Some things in life are guaranteed: death and taxes, sure, but also that there will be robots at CES. I’ve met many robots at the Las Vegas tech show over the years — I’ve even played Cards Against Humanity and table tennis against a couple of them — and it’s always been a highlight of the event for me. As anticipated, the robots are back in force at CES 2024. Some have an element of personality to them, often through the inclusion of some kind of recognizable facial features, while others are just busy little autonomous machines with a job too. To our delight, many of them are making food and drink that we’ve been snaffling as we roam the convention center halls. Referring to these countertop machines as robots might have you asking what actually defines a robot — but worry not, it’s a question we answered all the way back at CES 2017. An unfortunate side note: Most of the robots we’ve seen at CES never make it out of the show and into the wider world, and certainly not into our homes. The huge leaps forward in AI we’ve seen over the past few years give me hope that home robots may yet make the leap off the show floor. AI is fundamental to the functioning of autonomous machines such as robots, and more advanced AI could well lead to robots that are capable of doing more than trimming our lawns and vacuuming our floors. The return of Samsung’s Ballie to CES didn’t come as a surprise. First unveiled at CES 2020, Ballie disappeared for a few years before bouncing back new with a built-in projector. Ballie is a combo of companion entertainer and security guard. It can follow you around your house with its wheels, analyze your posture using its camera and stream content for you. It’s also bright yellow, making it cute and hopefully so visible that you don’t trip over it in spite of its diminutive size.
Full story : All the Robots We Met At CES 2024, in One Place.
