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HEY GOOGLE, HOW CAN YOU ACTUALLY HELP ME? Trend report | CES 2018

CES 2018 ? The International Consumer Electronics Show is the annual event at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Nevada, USA, where industry leaders gather to showcase their hottest offerings. Our Cogniance innovation experts were on site, ready to analyze, observe and try out the latest consumer electronic products.

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INDUSTRY FORECAST pages 4 - 15

OUR HIGHLIGHTS pages 16 - 21

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01 INDUSTRY FORECAST

CES is a great place to spot the trends that will impact our industry over the next few years. Here’s a look at the top ten trends we spotted during our week at CES.

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INDUSTRY FORECAST 10 Global trends This year’s CES is all about mobility and connected devices, with the ever-increasing appearance of the digital assistant.

ANYTIME, ANYWHERE PAMPERING

SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE GO HAND-IN-HAND

MANUFACTURERS UNITE!

YOUR NEXT DOCTOR IS A BOT

SENSORS ARE EVERYWHERE

HUMAN 2.0

ROOMS ON WHEELS

DATA IS PRECIOUS

FIRST THE HOME, NEXT THE CITY

OWNERSHIP IS SO 20TH CENTURY

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Anytime, anywhere pampering Think of this as the rise of the digital assistants. Siri and Alexa have been with us for quite a while now, but at this year’s CES, we’re finally seeing digital assistants play a major role in our connectivity. Basically every aspect of our lives, every touchpoint, has the ability to interface with our digital assistants. On the home-front, we see smart speakers, such as LG’s ThinQ® Speaker, and smart displays by the likes of Lenovo and Samsung-owned, JBL, all angling to offer the next form of humantechnology interaction, a Google Assistant-based experience that lets you do everything from finding recipes while cooking to syncing calendars with other family members.

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Software and hardware go hand-in-hand This year’s CES also revealed some interesting developments in the symbiotic relationship between software and hardware. While CES has traditionally been all about the hardware, a large number of this year’s unveilings were on the software front. An example of this is Sony, who announced that they would be updating older headphones with Google Assistant. On the flip side, we’re seeing an increasing number of software vendors venturing into the hardware space, such as Insta360 with the launch of its Nano S. This will be an interesting trend to watch, to see if the software vendors are capable of producing hardware that really amplifies the value and potential of their software. Google Home Mini

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Manufacturers unite! Consumers are no longer looking at brands as exclusive, standalone entities. They want to gain the advantage of having brands working together, enjoying the best that each brand has to offer. And they want brand-agnostic devices, so they can have the flexibility and freedom to connect their devices to the brands they choose. We’ve seen companies respond to this trend by offering support for both Alexa and Google Assistant, as an example. Companies are also realizing that they can’t survive on their own. Consumers demand a holistic, fully-connected experience, and it’s unrealistic that one manufacturer can cover all of the touchpoints in a user journey alone.

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Your next doctor is a bot There is no shortage of health apps and tech out there. So much so, that people are starting to question the real value that these apps generate. One of the major challenges is a plethora of data, yet without services that help put this data in a proper context, the result is an overwhelmed, rather than well-informed, consumer. That’s why we were so excited to see a wide range of products that capitalize on technology to make a real difference in the field of consumer health. We saw everything from smart reading glasses to smart socks that use temperature sensors to detect inflammation in diabetics. Also worth noting is the wide range of smart hearing aids from companies like GN Resound, Oticon and Eargo.

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Sensors are everywhere Seamless connectivity, or the Internet of Things, requires sensors. And that is exactly what we saw as we roamed the exhibition halls at CES. Rows after rows of smart products. The home, in particular, seems to be the primary focus of this next wave of connectivity. There were smart mattresses that adjust to your body and collect data as you sleep, smart light switches enabled with the digital assistant of your choice, and smart taps that allow you to track and control water consumption. As was the case with health tech, the really interesting developments will come when these systems can connect with each other, so that several independent systems can be replaced with a seamless ecosystem. Canary Flex

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Human 2.0 We would be remiss if we didn’t mention the trend that’s dominated the blogosphere for some time now, that of the augmented human. There were quite a few examples of this at this year’s conference. Nissan, for example, showcased what it termed, “brain to vehicle technology”, which allows the car to respond to signals given off by the brain in order to improve reaction times and, hopefully, prevent accidents. Naver brought us one step closer to the universal translator with its Mars wireless earbuds with real-time language translation. And bridging the gap between health tech and wearable technology is Philips SmartSleep, a headband designed to optimize deep sleep.

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Rooms on Wheels . As autonomous vehicles rapidly become a reality, companies are focusing more on improving the in-car user experience. This makes sense, because once drivers become riders, they’ll be looking for something to do to pass the time. Thus tech companies are hard at work, trying to figure out how the riders of the future can be occupied and entertained while being transported. Panasonic introduced their autonomous living space cabin, which basically looks like a highly-connected, technologicallysupercharged living room, and Toyota premiered its e-Palette concept, a fully autonomous electric vehicle that can be outfitted for mass transportation, product deliveries or even temporary housing. Panasonic Autonomous Cabin

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Data is precious Companies have long been aware of the value hidden in the terabytes of user data they have accumulated. Now the race is on to develop algorithms sophisticated enough to mine the data and then to create service offerings based on that data. Yet, the flip side of this is that privacy has never been more top-of-mind, both for consumers and the industry. Companies are working to protect their data from any number of cyber threats. They are also working to comply with the upcoming GDPR regulations, and doing their best to ensure consumers that their data is safe in the company’s hands. Blockchain technology was a recurring theme, with the promise of revolutionizing secure data sharing.

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First the home, next the city Feeling that they’ve conquered the smart home, companies are now shifting their attention to an even broader landscape to paint with their technology brush: the smart city. Part of the reason for the hotness of this topic is that the technology that would make a smart city possible is now well-established: 5G connections, blockchain and artificial intelligence, to name a few. You can see a large-scale example of what these technologies can mean for urban development in Panasonic’s smart city project. Deloitte has also done quite a bit of work in this area, highlighting all of the disciplines and industries that need to converge in order to make smart cities a reality.

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Ownership is so 20th century For the big car companies, it was more a question of “when” as opposed to “if” car sharing would become a reality. Everyone was talking about ridesharing, car-on-demand and subscription-based access to vehicles. This was evident in Toyota’s e-Palette, which is based on the company’s Mobility Services Platform, software that enables users to request and unlock a vehicle using their smartphone. Another example is the Smart Vision EQ, a concept vehicle produced by Mercedes and intended purely to be part of an autonomous, ridesharing fleet.

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02 OUR HIGHLIGHTS

Our visit to CES was rich in discovery. Here is our highlight reel, featuring the products and companies that we believe have the greatest potential for impacting the future.

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TOYOTA e-Palette What’s interesting about this offer is the fact that it not only looks into the future of autonomous vehicles, it also takes into consideration the new economy of on-demand services and the future of urban planning. There is a growing need for flexible, modular spaces in cities that can be outfitted based on changing circumstances, providing everything from temporary housing to extra meeting rooms. This particular type of autonomous vehicle opens the door for a wide range of new products and services that offer consumers round-the-clock convenience. We believe this will be the next battlefield for companies, as they race to capitalize on the modularity offered by vehicles like e-Palette. Toyota e-Palette

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BYTON Concept car Byton’s prototype is impressive and does an amazing job of capturing the current trends dominating the automotive industry. It has the feel of a living room, and uses the latest interactive technology, such as facial recognition, touchscreens and gesture control. We had a test ride, however we’re not entirely convinced that gesture control works optimally in this environment. The UI is extremely complex, requiring the user to go through a series of elaborate gestures in order to navigate through the system. With the car set to hit the market in China in 2019, will Byton succeed in being the first to redefine the automotive experience, introducing the first mass-production connected car? Byton Concept car

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SKIIN Smart clothes Smart clothes were all over the place at CES, but this brand caught our attention because of its ready-to-market product and because of their overall vision. Their goal is to combine IoT technology with the data generated from the sensors in their clothes to create a truly connected consumer experience. Skiin’s current line of smart underwear helps consumers optimize their sleep, control their stress and adjust their home environment to their stress level thanks to integration with smart home devices, so they’re well on their way to realizing their vision.

Skiin Smart clothes

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NETFLIX Psychasec No one can accuse Netflix of half-doing things. They went all in and all out to promote their latest sci-fi series, Altered Carbon, creating a full-fledged booth for the fictional company, Psychasec. The series takes place 300 years in the future, where bodies are interchangeable, rendering death obsolete. People simply transfer their consciousness from one body to another. It was a bold move, based on a bold idea, that certainly wasn’t out of harmony with some of the other trends we saw at CES: health tech, human augmentation and the blurring of the lines between flesh and code. Plus it was fun. The series, in case you’re interested, debuts on February 2nd. Netflix Psychasec CES 2018

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GOOGLE Assistant As you could see from our trend report, the Google Assistant popped up in virtually every product, in the smart displays, smart headphones, smart speakers, etc. The main thing working in Google’s favor is the powerful Google AI. It will be exciting to see what companies will be able to do with Google Assistant, and if we can finally see these voice-activated assistants offering real value. The other interesting development will be to see who will dominate the market. While Amazon clearly rules the speaker market, statistics show that 91% of users interact via voice with their smartphones. Expect to hear a lot more “Hey Google” in the future. Google Assistant

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Where do we go from here? Cogniance is a global design and technology consultancy, headquartered in Silicon Valley. We find, think, build, design and bring new ideas and products to market with the help of technology. We work hand-in-hand with both startups and corporate innovators to transform their businesses, put their customer’s needs at the center and win in their chosen market. If you are ready to work and co-create with us on the digital disruption, please do get in touch: [email protected].

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