By CES can be a mixed bag, but it’s also a fascinating glimpse into where the tech industry thinks it’s heading. Beyond the overused trend of slapping AI onto everything—often to the point where it loses all meaning—there were several other exciting developments. Some of these ran the gamut from paper batteries to smart indoor gardens, and even to technologies that directly impact our lives and health. Surprisingly, nuclear fission and fusion companies made a notable appearance this year, and let’s not forget the solar-powered hat … yes, that’s actually a thing. There truly was a bit of everything this year. But what should you really keep an eye on?
Trade shows like CES are often brimming with vaporware and lofty promises, but if you sift through the noise, you can find some real gems. So, what were the five highlights that I think are worth watching—and that most media coverage missed? I’ve also got a couple of honorable mentions that I’ll throw in at the end.
Battery Tech
It’s no surprise that battery technology grabbed my attention—it’s always a hot topic. Two innovations stood out this year: lithium-sulfur batteries and paper batteries … yes, paper.
If you’ve been watching my channel for a while, the name Lyten may sound familiar. I’ve talked about their lithium sulfur battery a couple of times before, like back in 2022 and 2023. To refresh you about what makes these batteries worth keeping on eye, the California based company has battery cells that avoid heavy minerals like nickel, cobalt, graphite, or iron and phosphorous. This means it’s about 50% lighter than the very popular NMC and 75% lighter than LFP batteries at the same energy storage capacity (about a 320 Wh/kg gravimetric density).1 The materials are also very easy to source, so it’s possible to make them with more local supply chain sources. They’re expecting to break ground on a new Gigafactory in Reno, NV this year.2
And while we’re talking about batteries that are easier to source, how about sourcing paper. Flint, which is based in Singapore, has a mission to build the world’s most sustainable battery … and what they have is kind of incredible. No lithium, no nickel, and no cobalt. It’s cellulose based and uses zinc and manganese. They’re rechargeable, flexible (the demo unit on display was kind of crazy), and fully compostable at the end of their life. The company is initially focusing on consumer electronics, so think of small coin cell batteries or devices like smart watches. But … they can scale this technology up to much larger form factors down the line. I’m thinking of diving into this one more for a future video, so let me know if you’re interested.
That fully compostable battery leads me right into …
Indoor Gardens
I was surprised by the number of gardening or plant related technologies that were on display this year. I do not have a green thumb, but I’m very interested in trying to grow more of my own food, so these caught my eye.
Hydroponic systems have always been interesting to me for the effective use of space and consistent growth you get from them. If you live in an apartment or don’t have a yard, growing your own food gets challenging, if not impossible. That’s where Plantaform comes in. While these types of systems aren’t exactly new, how the Plantaform works is a little more unique. This system is fogponics, which is a subset of aeroponics (growing plants without soil). Fogponics sets itself apart from traditional aeroponics by how it delivers nutrients to plant roots. While standard aeroponics relies on spraying nutrient-rich water in relatively large droplets, fogponics uses techniques like ultrasonic vibrations, compressed air, or heating elements to create an ultra-fine mist with tiny water particles (ranging from 5 to 30 microns) or even a vapor. That means a system like Plantaform uses up to 98% less water than traditional gardening, and 30-50% less water than a hydroponic system. The Plantaform is fully automated, so it’s as easy as dropping in a seed pod and letting it take care of itself. Now, it’s not cheap at $499 for the setup and $29.99 for the pod packs, but for some this may be the perfect solution for your home.
And if you have a tendency to overwater or underwater your plants, like I do, the Leafypod caught my attention. It’s basically a rechargeable smart pot that has a reservoir of water on the bottom. It monitors the moisture level of the soil and based on the type of plant you have in the pot, it will automatically water the soil. They told me that the reservoir can keep the plant watered for -2 months depending on the plant and conditions. It’s pretty straightforward, but again … pricey … coming in at $149. This type of tech isn’t exactly groundbreaking, but if you lack a green thumb it may be worth it to you.
Health
I kind of have an obsession with health tech, which doesn’t come across on the channel that much … or my physique. But with the tagline of my channel being, “Exploring how technology impacts our lives,” you don’t get much closer to that than some of the tech I saw at CES. Historically, we’ve been kind of limited to devices that can take our blood pressure and check our temperature, but with the aid of … dare I say it … AI and wider availability of cheaper sensors, we’re able to monitor far, far more at home now.
The company, SmartSound, was a new one to me. They had a couple of AI (yes, AI again) stethoscopes: Skeeper and WITHaPET. The Skeeper model is geared towards home, pharmacies, and schools. The WITHaPET is geared towards … well … your pet. They can listen to your lungs or heart to pick up on possible health conditions like murmurs and valves, and lung crackles and wheezing. You can send the results to your doctor for further analysis.
Adding on to that were a bunch of automatic blood pressure cuffs, which on the surface aren’t anything new. However, these newer models bring more features and accuracy than older versions. Withings announced the new BPM Vision, which supports up to 8 user profiles, has interchangeable cuffs, and a built in rechargeable battery that can supposedly last up to a year. What I find the most interesting about this and the entire line of Withings health devices is the optional Withings+ subscription service. It gives you access to what they call Cardio Check, which means your results are checked out by board-certified cardiologists on a regular basis for any issues. I know AI is all the rage, but having actual doctor’s monitoring the data coming in from your health devices is a really compelling option.
Assistive Tech
Building right off of health tech is what’s happening with Assistive Tech. Glidance really jumped out at me for this year’s show. Now this is one piece of tech where the term, AI, makes a little more sense. It’s a device meant for blind or low vision users to get around in the world without a traditional cane or guide dog. The little robot at the end of the handle is like a little autonomous vehicle that will navigate you around people, obstacles, stop at curb sides, etc. It can locate doors, stairs, escalators and much more. You can use it a lot like how you’d use Google Maps. Tell it where you want to go and it will find the best path to get you there. It even has a built-in speaker and bluetooth functionality for headphones, so it can give the Glidance user audio feedback about what it’s seeing. This kind of assistive technology could be transformative for so many people. It’s really remarkable.
Home Energy
And finally is the technology that’s right in my wheelhouse, which is home energy tech. At last year’s show there were countless portable battery companies on the show floor, and almost all of them had modular whole home energy storage systems. This year there weren’t quite as many, but … there were still a lot. One company jumping into the fray that I think is notable is Jackery. You may be familiar with their portable battery packs, but they’re now jumping into not just the whole home energy storage market, but the energy generation side too.
On the generation side, Jackery has a solar roof curved tile, which is the first of its kind in the US market. They claim the cells have a 25% efficiency, which is surprisingly high compared to a typical solar panel in the low 20s. I need to dig into that more because there is a difference between cell efficiency and panel efficiency, so comparing the two that way may not be 1:1. They come with a 30 year warranty and can handle hail, high winds, and temperatures between -40°F to 185°F (-40°C to 85°C). They come in an orange/terracotta color, as well as black and look fantastic in person. They felt very durable in person too, so it does seem like they would stand up very well to the elements.
This is where their whole home energy storage system comes in. They’ve got a HomePower Inverter that comes in 7.6 kW and 11.4 kW capacities, and has a 98.5% efficiency rating at funneling that power into the battery system. It also has a 97% efficiency conversion from the battery (DC) into AC for the house.
The LFP battery system is modular and can be stacked with ranges from 7.7 kWh to 15.4 kWh and then daisy chained up to 123.2 kWh. Basically, far more than a typical house would ever need. And this is then wired into their HomePower Hub, which manages the load from multiple systems and critical loads, including generator backups. It’s a really compelling system they’ve designed.
Honorable mentions
Beyond those main 5 topics that caught my attention, there are a few rapid fire honorable mentions. In no particular order …
Bosche showing off their BMV080 particulate matter sensor, which they claim is the world’s smallest PM2.5 sensor. You can get your hands on this sensor in the Purple Air Pixel, which plugs into any USB slot.
Then there was Hydrific, which is a whole home water monitoring system. It clamps on to the mains water line coming into your home, uses ultrasonic sensors to monitor flow, right through the pipe, and can detect water usage, leaks, and tell you where your water use is going. I have something similar in my house, but this device is far easier to install without needing to do any plumbing work.
And finally, I stumbled upon the ARPA-E booth, which had a bunch of interesting companies there, like Terra Fusion, Wright Electric, and Niron Magnetics. There’s too much to go into here, but Wright is developing electric jet engines and batteries for flight. If you’re interested in hearing more about any of those, let me know in the comments.
Comments