The Consumer Electronic Show (CES) is all about the technology we will be using either tomorrow or within the next 20 years. It's an amazing show that encompasses The Las Vegas Convention Center (2.9M SqFt of exhibition space), and five Casino convention facilities; it's massive. The approximate attendance figure for this year's CES is 148,000.
I’ve been going for 10+ years because I am interested in technology and its impact on society. This year I was specifically looking for sources of inspiration for my 'Still Life with Technology' project which began last year, supported in part by a grant from The Nevada Arts Council and National Endowment for the Arts. I am now working towards an exhibition using the same theme at the College of Southern Nevada later this year.
The future is undoubtedly going to be electric
So, what did I discover and what did I find inspiring or interesting? Well, the future is undoubtedly going to be electric; we will need electricity for everything we do, like we do now but even more so especially if we all want AI companions. AI consumes a lot of resources, it needs power, memory, and bandwidth. Global supply chains are still recovering from Covid shutdowns leading to a shortage of things like glass, memory and semiconductors, skilled workers are also still in short supply, and a lot of what there is, is being sucked up by the development of AI.
I have to confess that I did not see everything at CES, that is almost impossible, but I wasn’t excited by any one new thing because there wasn’t really any one new thing, it was overwhelmingly AI enabled products, and if your tech isn’t using AI then there is a fashionable consensus that it is not innovative. Seriously though, do we really need AI-enabled coffee makers, pet harnesses and hair driers? It was all feeling a bit desperate and a bit wrong, I think we need to start thinking about an AI resource footprint like we do Carbon offsetting.
Physical AI
I was however interested in ‘Physical AI’. This is a positive because it implies that AI can be trained on simulated data because the data will accurately reflect the real world, the AI literally understands physics. This will mean less reliance on capturing everything in real time and so applying this to autonomous vehicles would mean getting to self-driving cars faster and they will be more ubiquitous. The idea is that the car will become an entertainment space, a moving living space, and not a place where you miss things because you are traveling. You won't be driving your car as quickly as you can to your next destination, you will be relaxing in it, enjoying 'the game', and maybe even having a drink!
You may have heard of Agentic AI; it's where your voice assistant books your flight, hotel, etc. all on its own. Well, none of the current agents are 100% accurate so if you are fine going on holiday to Austria rather than Australia that will work for you. It's the last around 5% of accuracy that really matters and is the hardest percentage to fix.
Quantum computing is real
Quantum computing is real but unusable by us ordinary folk; you may think you have problems, but they just aren't big enough for Quantum computing. It also won't replace classic computers, so there is no need to worry about it for now or even for many more years; it doesn't have to be on your 2026 Christmas list. If you find random numbers interesting, and you should, because we all need our data encrypted, then this might be something quantum will help with, but again it won't be something we will be doing in our home offices. As an aside, did you know that currently some random numbers are not random? It’s important because we need to send our personal and banking information securely, it is very important, and random numbers are the way the key to that data is created. If a number isn’t random, a hacker can ‘break’ it faster.
Smart glasses are now just incredible
Smart glasses are now just incredible, and they look like ordinary glasses. Imagine never saying anything stupid ever again! The glasses are multi-function, they sense, see and hear, they can feed you what to say when asked any question, they can literally read the world to you. OMG, you'll just look like a genius in every subject, not that that will make you more attractive, probably not. These glasses will be invaluable to blind people, the world will be revealed to them and hopefully increase independence and represents a step up from having a guide dog, although as I write that, I’d still rather have a real living breathing dog. A friend of mine had a guide dog, he said it once inadvertently knocked him over, it was unexpectedly distracted by someone carrying a bag of roast chicken. It must be said that Rufus was a young and newly trained guide dog.
Humanoid robots
Talking of dogs, Jenny the golden lab from Tombot, an emotional support dog for the elderly, was not convincingly realistic but realistic enough to generate an emotional attachment. There were a lot of companions and ‘pets’ at CES, what does that say about our future, what does that say about civil society and our willingness to care? Oh no, I’m getting all doom and gloom, and I don’t want to as there really are some amazing health technologies at CES.
Humanoid robots were everywhere this year. Atlas from Boston Dynamics was quite incredible in terms of the conditions it can work in, its dexterity, the smoothness of movement, what it could lift and so on, and its ability to work in environments that would be deadly for us was quite extraordinary. The Unitree G1 Humanoid Robot was able to box, do Kungfu and dance, there were boxing matches with other G1 robots and with human journalists, it was quite disturbing. I couldn’t help but worry about meeting a group of them hanging out at the mall. I’m sure they would pick on me just like Alison Jones did at school, I didn’t like it. Just so you know they are available now and retail at $21,600.00 so get ready to take a swing if you need to, yikes!
Innovation awards at CES
I love the innovation awards at CES, these give you a sense of what is considered useful and groundbreaking. Let’s start with the Antigravity A1 Drone and VR Goggles. The ‘world’s first’ 8K 360 immersive viewing system for drone pilots, you’ll feel like you are flying while seeing the IRL drone footage from above.
The Grassroots Climate Grid is an ultra-local weathervane and green energy generator based on a patented vertical-axis turbine system. I am increasingly liking energy generating systems that will cut my bills and dependence on NV Energy :^) It also uses a decentralized network to gain and share data, that’s nice too.
Another self-generating energy product is the WE-STIM CalfSleeve, it generates ‘micro’ electricity from your movement and delivers it back to help heal your calf muscles, you could run forever in these! Well not really but that might happen soon.
10 out of 10 for quality and vibe
To sum up CES 2026 I would say that it was exciting, I continue to love the buzz, the throngs of people and an amazing look at a possible future, so it’s a huge 10 out of 10 for quality and vibe.
Sometimes shows like CES make the march of technology feel inevitable but it isn’t, no one knows what lies ahead, and you can have a say, but you do need to act soon. The future can be yours and it’s interesting to note that the majority of the American public are concerned about AI, it isn’t as inevitable as you might think. A few dedicated people can change the world, in fact that’s exactly how it is changed, so if you don’t like the ‘tech bros’ idea for the future speak up now, find your tribe, and activate your ideas for your own utopia.
When someone tells you who they are, believe them
Every piece of tech I saw had good and bad uses, those smart glasses are liberating for some and at the same time destroy the privacy of others. Was demonstrating fighting robots a great idea? Makes me think of Maya Angelou’s quote “when someone tells you who they are believe them”. What stops wars is compassion and the inability to accept more suffering, these robots aren’t programmed to understand the impact of their actions.
Be a part of the future you want
It’s going to be hard for us to imagine a future in the way the science fiction writers did because the massive amount of compute coming online will be beyond our own ability to comprehend. Everything is possible, curing cancer to ending civilization as we know it. What we know is that the need for energy, raw materials and skilled labor will drive the economies of the world, the benefits to humankind and, at the same time, the darker dystopian possibilities. My advice is to get involved, make yourself heard and be a part of the future you want and not the one imposed upon you.
Zoë Camper @zoeacamper zoecamper.com
