is going to be the first industry head from the health sector to make a CES keynote, where industry experts are invited to speak on tech trends.

CES organizers have tied up with the World Bank to identify and reward tech solutions that address safety and healthcare issues for women living in emerging markets.

Several companies, including Amazon, Meta, Google, Intel, Nvidia and Lenovo, have decided to virtually participate in the three-day event due to growing cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus.

Robotics has been one of the main draws at CES. Nvidia’s new Issac autonomous mobile robot will be introduced at the CES. It can rapidly and autonomously create accurate maps for dynamic environments such as manufacturing and fulfilment centres. The firm claims small routing optimization can help logistics firms to save billions of dollars. The Isaac AMR platform leverages its omniverse platform to create digital twins of facilities where AMRs are deployed.

“Platforms such as omniverse and metaverse are critical for the mass adoption of VR. They allow users to interact and engage with each other and with the worlds created by content creators just as in online shopping, Amazon and Alibaba act as platforms where consumers and sellers come together,” said Walia.