CES 2012: Diamonds In The Rough

The 2012 Consumer Electronics Show is probably not the place you go to find the new piece of consumer tech that is going to make you stand up, have your head spin around, and go “Wow, I really, really, really need to have that.” That doesn’t mean the show has been boring or that there isn’t some really cool technology available.

The theme of this year’s show seems to be “Remember all that really cool interconnectivity stuff we promised you would be able to do a couple years ago? Now, we actually have the bandwidth and computing power to pull it off.” Last year was the year of the 4G-connected device. This is the year of being able to WiFi-stream a picture from your camera to your device, before moving it to your television that you control with your tablet. Assuming that all your devices are made by the same manufacturer, anyway.

No completely brand-new technology was on display at either Samsung or Sony’s press conferences. They had some cool devices – Samsung’s TV with Kinect-like gesture and voice control features would be the most incredible thing at the show, if it were actually at the show and not just shown in a marketing video. None of the tech felt like it was pushing the boundaries of technology though, so much as utilizing features debuted at previous shows.

Again, this doesn’t mean there aren’t amazing devices at the show, just that they aren’t really dominant pieces of consumer tech. Without a doubt, the coolest device I have seen so far is the Golden-i, a head-mounted communication device that integrates a eyepiece video screen with voice control, motion sensors, and external cameras.

The Golden-i gives wearers a sensory depth and control of electronics like Robocop or the Terminator, while looking something like the headset devices from the movie Universal Soldier. It may not be a much of a lifestyle device, but the practical business applications are virtually unlimited. Really, this is science fiction from the late 80s/early 90s made manifest. It’s almost surprising no one made a viable version of this earlier, until you realize that the 4G connectivity and micronization for everything from the eyepiece to the computers controlling the devices didn’t exist until relatively recently. Techcitement will definitely follow up on this potentially world-changing piece of technology.

Another interesting tech application comes from a company called HzO. Ever drop your cell phone in the toilet? If your phone had been treated with the company’s water block treatment, you could still use your phone – assuming you were cool with putting something that had been dropped in poopy water next to your face. This is not a case or a film. This is an internal treatment that waterproofs a devices internal parts. It’s not a consumer technology. The idea is that by using the treatment, which only costs a couple of dollars per device, manufacturers can create more durable devices in a way that consumers have said they would pay a premium for.

There have been some fun toys as well. ION has been showing off what looks like a hacked-together Rock Band 3 controller, but when equipped with an iPad 2, becomes a highly configurable MIDI guitar. I’ve seen everything from consumer spy drones to dancing squirrels, although I think they might have been used to plug cameras, I’m not entirely sure.

If you read that this year’s CES is a bust, don’t believe the hyperbole. It may not be a slam dunk “this is the device everyone will own next year” kind of show, but there are definitely devices to make you feel techcited.