WEBVTT - Tech News: CES 2022 Roundup and More 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.800 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 0:00:12.160 --> 0:00:15.360 Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 0:00:15.440 --> 0:00:18.600 Jothan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 0:00:19.079 --> 0:00:23.920 and how the Tech Area. It is time for the 0:00:23.960 --> 0:00:29.120 tech News for Thursday, January six, twenty twenty two, and 0:00:29.600 --> 0:00:33.000 we're gonna focus a lot on c E S in 0:00:33.000 --> 0:00:35.440 this episode. So we're gonna look with a at a 0:00:35.560 --> 0:00:38.479 roundup of some of the interesting things, uh that I 0:00:38.560 --> 0:00:42.800 learned about at C E S two. Full disclosure, I 0:00:42.840 --> 0:00:46.720 didn't go to c E S. I mostly was following 0:00:46.880 --> 0:00:50.080 the reporting of others and you know, kind of looking 0:00:50.120 --> 0:00:53.479 at all the different stuff that companies were promoting. But 0:00:53.880 --> 0:00:58.320 I did not attend. I thought that it was irresponsible 0:00:58.600 --> 0:01:02.200 for me to go, not projecting that on anyone else. 0:01:02.680 --> 0:01:05.280 Everyone has their reasons about going or not going, so 0:01:05.600 --> 0:01:07.880 I'm not trying to apply that to everyone. I just 0:01:07.920 --> 0:01:10.120 felt it was the wrong decision for me. But in 0:01:10.200 --> 0:01:14.440 Tuesday's episode, I mentioned Samsung's remote control that can harvest 0:01:14.560 --> 0:01:18.240 energy from WiFi signals. Very similar to a lot of 0:01:18.240 --> 0:01:21.320 other wireless charging technologies, but this one is really cool 0:01:21.319 --> 0:01:23.920 because you don't have to set it down on like 0:01:24.040 --> 0:01:28.760 a special pad or anything. It's it's just harvesting energy 0:01:28.840 --> 0:01:31.920 from WiFi signals on its own. That to me is 0:01:31.920 --> 0:01:34.240 super cool. And I also I think I talked about 0:01:34.280 --> 0:01:37.760 smart kitty litter box that connects to stuff like Amazon's Alexa, 0:01:38.120 --> 0:01:39.960 which sounds silly on the surface of it, but I 0:01:39.959 --> 0:01:43.040 actually think it's kind of a cool idea. However, obviously 0:01:43.040 --> 0:01:45.240 there's a lot more we could talk about, so I 0:01:45.280 --> 0:01:47.000 figured I would go through some of the things I 0:01:47.040 --> 0:01:50.920 came across and I thought were interesting and talk about those. Now, 0:01:51.000 --> 0:01:54.200 keep in mind, this is the tippy tippy top of 0:01:54.240 --> 0:01:57.440 the iceberg that is c E s. You could just 0:01:57.520 --> 0:02:00.840 follow the announcements from one company and spend a week 0:02:00.960 --> 0:02:05.240 talking about it. So this is by no means the 0:02:05.280 --> 0:02:07.160 best of the best or anything like that. It's just 0:02:07.200 --> 0:02:09.840 the stuff I found interesting. And we are going to 0:02:09.919 --> 0:02:14.240 go in a particular order. It's called alphabetical, So we'll 0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:17.360 start off with the Amica robot. Amaca has spelled a 0:02:17.840 --> 0:02:21.560 M E c A. A video of Amica was posted 0:02:21.560 --> 0:02:24.400 on Twitter back in and it went viral. You might 0:02:24.440 --> 0:02:28.360 have seen it. It had a very expressive robot in it. 0:02:29.000 --> 0:02:32.040 Ce S was the first time I'm aware of where 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:36.240 a larger audience was able to see Amica in the 0:02:36.360 --> 0:02:39.760 robotic flesh. I guess Amaca comes out of a company 0:02:39.800 --> 0:02:43.280 called Engineered Arts and they build a robot as quote, 0:02:43.639 --> 0:02:48.000 the world's most advanced human shaped robot representing the forefront 0:02:48.040 --> 0:02:52.200 of human robotics technology end quote. The big deal with 0:02:52.240 --> 0:02:55.600 Amica is that it has a very flexible and really 0:02:55.720 --> 0:03:00.720 expressive face with like eyebrow ridges and lots of points 0:03:00.720 --> 0:03:03.680 of movement around the eyes and the mouth, so it 0:03:03.720 --> 0:03:07.320 can give very human expressions. So Amica can make these 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:12.280 really compelling facial expressions, and Engineered Arts calls it a 0:03:12.360 --> 0:03:15.280 development platform. So in other words, this is kind of 0:03:15.280 --> 0:03:18.240 a starting point or a stepping stone, which could be 0:03:18.320 --> 0:03:21.800 one of the paths that lead us to robots interacting 0:03:21.800 --> 0:03:26.120 with us within human spaces. But the folks that Engineered 0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:29.000 Arts are very quick to point out that that future 0:03:29.280 --> 0:03:32.480 is still a pretty good ways off. Amaca is a 0:03:32.480 --> 0:03:36.480 great example of using robotics to mimic human expression, but 0:03:36.600 --> 0:03:38.560 a lot of other pieces have to fall into place 0:03:38.600 --> 0:03:41.880 before you've got a robot capable of navigating through human 0:03:41.960 --> 0:03:46.680 spaces safely. For example, having a robot that can natively 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:51.480 understand what expressions to pair with different kinds of data. 0:03:51.600 --> 0:03:54.120 That starts to get pretty complicated. Like if you were 0:03:54.120 --> 0:03:59.040 to incorporate, say a smart speaker in a robot like Amica, 0:03:59.160 --> 0:04:01.640 and you were asking it to give you news, and 0:04:01.720 --> 0:04:05.280 maybe the news is pretty dark and disturbing. You don't 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:09.320 want Amca looking all cheery and happy while delivering that, right, 0:04:09.360 --> 0:04:12.360 that would be a disconnect. These are things that are 0:04:12.960 --> 0:04:14.800 you know, going to take time for us to really 0:04:15.200 --> 0:04:18.400 suss out. But in the nearer term, a robot like 0:04:18.440 --> 0:04:21.320 Amica could be used as like a point of information. 0:04:21.400 --> 0:04:23.960 For example, like you could go perhaps into an office 0:04:24.000 --> 0:04:26.599 building and behind a desk, you might see a robot 0:04:26.920 --> 0:04:30.240 that looks like Amica that's able to give you directions, 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:33.359 answer basic questions about the building and the tenants in 0:04:33.400 --> 0:04:36.719 the building, perhaps um and to be able to create 0:04:36.760 --> 0:04:40.400 expressions that are human like. Now, that kind of robot 0:04:40.480 --> 0:04:44.799 would be stationary. That drastically simplifies the requirements needed for 0:04:44.960 --> 0:04:47.080 the use case. Right, they don't have to throw what 0:04:47.160 --> 0:04:50.039 doesn't have to get up and walk around? Uh, Because 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:52.159 you know, the more the robot needs to do in 0:04:52.279 --> 0:04:55.480 order to fulfill whatever the job is, the more complicated. 0:04:55.480 --> 0:04:58.479 The design has to be. However, when you look at 0:04:58.560 --> 0:05:01.840 videos of robots from say Boston Dynamics, it only takes 0:05:01.880 --> 0:05:06.159 a little imagination to combine those capabilities with the really 0:05:06.240 --> 0:05:10.600 expressive amica and to think, yeah, you know what, it is, 0:05:10.640 --> 0:05:12.960 the robots world, and we're all just living in it. 0:05:13.480 --> 0:05:16.039 One of the neatest computer designs I saw coming out 0:05:16.080 --> 0:05:19.920 of c S two was the a sus zen Book 0:05:20.120 --> 0:05:23.800 seventeen fold. Now, as the name suggests, this is a 0:05:23.920 --> 0:05:30.000 seventeen technically seventeen point three inch foldable computer. So when 0:05:30.040 --> 0:05:32.680 folded like a laptop, so that you have you know, 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:36.040 an upper half and then the desktop half. The top 0:05:36.080 --> 0:05:38.640 screen measures twelve and a half inches, and the bottom 0:05:38.640 --> 0:05:41.359 half can act as a virtual keyboard. You can have 0:05:41.360 --> 0:05:44.320 an on screen keyboard there. You could also pair it 0:05:44.400 --> 0:05:47.960 with a Bluetooth keyboard and either operated like your standard 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:52.080 laptop with the Bluetooth keyboard position on top of the 0:05:52.120 --> 0:05:56.680 lower folded portion, or you can unfold the screen and 0:05:56.760 --> 0:05:59.120 use a little backstop, turn it on side and it 0:05:59.200 --> 0:06:02.919 serves as a desktop monitor. So this is another hybrid 0:06:02.920 --> 0:06:06.000 device that can perform like a tablet, a laptop, or 0:06:06.040 --> 0:06:09.159 a desktop PC. It can also serve as a multi 0:06:09.200 --> 0:06:13.480 screen display all on one screen. Now, I am notoriously 0:06:13.600 --> 0:06:17.359 negative about touch screen interfaces for computers, but if I 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:20.280 were to go for one, this is probably what I 0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:24.360 would gravitate toward. I find it pretty interesting, it's versatile, 0:06:24.440 --> 0:06:27.240 and I gotta admit it's also kind of pretty. Uh. 0:06:27.279 --> 0:06:29.720 The o led screen is a big part of it 0:06:29.800 --> 0:06:32.160 being pretty. It's also a big part of how it 0:06:32.200 --> 0:06:35.200 can be foldable in the first place. Asus says the 0:06:35.279 --> 0:06:38.960 launch should be sometime mid year. Uh they hepefully said 0:06:39.120 --> 0:06:42.320 the year in question would be two, so sometime in 0:06:42.360 --> 0:06:44.960 the middle of this year, but there is no price 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:49.160 information as of yet. Get ready to hear that particular 0:06:49.480 --> 0:06:53.120 phrase on repeat throughout a lot of these stories. One 0:06:53.160 --> 0:06:56.440 thing that I have started doing more since the pandemic 0:06:56.520 --> 0:06:59.960 started is to spend time at this quiet little how 0:07:00.760 --> 0:07:06.279 that that I occasionally occupy well outside of Atlanta, and 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:08.839 I just look out at nature. The place I go 0:07:08.920 --> 0:07:11.280 to has got a lot of birds around it, and 0:07:11.280 --> 0:07:14.640 I've gotten kind of into bird watching. I just recently 0:07:14.680 --> 0:07:18.400 got a pair of inexpensive binoculars to kind of dip 0:07:18.440 --> 0:07:20.920 my toe in that. And that's why I feel I 0:07:20.960 --> 0:07:24.360 have to talk about the bird Buddy smart bird feeder, 0:07:25.320 --> 0:07:28.360 and yeah, it's a bird feeder with smart technology, which 0:07:28.400 --> 0:07:31.640 I know it sounds ridiculous. It sounds just as crazy 0:07:31.680 --> 0:07:34.520 as a smart kitty litter box, But like the kitty 0:07:34.600 --> 0:07:38.040 litter box, this thing has convinced me that I want one. See. 0:07:38.120 --> 0:07:41.560 It's a bird feeder that has an incorporated battery powered 0:07:41.760 --> 0:07:45.280 camera inside it, and the camera can take images and 0:07:45.440 --> 0:07:48.200 video of the birds that visit your feeder and send 0:07:48.240 --> 0:07:51.400 them to a connected app that's on your smartphone. And 0:07:51.440 --> 0:07:54.040 it's that connected app that I really love because not 0:07:54.120 --> 0:07:56.000 only do you get to see the little birdies as 0:07:56.000 --> 0:07:58.600 they come to visit your bird feeder, you go alert 0:07:58.640 --> 0:08:01.440 saying hey, there's a bird there. The app will actually 0:08:01.960 --> 0:08:05.760 identify the types of birds visiting your feeder and we'll 0:08:05.800 --> 0:08:08.200 give you a little bit of information on them. So 0:08:08.240 --> 0:08:10.440 it takes a picture and then identifies the bird based 0:08:10.440 --> 0:08:12.120 on the picture and tells you, oh, well, this is 0:08:12.560 --> 0:08:14.480 the bird. You know, the kind of range that it 0:08:14.520 --> 0:08:17.000 lives in, the kind of foods it likes. And it's 0:08:17.080 --> 0:08:19.880 kind of like a gamification system in the app. You 0:08:19.920 --> 0:08:22.920 can you know, collect virtual cards of the birds that 0:08:23.000 --> 0:08:25.800 visit you and you can try and catch them all, except, 0:08:25.840 --> 0:08:28.600 of course you're not catching birds, you're feeding them. The 0:08:28.640 --> 0:08:31.600 app also contains hints on how to attract more birds 0:08:31.640 --> 0:08:34.959 to the feeder. Uh. And this was an extremely successful 0:08:35.040 --> 0:08:38.080 Kickstarter project before they went to c S. Kind of 0:08:38.080 --> 0:08:41.240 reminds me of Pebble in that regard, r I p 0:08:41.240 --> 0:08:44.960 Pebble And Uh. They're now taking pre orders for bird feeders, 0:08:45.600 --> 0:08:47.880 which are, as you might have guessed, pretty expensive that 0:08:47.960 --> 0:08:51.560 we're talking two dollars for one, and that's technically a 0:08:51.559 --> 0:08:55.000 fift discount off the what is projected to be the 0:08:55.000 --> 0:08:58.240 final sales price when it does launch. The shipping is 0:08:58.280 --> 0:09:02.280 scheduled for June of twenty twenty two. And yeah, I 0:09:02.400 --> 0:09:06.680 ordered one. I know, I know it's crazy in a 0:09:06.720 --> 0:09:08.960 way to spend two hundred bucks on a bird feeder, 0:09:09.080 --> 0:09:13.120 But at the same time, I'm like, it's pretty neat. Uh. 0:09:13.160 --> 0:09:15.880 And I like the idea a lot, and I kind 0:09:15.880 --> 0:09:17.680 of want to support this company to see what else 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:20.000 they come up with, because I love the idea of 0:09:20.000 --> 0:09:24.079 being able to observe nature without disturbing it. That's really 0:09:24.559 --> 0:09:28.360 my go to on this. But yeah, I don't know. 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:31.679 I got a little swept up in it. Well, if 0:09:31.720 --> 0:09:33.480 you were to visit c E S you would know 0:09:33.720 --> 0:09:36.040 or you would soon find out that the North hall 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:38.360 of the Las Vegas Convention Center is where you see 0:09:38.400 --> 0:09:41.520 most of the car stuff. One car innovation shown off 0:09:41.640 --> 0:09:45.599 during c e S was BMW's i X flow e 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:49.840 ink tech. Alright, So e ink is the technology that's 0:09:49.840 --> 0:09:52.960 in a lot of your basic e book gadgets, like 0:09:53.040 --> 0:09:55.920 think of your old, old, old school kindles before they 0:09:55.960 --> 0:09:59.280 became tablets. So it uses a pretty simple principle in 0:09:59.280 --> 0:10:02.280 which you have els under the screen and they're filled 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:06.720 with electrically charged pigments, typically white and black pigments, and 0:10:06.760 --> 0:10:10.120 you manipulate them with electric fields that either you know, 0:10:10.200 --> 0:10:12.720 that move them to either the surface of the display 0:10:12.800 --> 0:10:14.720 so that they're right up against the back of the screen, 0:10:15.440 --> 0:10:17.520 or they're moved back behind it where you can't see it. 0:10:17.960 --> 0:10:21.400 So let's say you've got negatively charged black pigments and 0:10:21.480 --> 0:10:25.760 positively charged white pigments. Well, opposite charges attract, so you 0:10:25.760 --> 0:10:29.720 could use a positive electric field to pull all the 0:10:29.720 --> 0:10:32.160 black pigment to the top of the cell and you've 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:35.160 get yourself a black image on the screen. Well, e 0:10:35.280 --> 0:10:38.959 INK displays consists of tons of these cells, each filled 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:42.200 with these electrically charged pigments. The i X flow body 0:10:42.280 --> 0:10:46.240 tech with BMW takes this concept and applies it to cars, 0:10:46.679 --> 0:10:49.559 So you can have a BMW that has a body 0:10:49.600 --> 0:10:54.480 that can actually change color on demand. The model on 0:10:54.520 --> 0:10:56.960 display at c e S could go from white to 0:10:57.080 --> 0:11:00.640 black and black to white, and could e in display 0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:04.720 changing patterns. So you've got a paint job that you 0:11:04.760 --> 0:11:06.880 can change whenever you like. You can even have it 0:11:07.160 --> 0:11:10.760 essentially be animated as you're driving. So this isn't just 0:11:10.920 --> 0:11:13.920 flashy though. It is that it can also be practical 0:11:14.000 --> 0:11:16.240 when you want to do stuff like reflect light or 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:20.640 absorb more light depending upon weather conditions. BMW also says 0:11:20.679 --> 0:11:22.760 it's working on a color version of the tech for 0:11:22.840 --> 0:11:25.520 future vehicles. I have no idea how well this will 0:11:25.559 --> 0:11:28.720 hold up to wear and tear, and I imagine if 0:11:28.760 --> 0:11:30.800 you're in a traffic accident, it could be a little 0:11:30.880 --> 0:11:34.120 more expensive to repair than your typical body and paint job, 0:11:34.679 --> 0:11:37.480 but it's still pretty neat. We've got some more ce 0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:40.079 S stories to talk about and a couple of other things, 0:11:40.320 --> 0:11:50.960 but first let's take a quick break. Okay, we're back now. 0:11:51.080 --> 0:11:54.600 If you've dipped your toe into home automation. You know 0:11:54.760 --> 0:11:57.080 that it can get a little bit frustrating if you're 0:11:57.120 --> 0:12:01.520 not all in on a single ecosystem. Um the devices 0:12:01.600 --> 0:12:06.120 and systems typically work pretty well within their own system, 0:12:06.160 --> 0:12:08.719 but they don't always play well with each other if 0:12:08.720 --> 0:12:11.559 you mix and match. In fact, sometimes they can't communicate 0:12:11.600 --> 0:12:14.200 with each other at all, and that gets very frustrating 0:12:14.240 --> 0:12:18.800 when you're trying to you know, kit out your automated home. 0:12:19.600 --> 0:12:24.439 We've seen some movement to try and address this issue. Google, Amazon, Samsung, 0:12:24.480 --> 0:12:27.800 and Apple formed a group called MATTER that will launch 0:12:27.880 --> 0:12:31.439 later this year. The naimes to standardized technologies across home 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:35.400 automation devices. But to confuse matters a little bit, we 0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:40.880 also now have the Home Connectivity Alliance or h c A. Samsung, 0:12:40.920 --> 0:12:43.640 by the way, also joined the h c A as 0:12:43.679 --> 0:12:46.880 well as MATTER. Maybe Samsung can be the liaison between 0:12:46.880 --> 0:12:50.280 the two standards alliance groups anyway. Other members of the 0:12:50.440 --> 0:12:54.679 h c A include g E, Train, Residential, and electro Lux. 0:12:55.400 --> 0:12:58.200 So we might slowly be moving toward the world where 0:12:58.200 --> 0:13:01.960 consumers can just freely choose which components from which companies 0:13:01.960 --> 0:13:04.640 they want to integrate into their automated home set up 0:13:05.280 --> 0:13:08.280 without having to worry if they're all compatible. It's no 0:13:08.400 --> 0:13:12.760 fun if you've got like a dozen different hubs connected 0:13:12.800 --> 0:13:16.680 to your Internet system and you have to use like 0:13:16.720 --> 0:13:20.400 three different types of smart speakers to interact with them, 0:13:20.640 --> 0:13:23.320 and remember which one controls the lights versus the air 0:13:23.320 --> 0:13:26.120 conditioning and all that kind of stuff. People just want 0:13:26.400 --> 0:13:29.040 their stuff to work, right, That's that's all we want. 0:13:29.080 --> 0:13:31.079 We just want our stuff to work, and we want 0:13:31.080 --> 0:13:33.560 to be able to pick which devices go where. So 0:13:33.720 --> 0:13:36.960 I think that's a good move. Now, those of it, 0:13:37.040 --> 0:13:39.559 y'all who who know what I look like, you might 0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:43.240 be surprised to hear my next ce S takeaway, which 0:13:43.280 --> 0:13:47.199 is the Loureal Color Sonic. This is device used to 0:13:47.360 --> 0:13:51.280 dye your hair from home without dealing with unpredictable results 0:13:51.280 --> 0:13:54.800 and all the mess that home dying jobs typically encounter. 0:13:55.559 --> 0:13:58.000 At least that's the sales pitch for the device. Now, 0:13:58.000 --> 0:14:01.400 the device looks a bit like an elect tronic brush. Uh. 0:14:01.440 --> 0:14:04.000 They have bristles that oscillate, and in between the bristles 0:14:04.040 --> 0:14:07.160 there are little nozzles. The device also has a space 0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:10.520 where you insert a cartridge of hair dye. Then they're 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:13.040 gonna have something like forty different colors when they actually 0:14:13.080 --> 0:14:16.840 launched this thing, which will be in twenty three. The 0:14:16.880 --> 0:14:19.720 device pushes the hair dye through those nozzles that are 0:14:19.720 --> 0:14:23.360 interspersed with the bristles, and the nozzles zigzag while the 0:14:23.360 --> 0:14:26.000 bristles oscillate, and you just brush it through your hair, 0:14:27.120 --> 0:14:29.080 so you you know, it's like you're doing just a 0:14:29.120 --> 0:14:32.240 once over through each section of your hair with this thing, 0:14:32.960 --> 0:14:35.400 and then you wait about half an hour, then you 0:14:35.480 --> 0:14:39.440 rense it out and voila, says Loreal, you have a reliable, 0:14:39.560 --> 0:14:43.560 consistent home hair dye job. This device is not scheduled 0:14:43.560 --> 0:14:45.960 to launch until twenty three, like I said, and I 0:14:46.000 --> 0:14:48.520 do not know how much it will cost, nor how 0:14:48.600 --> 0:14:52.160 much the cartridges will cost. I do know that they 0:14:52.240 --> 0:14:56.280 say that for most hair dye jobs, a single cartridge 0:14:56.280 --> 0:14:59.400 will be sufficient to do the full job. And for 0:14:59.440 --> 0:15:01.680 a lot of people, you might not even use up 0:15:01.680 --> 0:15:03.760 all the dye that's in a single cartridge, and you 0:15:03.760 --> 0:15:06.480 can just hold on to that and use it for 0:15:06.760 --> 0:15:10.160 a future application so that you're not having die go 0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:14.000 to waste. Uh. Seems pretty simple, at least as simple 0:15:14.000 --> 0:15:16.520 as brushing your hair, which I admit I have not 0:15:16.680 --> 0:15:19.800 done in about twenty three years, so it's possible that 0:15:19.800 --> 0:15:24.520 it's trickier than I remember. But whatever, Okay, y'all, I 0:15:24.560 --> 0:15:29.040 live in Georgia, and even without the issues of climate change, 0:15:29.600 --> 0:15:33.680 we rarely see significance amounts of snow. You're talking like 0:15:33.800 --> 0:15:36.880 maybe an inch or inch and a half. Possibly we 0:15:36.920 --> 0:15:40.280 see more ice than snow, which is way worse. But yeah, 0:15:40.360 --> 0:15:42.360 we don't get a less snow here. And since the 0:15:42.400 --> 0:15:45.560 weather this week the first week of January was hovering 0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:49.080 around seventy degrees fahrenheit, I suspect it might be a 0:15:49.080 --> 0:15:51.560 while before I get another big snowfall in my life. 0:15:51.680 --> 0:15:55.160 But for y'all who do see snow, maybe you would 0:15:55.160 --> 0:15:59.200 be interested in the Moonbike's snowbike. So yeah, it's an 0:15:59.200 --> 0:16:02.640 electric bike for the snow kind of like a paired 0:16:02.680 --> 0:16:07.360 down snowmobile. The handlebars steer a ski that's in the front, 0:16:07.760 --> 0:16:10.120 and the whole thing is propelled with a battery powered 0:16:10.280 --> 0:16:13.360 snow tread that's in the back half of the snowbike. 0:16:14.240 --> 0:16:16.240 I wouldn't be surprised to see something like this in 0:16:16.240 --> 0:16:19.000 a James Bond film, only I don't know that it 0:16:19.040 --> 0:16:24.280 lives up to Bonds, you know, very demanding specifications It's 0:16:24.280 --> 0:16:27.800 two thirds the size of a normal snowmobile, and according 0:16:27.840 --> 0:16:31.080 to Moonbike's CEO, the bike can hold up to two batteries. 0:16:31.120 --> 0:16:33.560 You can mount two different batteries in it, and each 0:16:33.600 --> 0:16:36.360 battery provides up to one and a half hour's worth 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:39.560 of writing time. Again, that's according to the CEO. I 0:16:39.600 --> 0:16:41.600 saw other people suggest that it might be closer to 0:16:41.600 --> 0:16:45.760 like forty five minutes, which is a significant smaller amount 0:16:45.760 --> 0:16:48.640 of time, like half the time. But I don't know. 0:16:48.720 --> 0:16:51.360 I haven't actually tested these. But unlike a lot of 0:16:51.360 --> 0:16:53.320 other stuff at c e S, this is a product 0:16:53.360 --> 0:16:57.120 that's actually launched right now. You can order one here 0:16:57.120 --> 0:16:59.800 in the United States and expect delivery before the end 0:16:59.840 --> 0:17:03.840 of January. Now, if you're wondering how much it costs, well, 0:17:03.880 --> 0:17:08.800 it'll set you back at minimum around bucks. That's eight thousand, 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:12.359 five hundred dollars. That's without adding a second battery or 0:17:12.400 --> 0:17:15.720 other options. It also doesn't include taxes, so you will 0:17:15.760 --> 0:17:18.040 be actually paying more than that. But hey, if you 0:17:18.119 --> 0:17:20.359 got around you know, like ten grand to burn, and 0:17:20.359 --> 0:17:22.240 you've got a ton of snow to tool around in, 0:17:22.840 --> 0:17:25.080 maybe this could be your new toy. I think it 0:17:25.160 --> 0:17:27.359 sounds pretty neat, but it's obviously meant for you know, 0:17:28.280 --> 0:17:31.720 someone else, like not me. And our next two items 0:17:31.720 --> 0:17:35.440 are all about virtual reality, and you know, VR has 0:17:35.480 --> 0:17:38.639 had a real slow burn as far as mass adoption goes. 0:17:39.160 --> 0:17:42.320 Part of that might be because traditionally VR headsets are 0:17:42.400 --> 0:17:45.200 bulky and uncomfortable to wear. In fact, the first time 0:17:45.280 --> 0:17:48.400 I ever wore a VR headset, it was supported by 0:17:48.440 --> 0:17:50.960 cables from the ceiling in order to take some of 0:17:50.960 --> 0:17:53.840 the weight off of the user, because otherwise it would 0:17:53.880 --> 0:17:55.479 just been too heavy. Plus I think I was like 0:17:55.800 --> 0:17:57.800 twelve at the time. It probably would have crushed me. 0:17:57.840 --> 0:18:00.760 I was, I was a wee up of a lad. 0:18:01.200 --> 0:18:06.359 But Panasonic is introducing a lightweight headset called the Megan 0:18:06.640 --> 0:18:11.240 X VR glasses. Megan X is really hard for me 0:18:11.320 --> 0:18:15.040 to say. It looks like Megan the name Megan followed 0:18:15.040 --> 0:18:18.200 by X. So if your ex's name Megan, maybe it'll 0:18:18.240 --> 0:18:22.280 be easy for you. Anyway. These glasses weigh in at 0:18:22.280 --> 0:18:25.080 about half a pound or just over eight ounces. The 0:18:25.119 --> 0:18:27.960 glasses look kind of like those sunglasses you see that 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:31.480 have the shields around them that blackout light from the sides. 0:18:32.119 --> 0:18:34.400 I always think of Judge Doom from who framed Roger 0:18:34.480 --> 0:18:40.160 Rabbit or David Tennant's Crowley from Good Omens, the television adaptation. Anyway, 0:18:40.720 --> 0:18:44.520 these obviously do not have transparent lenses because it's a 0:18:44.560 --> 0:18:48.320 VR headset, it's not an augmented reality headset. And there 0:18:48.320 --> 0:18:50.960 are speakers embedded in the frames of the glasses. I 0:18:51.000 --> 0:18:52.960 don't know if it's bone conduction or if it's just 0:18:53.040 --> 0:18:57.760 regular speakers. Um. And the frames actually do fold, so 0:18:57.840 --> 0:19:01.360 the the ears pieces do fold down like a classic 0:19:01.560 --> 0:19:04.480 pair of glasses do. And the display in these things 0:19:04.560 --> 0:19:07.640 is no joke. It's able to project five point two 0:19:07.800 --> 0:19:11.600 K resolution video with high dynamic range a K a 0:19:11.880 --> 0:19:14.760 h d R, which you know, provides those really vibrant, 0:19:14.840 --> 0:19:17.880 lifelike colors. And there's some stuff we don't know yet, 0:19:17.960 --> 0:19:19.760 like we don't know when it's going to be launched, 0:19:20.000 --> 0:19:22.320 we don't know how much it are gonna cost. We 0:19:22.359 --> 0:19:24.359 don't know whether or not they're going to be wireless 0:19:24.480 --> 0:19:26.520 or if you're going to be tethered to a PC 0:19:26.760 --> 0:19:31.320 in order to use them. Obviously, that's another big barrier 0:19:31.440 --> 0:19:35.960 to adoption for VR. Most people aren't too keen on 0:19:36.119 --> 0:19:39.120 having to be connected to a device. It limits your movement, 0:19:39.640 --> 0:19:43.920 so that's you know, the price, the weight, and tethering 0:19:43.960 --> 0:19:48.720 I think are three big barriers to mass adoption, but um, 0:19:48.760 --> 0:19:51.159 you know, this one looks pretty cool. I'm still not 0:19:51.359 --> 0:19:55.160 sold on VR becoming mainstream just yet, but this could 0:19:55.200 --> 0:19:57.320 be a look into a future that maybe could see 0:19:57.560 --> 0:20:00.720 more widespread adoption, at least among the those of you 0:20:00.800 --> 0:20:04.040 out there who could afford it. I don't count myself 0:20:04.080 --> 0:20:06.560 among those, by the way. And the other big VR 0:20:06.640 --> 0:20:09.720 story out of c e S is the PlayStation VR 0:20:09.920 --> 0:20:14.080 two and the VR two Sense controllers. Uh. This system 0:20:14.160 --> 0:20:17.920 is designed specifically for the PS five, which I'm told exists, 0:20:17.920 --> 0:20:20.320 but you know, it's still really hard to find one. 0:20:20.960 --> 0:20:24.280 The headset provides four K video with HDR and a 0:20:24.320 --> 0:20:27.960 one degree field of view. The display is an O 0:20:28.200 --> 0:20:31.200 LED display, and Sony says that the frame rate should 0:20:31.240 --> 0:20:35.120 be between ninety two one hurts. Frame rate is how 0:20:35.160 --> 0:20:38.640 many frames are presented to you per second. Generally speaking, 0:20:38.800 --> 0:20:40.840 you want a lot of frames to give a nice 0:20:40.840 --> 0:20:45.000 smooth experience. You want around at least sixty hurts typically 0:20:45.040 --> 0:20:49.080 for like the high end gamers, so hurts is good. 0:20:49.520 --> 0:20:52.119 It's also got eye tracking technology built into it, so 0:20:52.160 --> 0:20:54.160 not only can the headset track the way you turn 0:20:54.240 --> 0:20:56.920 your head, you can also detect what your eyes are 0:20:57.000 --> 0:21:00.200 looking at. That could potentially be useful for future game 0:21:00.240 --> 0:21:02.959 developers if they can find ways to incorporate eye tracking 0:21:03.040 --> 0:21:06.480 features that are a natural fit for the game. Obviously, 0:21:06.560 --> 0:21:08.120 just throwing it in there to throw it in there 0:21:08.520 --> 0:21:11.000 that never works out. We've seen it fail with stuff 0:21:11.040 --> 0:21:13.520 like the connect. But if you can find a way 0:21:13.560 --> 0:21:16.439 to incorporate it in a way that is fun and 0:21:16.520 --> 0:21:20.920 makes sense, maybe includes like accessibility features for people who 0:21:20.920 --> 0:21:24.840 otherwise would have trouble playing these things, I think that's great. 0:21:25.600 --> 0:21:28.920 The Sense controllers have haptic feedback. I always just think 0:21:28.920 --> 0:21:31.960 of that as a good old rumble pack and adaptive triggers, 0:21:32.000 --> 0:21:34.720 so in other words, the tension on the triggers can change. 0:21:35.040 --> 0:21:38.919 So Sony said, imagine that you're drawing an arrow in 0:21:38.960 --> 0:21:41.879 a bow. You might actually feel the resistance and the 0:21:41.880 --> 0:21:44.879 trigger to represent the resistance you would feel as you 0:21:44.920 --> 0:21:48.280 start to draw the bowstring back. Sony will be releasing 0:21:48.359 --> 0:21:52.320 a Horizon game for this system called Horizon Call of 0:21:52.359 --> 0:21:55.119 the Mountain, and it will be a VR showcase for 0:21:55.160 --> 0:21:58.560 this particular system. It was actually developed for VR from 0:21:58.600 --> 0:22:00.919 the beginning, so it's not a game that's been adapted 0:22:00.920 --> 0:22:03.960 for VR, but is this often the case with gadgets 0:22:04.000 --> 0:22:06.600 at c e S. We have no release date or 0:22:06.720 --> 0:22:08.960 price for it yet. I expect we'll hear a lot 0:22:09.000 --> 0:22:11.959 more of it later in the year. Sony typically holds 0:22:12.280 --> 0:22:15.679 one or two big events virtual events at least throughout 0:22:15.680 --> 0:22:17.360 the year, so I'm sure we'll hear more about it then. 0:22:17.920 --> 0:22:19.719 All right, we have a couple more stories to go 0:22:20.320 --> 0:22:22.560 before we get to that. Let's take another quick break. 0:22:30.080 --> 0:22:33.840 So it sounds like the metaverse was all over CEES 0:22:33.920 --> 0:22:37.960