CES 2015 the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show in Las

So much to see, so little time. A brief summary of the trends and products seen at
the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas from the eyes of two designers.
CES 2015
52,326 exhibitors
2.06 million square ft of exhibit space
22 miles walked
46,200 steps
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
1
Contents
Big Themes
Products
Aesthetics
Strange & Unusual
Internet of Everything
4K
Wearables
Partnerships
Wireless
Wearables
3D printers
AR
Drones
Home
360 cameras
Curved screens
Fully charged
Material contrast
Matte
Texture
Materials
Gold/Champagne
Visible tech
Twerkbot
Selfie-sticks
Hair growth stimulator
Integrated fabrics
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
2
Big Themes of CES
This year wasn’t a year for big unveils and shifts in conversation.
Everything was smart. Everything had an app. And everything will soon be
connected. The two big areas of focus of these smart, connected
products were home and self.
Wearables stole the show in terms of numbers but it still feels like they are
finding their place in our lives. It’s clear there is a demand but unclear what
the need is. Are consumers looking for convenience from a smart watch, a
fitness tracker, an environmental monitor or a combination? It’s a young
market and companies seem to be exploring features and playing with
aesthetics (is it a watch? a fashion statement? a tech device?), and over
the next year it will be interesting to see how many of these young
wearable companies remain standing.
TVs and video have gone beyond reality to making the real world look
artificially enhanced. It looks impressive but has it gone too far? Also, how
are consumers and networks going to handle the data management of all
this extra data?
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
3
Internet of everything
Connecting smart things
 A few years ago, everyone was talking about smart
things. Now it’s the Internet of Everything. It’s about
bringing all of those once-independent smart objects
together so that they can deliver more valuable
information to the user and work together to
generate new opportunities, businesses and ways of
interacting (or not interacting) with the products we
encounter everyday.
 Samsung, OneLink, ADT and Mother were a few of
the brands offering a series of app-controlled
products and sensors that monitor you, your
environment and just about anything you want.
Some of these companies are focused on making
the products themselves and others are focused on
being the central hub by which you can monitor and
control other smart products.
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
4
Mother
https://sen.se/store/mother/
Wearables
 As expected, wearable products
were everywhere. The majority of
smart watches and fitness monitors
were made for the wrist with several
smaller companies exploring more
discreet options worn on the body.
 It was a challenge to tell the
difference between the technologies
and many companies seem to be
focused on aesthetics to gain
consumers’ attention.
 Many of the big players are
partnering with fashion designers to
attract customers looking for a more
stylish lifestyle product.
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
5
Mio
4K & OLED
Beyond HD to Ultra High Definition
 “It [4K] arrived on Monday, like a hyperdetailed unicorn emerging from the HDR mist.”
– The Verge
 4K delivers a crisper, more vibrant image that’s
become so intense that the image no longer
looks like reality but more like CG. This raises
questions around how networks are going to
share these large amounts of data or where
consumers shooting home video are going to
store the massive files these new video
camera are creating.
 LG was touting OLED TV which delivers a
“true” black or “perfect black” that added more
contrast and intensity to the image on screen.
 LG also presented curved screens as the
better alternative for 180 degree viewing.
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
6
Wireless Devices
 Headphones and earpieces
seem to be leading the charge
in wireless devices connecting
you to your music through
Bluetooth.
 Wireless charging is also
starting to gain ground for
small devices but is still in its
infancy. It will likely be a few
more years before we start to
see the wall warts and power
strips disappear from our
homes and offices.
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
7
Bragi Dash
Samsung
Intel
Aftershokz
Products
Wrist wearables are already boring. Walking through the wearables
section this year was like the time you tried to take on the 20-piece
Chicken McNugget by yourself. The first few McNuggets will bring you joy
and excitement. But by the 18th or 19th, your stomach is hurting and you
have become numb to the once amazing, golden flavors that you were just
enjoying moments before. As mentioned in the Big Themes of CES,
wearables were everywhere but it was a challenge to tell the differences
between most of the wrist-worn fitness trackers and smart watches. Is the
market big enough to support all these companies?
Building on the DIY trend, 3D printers are gaining traction in consumer
electronics as they come down in price and offer a wider array of materials
for people to use at home.
Digital eyewear, connected home products, headphones and drones were
also big attractions at the show.
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
8
Wearables
 Wrist monitors dominated the
show in all shapes and sizes,
monitoring movements, UV
light and sleep, as well as
alerting you, typically through a
smartphone or tablet.
 The ability to measure BMI or
muscle mass was a popular
new feature amongst many of
the fitness products.
 Circular interfaces are getting
popular as these products
evolve from a square screen to
something more traditional.
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
9
3D printers
 3D printers have been getting
a lot of press lately as they
come down in price and are
finding their way beyond
professional to home use.
Cube was one 3D printing
company showing off printed
fabric, shoes and fashion
accessories.
 Materials are also evolving
from basic rigid plastics to
wood, stone composites and
edibles.
 Remote printing is becoming
more common.
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
10
Digital eyewear
 Many of the big players are
stepping into digital eyewear.
Sony has a line of products
ranging from what look like
Google glasses with face
recognition to a more
immersive headset for gaming.
 Oculus, Samsung and others
were also showing off their
augmented reality “glasses.”
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
11
Drones
 Unmanned systems were a
popular stop at the show as
octopus-like gadgets flew
around in caged-off areas. They
ranged from small, mini-drones
that you can pilot from your
smartphone to larger drones
that you can attach to a camera
and program to automatically
follow you.
 The two-wheeled mini-drones
that stay on land, like the ones
offered by Parrot, were also
interesting.
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
12
Home
 Streaming from the larger
trend of the Internet of Things,
many companies are jumping
onboard by offering different
smart, glossy white devices for
monitoring your home.
 These products offer to save
time, provide peace of mind,
and save money as they help
consumers optimize how they
live and control their home
environments.
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
13
Smart Lighting
 As part of your connected
home, smart lighting offers
customized illumination that
can help you sleep better,
reduce stress, add ambiance
to a room – and all can be
controlled from your smart
device.
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
14
Home
 Other interesting home
products were the LG Styler
and Whirlpool’s Swash that
provided new clothing care
systems focused on freshening
delicate clothing that doesn’t
need to be washed after being
worn but needs to be steamed,
pressed and given a refresh.
 LG also offered a new base for
their standup washing machine
that provides an additional
small washer for an efficient
small load of laundry.
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
15
Staying charged
At home & on the go
 To help everyone stay
connected at all times
many companies are
offering portable charging
packs, back packs, etc.
 And to make charging
easier, wireless is gaining
ground.
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
16
Office Tech
Optimizing your work space & working remotely
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
17
Gogoro
Smart electric scooter
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
18
Aesthetics
Minimal aesthetics are still very popular in home appliances,
speakers and wearables. Soft geometric forms are often
paired with a fun pop of color or a geometric pattern to make
them stand out.
Most home monitoring products are rocking the glossy white
finish and using light as a detail to communicate information in
a modern, unobtrusive way.
Gold and champagne are still popular material/color accents.
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
19
Materials
 3D printed
 Self-healing
 Smudge-free/fingerprintfree surfaces
 Transparent
 Wood
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
20
Contrast




Matte / Gloss
Color contrast
Gold accents
Wood integration
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
21
Texture
 Geometric
 Triangles
 Hexagons
 Vectors
 Halftone
 Knurled/ hash-line
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
22
Matte
Color, material, texture
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
23
Gold / Champagne
Color, material, texture
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
24
Proud partners
Design Concepts had the privilege of working with First Alert
and FitLinxx on several products displayed at the show.
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
25
Jarden Onelink
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
26
FitLinxx AmpStrip
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
27
Strange & Unusual
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
28
Strange & unusual
Twerk-bot (glute
exercise machine)
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
29
Selfie-drone
Rocketskates
Like Heelys but powered.
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
30
iGrow Laser Hair Therapy
Panasonic Beauty Smart Mirror
•Digital zoom-in from your seat
•Preview looks, haircuts and clothing
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
31
FashionWare
Integrated LED fabrics
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
32
Authors
D E S IGN C ON C E P T S , IN C .
33
Kenny Hsieh
Rachel Wallace
Industrial designer
Industrial designer