– Various national pavilions including the Korean pavilion and 'Eureka Park', a venue for heated new technology competitions
– In the post-corona era, where technology becomes more important, CES’s presence remains large
In early January, the main content and appearance of the world's largest IT and electronics exhibition 'CES 1', which returned as an offline event in Las Vegas, USA after two years, is reviewed again in two parts. In the second part of this CES 2 review, we take a look at various national pavilions, including the integrated Korean pavilion supported by KOTRA, and Eureka Park, which focuses on new technologies.
Eureka Park, a venue for new technology competitions centered on various national pavilions
Among the expansive CES exhibition halls, 'Eureka Park' located at Tech West's Venetian Expo is undoubtedly one of the most innovative technologies condensed in one place to provide a dazzling spectacle. Although the size of each participating company is much smaller than the main stage centered on the Las Vegas Convention Center, Eureka Park restricts the participation conditions to 'companys with new technologies launched within a certain period', so interesting products with fresh technology are the most popular. widely distributed. Therefore, it is an exhibition that buyers and investors looking for new ideas pay particular attention to, and it can be said that it is a representative exhibition space of CES that receives a lot of attention from members and the media who want to understand the new technology trends in the industry. In Eureka Park, I was able to see a number of Country Pavilions of various shapes, including the integrated Korean Pavilion hosted by KOTRA and related organizations, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, France, UK, Canada, Israel, Hong Kong, India, Taiwan, Japan and Thailand participated.
First of all, the neat Italian national pavilion with the theme of green, red, and white national flag colors stood out, and the Dutch national pavilion was also impressive as an AI-based perfume manufacturing platform. The French national pavilion, which participates in CES every year as 'La French Tech', a government department that supports national startups, was also nice, and the national pavilions of Switzerland, Taiwan, and Israel also attracted attention with their organized exhibitions.
<From left to right, the national pavilions of Italy, the Netherlands, France, and Taiwan>
This year, the appearance of the British and Japanese national pavilions was particularly interesting. In the UK, the exhibition of the humanoid robot 'Ameca', which is known to be the most similar to humans, caught the attention of visitors at a glance. Not only answering people's questions, but also gestures such as body rotation and arm movements and facial expressions were so human-like that many spectators were surprised. When a mischievous spectator asked a question, “What does your father do?” I was surprised to see him shrug his arms and reply, “I don’t have a father, robots have no family relationship at all.” Meanwhile, the Japanese national pavilion's 'flying car', that is, a compact vertical take-off and landing electric vehicle (eVTOL) for one person, mainly composed of start-up companies, also drew a lot of attention from the media and visitors around the world.
<Ameca, a British humanoid robot very similar to a human>
<Flying car exhibition site in the National Pavilion of Japan>
Into the integrated Korean Pavilion
After last year's event, which was held completely online due to the momentum of the pandemic, this year, the integrated Korean pavilion led by KOTRA returned to offline exhibition after two years. While KOTRA supported a total of 2 Korean companies (78 companies participating in Eureka Pavilion) to participate in CES, a total of 60 Korean companies recruited from 8 various domestic institutions participated in the CES under the name of the Integrated Korean Pavilion, providing excellent Korean technology. had the opportunity to inform the world. The Korean Pavilion attracted the attention of visitors as it was located in the heart of Eureka Park with a lot of foot traffic and in places with high accessibility.
<A view of the integrated Korean pavilion located throughout Eureka Park>
If we take a look at the products of the integrated Korean pavilion, which especially caught our attention, we can see 'Rollingseeds', which drew the attention of visitors with its clean and cute visuals. It is a platform where you can enjoy simple educational games related to numbers and alphabets in conjunction with tablets or smartphones, and this intuitive edutainment product that can be enjoyed separately and together by children as well as adults has received a good response from various industry members. Next is 'Mohenic Motors' medium-sized electric bike, which caught the eye with its cool appearance and sensuous color. While electric kickboards and small electric bikes were familiar, the exhibition of these medium-sized electric motorcycles felt very novel. In addition, 'QTT', which introduced an AI-based platform that checks the condition of the oral cavity using a smartphone camera and an app, 'Dot Heal', which received attention as a monitor stand product that naturally helps correct the turtle neck by analyzing the user's posture, The 'GSF System', which exhibited a smart farm showcase that allows you to grow your own vegetables and eat them right away, was also impressive.
<From left, Rollingseeds and Mohenic Motors exhibits>
As an unprecedented number of Korean companies participated in this CES, including the integrated Korean Pavilion, expectations for the offline exhibition event were high. However, just before the event, the COVID-19 situation in the United States, which suddenly worsened due to the influence of Omicron mutation, significantly disrupted the plans of many industry members who were scheduled to visit the CES in-person event. The number of visitors also decreased significantly compared to the previous year. However, according to interviews with participating companies and officials, the integrated Korean Pavilion, located in a space with a large floating population, attracted relatively large numbers of visitors, and despite the reduced size of visits, buyers' interest was as hot as at the offline event two years ago. In addition, many companies that received the CES Innovation Award were included in the integrated Korean pavilion, drawing great attention from the media and industry insiders. Among the fields that received a lot of attention from major buyers who visited the integrated Korean pavilion, new technologies such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and artificial intelligence (AI) are applied, digital health tech, and fitness, wellness, wearables The product field, the Internet of Things (IoT), and the smart home field are cited.
Other companies that caught the eye with various 'lifestyle technologies'
As the conditions for participating in Eureka Park's exhibitions are strict, many growing companies from Eureka Park or companies that have entered into stable business with their main products and technologies firmly established can be found in various exhibition spaces outside of Eureka Park. Let's meet once again various companies that have caught the eye with their lively lifestyle technology.
First of all, smart sporting goods and fresh products in the health care field, which have rapidly increased in demand as indoor life has increased in the aftermath of the pandemic, stood out. 'Hydrow', a company that introduced the 'Rower machine', a rowing-type exercise device that is more flexible and lighter than cycling or treadmill and puts less strain on the joints, draws attention as a boxing training product with virtual reality (VR) technology Examples include 'Liteboxer' and 'Bodyfriend', which is a massage product that relieves tired mind and body, which is constantly visited by visitors.
<From left to right, Hydrow, Liteboxer, and Bodyfriend's exhibitions>
Now that interest in physical and mental health management is higher than ever, Korean company 'iMediSync', which has received love calls from numerous buyers, was also impressive as a specialized mental care device using artificial intelligence (AI). The EEG measurement and care device of iMedicin, reminiscent of a helmet, measures EEG dry in 10 minutes, and is an innovative product that automatically analyzes EEG based on AI to help early diagnosis of brain diseases such as cognitive impairment or dementia. According to an interview with an official of iMedicin, which was crowded with visitors trying to diagnose EEG by wearing the product, participating in this CES and receiving interest from a number of buyers including global companies, it received a good response in the global market including the United States. He said he expects to get it.
In addition, it was interesting to find various smart pet products everywhere. Various smart collars products that monitor the basic health status of companion animals, living and sleep patterns, and even provide a location tracking function, a smart cat toilet to be noticed by the cat population, Many Pet Tech products, such as those that help people stay within their boundaries (Geofence), received attention.
<From left to right: PurrSong, Whisker's smart cat toilet products>
Significance and Implications
It is true that last year's CES 100, which was held 2021% online in the aftermath of the pandemic, did not live up to the expectations of many companies. As such, many companies have been waiting for the return to this offline event, and expectations were high. Although the number of face-to-face visitors decreased to ¼ of the previous one as the pandemic situation worsened due to a mutated virus just before the event, the face-to-face event of CES 2022, visited by many industry members who have been waiting for the real pleasure of seeing, hearing, and feeling the exhibition is still significant. is evaluated as According to CES analysis, about 55% of the attendees registered for this year's CES are at the senior level with decision-making rights such as CEOs, executives, and directors of companies, and nearly half of the companies on the Fortune Global 500 list, 210 companies, attended CES. Registered. As such, CES is still an important event visited by members of leading companies around the world, and the fact that it is a global platform where various networking opportunities that are difficult to obtain in ordinary times can be realized remains the same.
Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the organizer of CES, said in his keynote speech that autonomy, accessibility and sustainability are key technology trends. "It's empowering and helping us connect with each other in times of loneliness and social isolation like today." As he emphasized, in the pandemic era, which is expected to last for a while, technology and innovation are expected to become more important and more influential in our lives. As CES is a meaningful event that predicts and shows the technology flow of the year at the beginning of every year, the industry needs to pay attention to the trends and insights of the global technology market that can be found at CES in the future.
Source: CES official website, CTA website, and other KOTRA Los Angeles Trade Center materials