In the wake of the pandemic, the 51st edition of the world’s biggest tech show, CES 2021 was held virtually from 11th to 14th January. From AI-powered gadgets, flying car to robots and pandemic tech, CES 2021 is arguably the year’s most inclusive event. In line with the expectations, CES 2021 has also showcased a bundle of new products from key technology players.

Let’s look at some of the key AI innovations that dominated this year’s CES event.

Also Read: Top 10 AI-Powered Gadgets From World’s Biggest Tech Show: CES 2020

Samsung’s AI-powered household robots

With the vision of a ‘better new normal,’ Samsung unveiled a new AI-powered household robot — Samsung Bot Handy — for this year’s event. Bot Handy has a robotic arm to identify, grasp and pick up objects of various sizes, shapes, and weights. Designed to work around the house and help in household chores such as setting tables, picking up groceries and pouring water into the glass, Bot Handy is the perfect pandemic tech unveiled at CES 2021. Samsung has also launched robotic assistants, Bot Care and JetBot 90 AI+, equipped with LiDAR sensor technology and AI capabilities. With AI-enhanced object-recognition technology, the robots can work out distance and precise location coordinates to perform a task efficiently.

AI-powered Hearing Aid

Oticon, a hearing aid manufacturer, has revealed the first AI-powered hearing aid — Oticon More — embedded with a deep neural network. Oticon More’s DNN is trained on 12 million real-life sounds and equipped to meet the space and power challenges of hearing aids. Unlike traditional sound algorithms, it provides a natural palette of sounds to the users, based on extensive experiential learning. The device delivers a full and precisely balanced sound landscape for optimal human perception. It further enables the users to understand speech, with less effort and remember more. This AI-based innovation was also a CES 2021 Innovation Award Honouree.

Rollable Chess Computer With AI Opponent

Chessboard makers, Square Off, introduced the world’s first rollable chess computer with an in-built AI opponent. The company has also launched two new chess boards, namely the Square Off Neo and Square Off Swap. While Neo is affordable, lighter and faster, Swap has been touted as the first-of-its-kind multi-board game with an automated device which lets players take advantage of several games in one platform. The company uses telerobotics to manufacture the automated chess boards where players can either play against human opponents worldwide or an AI opponent. The device is slated for release in March 2021.

Bosch’s CubeRover Robots

At this year’s CES event, Bosch announced its vision to leverage AI and IoT to improve people’s health and protect our planet. One of the critical projects unveiled at CES 2021 is to use AI technology to develop small shoebox-sized robots to operate on the moon. Bosch is collaborating with Astrobotic, WiBotic and the University of Washington to build CubeRover robots to navigate the moon’s surface autonomously. The project has recently secured a $45.7 million contract from NASA to design the robots lightweight with ultrafast wireless chargers that could help humans and robots function on the moon. CubeRover robots will have an intelligent autonomous navigation system that will enable it to find charging docks. The robots are expected to be demonstration-ready by 2023.

LG Virtual Influencer & AI Robots

LG presented its keynote and showcased its products at CES 2021 via a virtual influencer called Reah Keem. A DJ and a travel junkie, this virtual influencer revealed LG’s new CLOi robot for disinfecting surfaces along with its other smart-home innovations. LG brought out Reah Keem to highlight its latest innovations and promote the company’s technology by performing its task. The avatar is trained with deep learning technology and exudes personality, complete with Instagram and SoundCloud profiles. 

YSL’s AI-powered Lipstick Device

While L’Oreal debuted at CES 2020 with its prototype smart skincare system, this year the company has announced an AI-powered lipstick device — Rouge Sur Mesure — available to buy under the Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) brand. The AI-powered lipstick device is designed to generate a new lipstick shade at the behest of customers. It uses colour cartridges and a trained AI-based system to create thousands of bespoke shades of lipsticks with one touch. The device comes with an app to select the shade. Rouge Sur Mesure costs $299 and is available for preorder.

UBTECH AI-Powered Disinfecting Robots

A maker of intelligent humanoid robotics with AI technologies, UBTECH announced its newest additions of AI-powered robots at CES 2021. These robots include — a UV-C disinfecting robot — ADIBOT, and an intelligent logistics robotic system — AMR. The disinfecting robots leverage UBTECH’s AI expertise with a UV-C technology to sanitise targeted surfaces. The highly comprehensive AI platform provides the most intimate human-robot interactive experiences. The robots are available in stationary and autonomous models and have powerful disinfection capabilities with 99.9% accuracy.

Mercedes Benz’s AI-Enabled Hyperscreen

Mercedes Benz has unveiled its 56-inch in-car AI-enabled display unit, called MBUX Hyperscreen. The “biggest ever built-in Mercedes,” the hyper screen leverages the built-in artificial intelligence with context-sensitive awareness that learns the users’ usage and promotes features and controls according to the needs. The entire display unit is powered by eight CPU cores and 24-gigabytes of RAM, with AI-powered user interface. The hyper screen will be presented with the new release of Mercedes in the spring of 2021.