Tech CEO and gadget geek shares top 5 tech picks from CES Asia

I’m proud to be a geek – more specifically a gadget geek. You can label it however you’d like, but my lifelong fascination and indulgence in technology, biotech and gadgets has served me quite well. I assume if you’re reading this page, it is a term you also embrace. As CEO of a premium lifestyle tech accessory brand, I look forward to the opportunities I get throughout the year to peer into the windows of other technology, biotech, research and development companies to get a closer look at what they’re doing, and how it can change and shape the market in years to come. I appreciate their tenacity to develop, create and bring new innovations to market in a highly competitive space.

I spent a week mid this May in Shanghai. We, Catalyst, were one of hundreds of exhibitors at CES Asia. The Asia show is only in its second year and a fantastic addition to the event series. It is truly an amazing feeling when the booth is full of people looking into your window as a gauge of what the market has to offer. Catalyst had an amazing show.

On the last day, I had the opportunity to walk the floor and wanted to share some of the innovations that sparked my interest most. I’m constantly amazed when I check out advancements in technology that help to improve the quality of people’s lives, as it provides a glimpse at what we’ll be adopting in the future.

Intel Realsense

Photo credit: Intel

This is a 3D camera facial recognition software from Intel. Using only 78 data points, it allows you to 3D print yourself with amazing accuracy.

The applications to this technology are endless. The most interesting to me would be the use for biometrics, to identify yourself for security purposes (think dual recognition using TouchID and facial recognition). It also creates photorealistic 3D models of your family and friends. You can change perspective at how you look at the world, creating a 3D print of yourself to capture a moment by altering or completely swapping out the background in a video, in real time while recording it or input yourself into the latest new video game that you are playing.

Pilot

Self-driving cars may not be just something you see in an upcoming sci-fi flick but something you can experience for yourself soon. PILOT is a connected plugin device for cars that allows the car to drive for you. It’s a vision straight out of Disney’s Tomorrow Land.

As outlined on the website, its smart sensor plug-in sees and thinks from the roof of the car. You can use it as a driving advisor or connect it to your steering and braking systems and let it drive for you. It also gives you the capability to connect it to a real-time cloud service and avoid dangers before you see them.

PILOT is designed to increase safety and driving comfort, and decrease insurance costs from distracted driving. This provides a completely different perspective of what the roadways of tomorrow may look like. Pilot is taking pre-orders for a developer kit so you can try it out yourself.

Genetalks

Their website says: Biotechnology for Humanity – decoding genes for a healthier you.

The product that caught my attention was noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) that allows expecting mothers to scan for genetic abnormalities earlier in their pregnancy. The test can be taken as early as 10 weeks instead of the standard 14-20 weeks, with faster results.

More importantly, it eliminates the need for an invasive test that has possible risks of harming the fetus and which might lead to a miscarriage or cause infection. With its blood sample-based screening for genetic diseases and equipment that can be used at the point-of-care, test results can be available after a desktop diagnostic as opposed to waiting for weeks for a test lab to get results. The cost is also about one third that of traditional testing.

Avaz

Photo credit: Avaz

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