IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - July 2015 - 99

CEA Insights

Product and Technology
Trends from the 2015
International CES
By Mike Bergman

he 2015 International Consumer
Electronics Show (CES) was
remarkable not just for its size but
also for the unprecedented diversity of products and technologies. The
Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)
Technology and Standards team works
with industry year-round on a variety of
standardization topics on the leading
edge of consumer technology. This list
includes audio, video, portable and handheld devices, in-vehicle systems, and
home networks, among others. Every
year, we look for trends that emerge at
this enormous global consumer technology showcase. Here are just a few.

CONNECTED THINGS
It's difficult to overstate the impact of the
Internet of Things (IoT) this year. Ovens,
vacuum cleaners, door locks, thermostats,
mirrors, thermometers, garage doors,
cars, and wearables were all evidence of
the upward trajectory of the IoT. It was
clear from the show floor that we've
moved beyond simple connectivity and
beyond the ability to move data on or off
a device or to give a simple command.
These products communicate, they are
contextually aware of the environment
around them, and they have enough intelligence to act. This paradigm of "communication-context-intelligence" shows up
in thermostats that reach out to the Internet for weather information or in wearables that can send information to your
smartphone based on your body readings.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MCE.2015.2421612
Date of publication: 15 July 2015

A number of these concepts showed up in
the Samsung booth as that company used
their keynote and floor space to highlight
SmartThings, which they acquired last
year. The company called for an open
ecosystem to enable a seamless experience in the IoT (Figure 1).
Several trends were also evident in the
automotive industry. Consumers are
demanding great ways to connect smartphones to infotainment systems for convenience and safety. Apple's CarPlay,
Google's Android Auto, and the Mirrorlink system showed up in a number of
original equipment manufacturer (OEM)
and aftermarket systems. Many brands
are also integrating multiple connectivity
solutions for maximum coverage. The
OEM systems are impressive with more
progress on the way for fully autonomous
driving. An Audi autonomous A7 prototype drove itself from the San Francisco
Bay Area in California to Las Vegas,
Nevada, for the show. This trend is not
for a truly driverless vehicle all at once
but for many improvements that significantly improve safety and gradually lessen the role of the driver.

Three-dimensional (3-D) printing
took another step down the maturity road
at 2015 CES, as Dremel showcased its
product in this category. Dremel is wellknown to home do-it-yourselfers and
craft hobbyists. It is the first familar
brand in a market with other established,
but less "household," names. There were
55 exhibitors in 3-D printing this year,
many returning with more booth space
and products than last year. Autodesk,
XYZprinting, Formlabs, 3Doodler,
Robo3D, Sculpteo, 3-D Systems, and
Makerbot all had a significant presence.
At the chip level, major manufacturers
highlighted their platforms' suitability for
applications using inexpensive sensors.
Smartphones' use of accelerometers,
magnetometers, cameras, light sensors,
and global positioning systems (GPS) has
made these features inexpensive enough
to use in many new applications. NVidia,
Freescale, and Toshiba all effectively told
this story with their processors. Qualcomm went a step further, pointing out

COMPONENT TECHNOLOGIES
Virtual reality (VR) was highly visible, as
evidenced by the long line of people waiting to try the new Oculus Rift "Crescent
Bay" prototype. Samsung, Sony, and others also had demonstrations and announcements. This year the VR news will likely
be about the technology becoming more
accessible to consumers and about ecosystem development as more content and
hardware partnerships come to light.

FIGURE 1. Samsung used the 2015 International CES to showcase their recent acquisition of IoT maker SmartThings and the
potential of an open IoT.

july 2015

IEEE ConsumEr ElECtronICs magazInE

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - July 2015