CES 2016 – Wrap-up

In addition, while people are living their lives in other worlds and realities, sometimes in the sky, there was an entire expo dedicated to keeping healthy. Some companies simply want to keep you safe from unknown predators, while others want to help keep you in the loop about your health without immediately going to the doctor to spend the unnecessary cost. There were lots of interesting companies that were up and coming spreading both joys.

As people wait for their health checks in-between their virtual lives, there was also a familiar company offering up a niche genre of entertainment on its own streaming service. What’s remarkable is that said company delivered its library at a reasonable cost and with extreme value added. We’ll get into that soon, though.

With all this cryptic nonsense said, let me tell you some points of interest for Digitalchumps at CES 2016.

Keeping it virtual…

Oculus Rift
The non-research world is hoping to take gaming and video into an entirely new direction with virtual reality. Oculus Rift is certainly taking the lead, as it did back in 2013, with the VR world, though VIVE and others have closed the gap. Using the power of a user’s computer to drive the delicate face-rig.

Oculus has done some great things in putting the most potential in the user’s hand with the least amount of cost upfront. This year we’ll see OR virtual reality emerge into reality as the final consumer version of the rift will make its debut. While there are a limited amount of titles being pushed on Steam to take advantage of the Oculus tech, the company, with the power of Facebook’s checkbook, is in a good position to find its permanent spot in the gaming world. The addition of motion controllers with the headset only help to bring the user to the point where they can detach from their usual PC mouse/keyboard restraints (well, honestly, PC gamers will tell you they’re not constrained by them, but us console people know better…or at least we think we do) and truly immerse themselves into a gaming world.

Don’t worry, researchers, there are plenty of opportunities to create new research through this rig.  

Zeiss – VR One
Zeiss is known for its camera lenses. It makes them well. It has for years. What it hasn’t been known for is VR. Zeiss brought the VR One headset to the show this year with some stellar concepts intact. First, the headset, much like Google Cardboard, is just a fancier version of Google’s baby. You insert your phone (android/iOS) into the headset, via a specifically modeled plastic for your phone (no more guessing games like what you would find in Google Cardboard) and allows you to control your DJI drone’s camera from your face. When I say control, I mean ‘CONTROL’. If you move your head side-to-side, the camera pans. The headset gives you full 180 degrees of control of your DJI drone’s camera.

Zeiss brought some DJI drones for examples and it worked perfectly. Zeiss also stated that they have a slew of apps for their VR One in the works and that the device works with the DJI Ronin steady cam, though they did state that the Internet got that to work on its own. For a Ronin owner like myself, if I can avoid purchasing a $5000 HD monitor, I’m okay with a rigged app for the Ronin. The cost for this puppy? $120. Not bad for the many uses and the solid fit.

Oh! Also, you can wear your glasses with the rig. For a blind guy like myself, I’m more than okay with that option. It was impressive simplicity.

Televisions integrated with operating systems…

RCA
Remember them? They still exist. While some of us remember the huge days when RCA ruled the earth with its televisions, radios and stereos (google that, young pups), nowadays the company has shifted its focus on lower-priced tablets, phones and computers that run on the Android operating system. While that may not interest the hardcore gamers of the world, for parents, like myself, putting an inexpensive, but decently built tablet in the hands of a seven year old is a lot less worrisome than springing for an iPad and watching one’s child drop it.

In short, they produce some family friendly items, as well as budget friendly.

Outside of the usual, and their lovely retro kitchen appliances (laugh if you want, they were pretty badass), RCA had a large 4K television (XLD65A65RQ) at their booth this year with the Android operating system…wait for it…built into it. Working with NYKO’s Android bluetooth controller, one could simply play games, watch movies and do all things google without worrying about an external device. The televisions come in 50”, 55” and 65” with the price starting at around $1199.99, which is very competitive with other 4K television sets. Having recently changed over from an iOS to Android device, I could see the potential of things with this concept. The operating system is light enough not to be a burden and useful enough to enjoy life.

Outside of this, RCA had a very nice HDR television to show off as well. It was quite gorgeous.

Getting healthy on your own, but checking in with your doctor…

Bewell Connect
The European healthcare system is leaps and bounds ahead of the United States. If you think otherwise, you’re a politician trying to win an election this year. Anyway, while I will confess that no healthcare system is perfect at least Europe is trying to make their’s more efficient…and now ours as well with Bewell Connect’s line-up of DIY devices and their algorithm-based Virtual Doctor. Through a series of devices made by this french-based company that monitors heart rate, blood pressure, weight and a bevy of other details , a user can keep track of their own health in a first-level way  by submitting symptoms through a subscription-based program provided by the company. The hope is to end up with a potential answer that tells them to call their doctor in the morning or possibly go to the emergency room immediately. And before you think it, this is not WebMD 2.0, as it will tell you more than you’re dying or pregnant.

If this wasn’t enough, Bewell Connect also discussed how users can directly connect to their physicians through the application. This means you can submit your results to your doctor or at least let them keep track of your health from afar. The process of self-tracking is interesting when you put your physician in the mix of things, if not only to avoid going into the doctor’s office unnecessarily (I can’t think of one person who enjoys that process).

This company and its technology has a lot of potential to shift the landscape of the healthcare system and how it runs — and it could only go up from here, folks! Probably the coolest tech I saw at the show.

Keeping strangers out of the yard, while checking on the family…

Netatmo – Presence
Shifting from health to safety, Netatmo is company that focuses on environmental conditions for users. This doesn’t mean they’re out saving whales and stopping potential pollution in Alaska, rather they’re in the business to keep families safe. Their latest tech, Presence, was announced at CES 2016 this year. It is a camera/light system you put on your house that feeds off of your home WiFi. It allows you to not only check in on your homestead from afar, but also it runs an ID system and camera feed that extends 65 feet out from its position. That’s a huge range for a streaming camera system.
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The ID system is the big deal for the Presence. It detects people and identifies them as someone either familiar within the family or it identifies them as an unknown face, which activates an automatic recording trigger (something that is customizable). Presence feeds the recording to your home machine. It’s an impressive bit of technology that we cannot wait to try out when it finishes up. The price point is competitive, but not officially announced. We were given a range, but as always we would rather wait to see what is officially announced.

Impressive stuff, though.

You have the market, but you’re actually going to be a good guy? Strange, but certainly welcomed!

Funimation
FunimationNow is currently still in beta, though that should be wrapping within the year. If you’re not familiar with FunimationNow, then you probably aren’t familiar with Funimation, which is sad because they are the top of the crop company when it comes to anime show distribution in North America. Their products are featured on Hulu, Netflix and distributed on Blu-ray/DVD. They bring over things like the live-action version of Attack on Titan to North America, while releasing new Dragon Ball Z material such as Dragon Ball Z Resurrection F. They bring oddball anime from the east, while doing quick, in-house dubs in the west. Amazing stuff for an industry that used to take forever to get popular anime to the western shores.

With that said, it came as no surprise that the company’s next logical step is pushing/toting a streaming anime service called FunimationNow, which allows anime fans to watch a bevy of shows from the quite large Funimation library. It’s huge, folks. As you might be thinking right now, what in the world could they do different from Netflix or Hulu to justify the additional subscription cost? Well, they’re putting in a customized streaming service, which allows its viewers to customize their experience depending on needs (from adjusting subtitles to organizing favorites). It also adds an additional community component in the mix, connecting anime fans together (huge deal), as well as allowing viewers to connect their Blu-ray viewing experience to their streaming experience. How does that last part work, you might ask? Like this… say you might be watching Black Butler on Blu-ray and have to stop in mid-episode to go out for whatever reason. You can pick up on the streaming service at the point the Blu-ray stopped — instantly without extra effort. The two services will somehow work hand-in-hand, which I can’t remember ever being the case with any Blu-ray, but the idea adds another layer of ‘wow’ to the experience.

The cost of the service is one of the more fascinating pieces of this puzzle. The range is somewhere between $4.95 and $7.95, depending on options. That isn’t a bad price to pay for unlimited selections of anime at your disposal. The market for anime is solid, the fanbase is rabid and this service is going to be impressive.

That’s all folks…

Unfortunately for us, we were limited to only one day of CES 2016 due to plane cancellation and weather. Fortunately, we saw some pretty damn interesting things in that one single day (see above again for details). We can’t wait for the future of the above devices/companies and to see what they bring to CES 2017.

Until next time…