CES rises above 2020 and delivers this 2021! This year's Consumer Electronics Show took to featuring the future of tech online. The four day event with normally high-level high-tech presentations was virtual. CES often sets the tone for inspirations, insight into new tools, and reveals the scope of just how far futurist predictions have come. Britelite was in attendance at CES 2020 and we were struck by impressive inspirations ranging from LED screens, to VR headsets, to flying taxis. This year held the same excitement and inspiration, the only glaring difference was being able to attend in our pjs.

Sony Music Creates New Immersive Experiences

Every year presenters at CES put on a show, this year is no different. At CES on Monday, Singer songwriter Madison Beer teamed up with Sony Music Entertainment and Verizon to put fans in the front row of a groundbreaking virtual concert experience. It was executed using a virtual suit, unreal engine, and so much more, but looked as if it was filmed live at Sony Hall in New York before a virtual live audience on a virtual stage . While it still looks like an ultra-sophisticated animation, it’s getting closer every year to looking like real life.

Fans will be able to view Madison Beer’s Immersive Reality Concert Experience on PlayStation VR and Oculus VR, and as a captivating immersive 2D experience, which will be broadly available on streaming music video channels later this winter.

Sony Music expands creative opportunities for artists by harnessing emerging technologies including spatial audio and immersive video experiences

What about VR Glasses?

With Covid taking over the last year VR has become an important and prominent tool in entertainment, training, and more. The problem with VR headsets is that they still look like VR headsets. Panasonic has a solution with their new VR Glasses, debuted at CES 2021. The Panasonic VR glasses have a steampunk look and a more comfortable ski goggle feel and look for the user and — they also offer technical improvements over other solutions in the market. The glasses have micro OLED panels and support HDR, with almost no hint of the “screen-door effect” that plagues most VR hardware. They are also the first VR glasses to support HDR, which was particularly impressive during a CG demo of the interior of a Japanese temple, with light realistically bouncing off golden decorations.

For audio, the product uses built-in headphones.

Do we have a crush on Samsung? Short answer: yes.

A ‘Better Normal for All’

At CES 2021 this year, Samsung was not short on presentations and innovations. Samsung showed off its modular fridge, smart appliances, and robotics, including a new robot vacuum and concepts for a pair of robot assistants, and so much more.

Samsung built anticipation for their in-depth presentations at CES 2021 with a live-streamed press conference announcing the company’s new vision and some of their new innovations that are set to provide a ‘Better Normal for All’. The press conference opened with some powerful remarks from Sebastian Seung, President and Head of Samsung Research, who outlined how the company’s latest technologies have been informed by the changes brought about in recent times and developed to empower users to live more conveniently, intelligently and sustainably.

More cars take flight...

GM brings us closer to The Jetsons

After last year's showcase of flying taxis/cars we weren’t surprised to see it again. With robotics entering the home and flying cars on display for a second year, we have a real chance at a Jetsons future on the horizon. General Motors is helping us take a giant leap, showing off its concept for a flying car. It's called the eVTOL, or (electric) Vertical TakeOff and Landing droid.

"We're preparing for a world where advances in electric and autonomous technology make personal air travel possible," said GM design chief Michael Simcoe. GM now joins the likes of Archer and Aston Martin, companies that are also working on flying vehicles.

We went a little back in time - Infinity Game Table

Gaming isn’t usually something we touch on but we couldn’t help but reminisce over classic board games, and arcade games with the Infinity Game Table. This intelligent setup takes classic board games and puts them in a designated hub on a large touchscreen table with wifi capabilities to connect with friends remotely. Will this replace stacking our board games wherever we can find space? Maybe! The price point is right for an at-home all-in-one gaming table.

There is plenty more to write about from CES 2021 — AI and HUD are paving the way for smart cities, smart homes and smart cars, haptic technology in VR has improved, collaborative technologies are becoming the future instead of the hoaky upgrade of the same tech, and we will be featuring all of this in a series of upcoming blog posts. To keep up with our blog, check in with us on Instagram where we post our latest updates!

This year’s CES took place over four days from January 11 - 14. The all digital CES is open for registered attendees until February 15th so that you can engage with exhibitors, replay programming on demand, and connect with fellow CES attendees.

When we look to grand events like CES to navigate us towards what to expect in the future, many people expect what is on display to already be finalized, when in reality they are working concepts being displayed in technologically advanced ways.

At Britelite that is what we specialize in: we transform how brands engage with their audiences. As a Creative Technology company we build immersive and interactive installations within physical spaces – from customer experience centers to connected spaces, commercial real-estate developments, retail spaces, live events, and more. We combine strategic design with large scale technologies to create experiences that have a powerful and irresistible effect. Most importantly, we transform how brands engage with their audiences by applying creative thinking to experience design, spatial engineering, and application development.

If you’re excited by the combination of:

• Ambitious design and flawless execution

• Visual impact

• Alignment with an organization’s business goals

Then check out our work, and contact us page for a preliminary discussion on what we can do for you.