CES2020: day four brings us connected wellness and relaxation… finally

13 Jan 2020 12:22 PM

CES2020 is now over but please do look at the opportunities at Mobile World Congress (24-27 February – Barcelona).

Day four is the last day of CES2020 and, with the main policy and business tracks wrapped up, the focus really is on the products and exhibitors – all 4,500 of them. As it’s impossible to cover everything; I focused on health tech and the connected home.

Health tech is one of the major growth areas in terms of floor space for 2020. Fitness and sport tech – and I mean everything from fitness and mood trackers to new treadmills – are a major part of CES and whilst some of them, such as the electric hydrofoil bike, may not make it into the mainstream you can certainly imagine some of these coming to a shelf near you.

Sleep tech was also a major theme for exhibitors. A big part of this technology is ensuring that your environment is optimised for you; from the mattress to lighting and air quality – although I doubt that many exhibitors and attendees will need much help in that area after the past week.

A linked and prominent theme, particularly around technology for children, was concern about screen time and how to limit this in some way.  

That didn’t mean that more traditional areas of health were underserved. Indeed, whilst this is the consumer electronics show there was also a number of connected ambulances and tech more usually seen at a pharmaceuticals conference. One of the interesting products in this area was from a winner of the Young Innovators to Watch awards; Honestblocks, a blockchain platform that is designed to track medicine throughout its supply chain and in doing so root out counterfeits.

The connected home was another major area for the conference with a plethora of locks, lights and litter trays (yes, pet tech has made it to CES in a big way). All of the major brands were evident so were an army of SMEs and start-ups.

Despite this, I still couldn’t see what vertical would drive the market in 2020. Maybe it’ll just become standard that all products have a connected/smart element to them but watch out for our next update on UK specific trends later this year!

CES2020 is over but please do look at the opportunities at Mobile World Congress (24-27 February – Barcelona)

See the below for more of techUK’s views on CES2020:

CES2020: automotive is the driving force for first announcements

CES2020: day one covers policy, innovation and purpose

CES2020: day two explores a world enabled by AI and quantum computing

CES2020: day three provides entertainment in 8K definition