Among the “Magnificent 7,” Apple and Tesla chose not to attend, while Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Meta, and NVIDIA operated their booths with a certain restraint. Notably, Apple even announced its MR headset “Vision Pro” release date just one day before the CES kickoff — promptly setting the realm of spatial computing ablaze. Yet, the operational prowess of these “Magnificent 7” is nothing short of formidable. From Large Language Models to semiconductors, they wield control over the entire value chain, a testament to their staggering influence and capabilities.

Starting with LLM on the left, a diverse range of businesses, including cloud, data sources, mobility, robotics, and semiconductors, are aggressively pursued independently or through collaboration. This signifies the creation of their ecosystems, within which they can do anything with their proprietary technology. While not part of the M7, it's worth noting that Open AI's Sam Altman has reportedly secured an investment amounting to 9 quadrillion won.

Hwang Jae-sun, Vice President of SK Discovery, who has visited CES for ten years, assesses the event as having returned to its pre-COVID quantitative level(Source: T Times).

Tracing the evolution of CES highlights from 2010 reveals significant milestones: Alexa in 2017, autonomous driving in 2020, and robotics in 2022. This retrospective suggests that technologies unveiled at CES typically reach consumers within 3-5 years, though some innovations hit the market almost immediately.

Looking ahead, the main keywords of CES 2024 suggest that these innovations will seamlessly integrate into our daily lives within the next 3-5 years, potentially even sooner, given the rapid pace of AI development.

From the perspective of Amorepacific, a consumer goods company, it's crucial to revisit CES with a focus on consumer trends projected for 2035 by Bain & Company.

These trends are categorized into eight themes:
1. Re-routed: Changes in living and lifestyle, whether voluntary or involuntary, including working from home or satellite offices.
2. Gold or Old: The dichotomy within the aging population between those with spending power and those in need of care.
3. Conscious & Slow: Enhanced awareness of environmental sustainability and food technology.
4. Autonomous: Increased leisure time due to automation, robotics, voice recognition, IoT, AI, and inspiration shopping in beauty/fashion.
5. Originator: The growing influence of creators in content, product, and service, along with the significance of IP and consumer-as-creator dynamics.
6. Redefined Family: Evolving family concepts and the rise of single-person households.
7. Emotional Support: Mental health, community and empathy spaces, combating loneliness, and ‘dopamine dressing.’
8. SuperHuman: Enhancements in physical, mental, and emotional well-being, supported by devices, sleep, exercise tech, and Femtech.

Let's simplify further, though all eight points are crucial.
When do consumers decide to purchase electronics or any item? Centering on “me (the consumer),” we can categorize this into three primary considerations:
Things that make me physically comfortable: automation, robotics, autonomous driving.
Things that benefit my health and life: digital health, emotional empathy, superhuman.
Things for my living space, the world, and the Earth: security, eco-friendliness, the metaverse.

In essence, CES invites us to view innovation through the lens of products that ease our lives, improve our health, and benefit the planet.

1 “Things That Make Me Physically Comfortable”: Automation, Robotics, Autonomous Driving

When we talk about “Autonomous,” it generally refers to self-driving capabilities, encompassing both on-device intelligence and robotics. This includes innovations like Tesla's Optimus Gen 2 and AI-powered humanoid robots like Figure 01. Similarly, autonomous driving software from Tesla's FSD, Waymo, Cruise, Mobileye, and others fall under this umbrella (despite some controversies over their human mimicry).

Autonomous driving also ties into the concept of “Re-routed,” which denotes changes in living and lifestyle due to the freedom of movement. The advent of self-driving vehicles (SDVs) means that no matter where one resides, stepping into a vehicle will prompt it to autonomously navigate to the destination, leaving passengers to contemplate how they might utilize their travel time (prompting thoughts of services like the beauty taxi).

The metaverse is another frontier linked to the “Re-routed” theme. Wearable glasses and LOTTE Caliverse by Lotte Data Communication are pertinent examples.

Ultimately, the focus will shift beyond our physical spaces to content and devices designed for virtual engagement. This could manifest as AR meetings akin to those seen in “Kingsman,” digital twins, or tools for creating metaverse content. With Apple's Vision Pro and Meta Quest 3 introducing new paradigms in spatial computing, we stand on the brink of exploring the added dimensions these technologies bring to our digital and physical realms.

2 “Things that Benefit My Health and Life”: Digital Health, Emotional Empathy, Superhuman

At the dawn of liberation in 1945, the average lifespan hovered around 40 years. Considering that the lifespan in developed countries is now around 80 years, it's remarkable that this doubling took less than a century. As we enter an era of aging societies, the focus on “health” will intensify, directly connecting to themes like SuperHuman and Gold or Old.

1) Sleep Tech and AI Sleep Solutions by Brlab “Benjamin”

This innovation promises to take care of everything during the 8 hours we spend asleep. It utilizes a mattress equipped with “The Sleep AIDE™ Technology,” a proprietary sleep data analysis system. Through a dedicated mobile app, it monitors and controls one's sleep state before and after sleep by tracking biometric data such as heart rate, breathing rate, heart rate variability, and stress index, as well as sleep phases, cycles, immersion, body condition, and stress recovery indices. The technology, through ‘heart rate synchronization,’ aims to improve the overall sleep state of the user.

2) Cosmetics

The focus in cosmetics, as illustrated, is on fast and efficient innovation of products based on data, along with personalized diagnostics & skincare. L'Oréal's awards over the past three years in “Digital Health,” “Accessibility,” and “Digital Image Analysis” underscore a commitment to customized diagnostic care.

The strategy involves locking in customers through devices while gathering valuable data for R&D, thus creating a cycle of continuous customer experience enhancement. In Korea, Medicube's AGE-R is gaining market share and attracting significant interest for its IPO. Beyond the efficacy of the devices, the customer data gathered through usage patterns becomes a precious asset unique to the company.

Returning to L'Oréal, its generative AI chatbot Beauty Genius, mentioned at CES 2024, garnered attention for recommending products and makeup techniques based on users' skin conditions and concerns. Additionally, its collaboration with startup Zuvi to develop the next-generation hair drying tool “AirLight Pro” and the acquisition of Gjosa (patent holder for water-saving technology) to launch the Professional Water Saver is notable. L'Oréal's YSL Beauty Presents Scent-Sation, which diagnoses and recommends fragrances based on customer preferences, is another example of its innovative approach.

L'Oréal possesses numerous noteworthy solutions unrelated to CES, such as Giorgio Armani's ‘Meta Profiler,’ Lancôme's ‘Skin Screen,’ and Face Facts, all of which analyze and measure skin.

3) Digital Healthcare

Withings' “BeamO” combines a stethoscope, oximeter, electrocardiogram, and thermometer into one medical device, offering a convenient way to measure four key health indicators.

In the realm of emotional support, Embodied's Moxie AI stands out as a robotic friend aiding in children's emotional development. Whether cloud-based or on-device, the immediacy of its responses is crucial, and Moxie can converse in real time with minimal delay. The videos reveal an endearing voice that makes one genuinely desire its companionship.

3 “Things for my living space, the world, and the Earth”: Security, Eco-friendliness, Metaverse

The foremost concerns have been climate crisis, food security, supply chain security, and human security. Food technology was highlighted in the realm of food and climate security, including innovations like smart farms that produce food in limited spaces with minimal costs. Human security has been emphasized as a critical keyword for two consecutive events, reflecting the global effort to contemplate how humanity can survive environmental crises. The technologies being developed and cherished protect and wisely utilize the essentials we often take for granted: water, air, and light.

For a more user-centric approach, refer to the figure below.

From a more user-centric viewpoint, it's evident that many processes are becoming automated. Consequently, companies must provide consumers with more meaningful value and experiences. Instead of merely offering supplier-centric products, there will likely be an increase in products co-created with consumers, leveraging AI.

Whether this perspective is right or wrong, developing our viewpoints, it's crucial to develop one's perspective, to experiment from one's position, and to imagine and explore new changes. Serious contemplation will reveal others already on the path; if there's sufficient resonance, it's worth embarking on that journey ourselves.

Indirectly exploring CES has led me to realize that many things we've all wondered about at some point are rapidly approaching reality. Considering that such developments have been ongoing since CES's inception in 1967, it's awe-inspiring to see all the results produced by those who take action.

In these times, when so much is happening that it's impossible to try or know everything, let's focus on making new attempts within our capabilities, prioritizing choice and concentration!