Techies from around the world flock to Sin City

LAS VEGAS (CN) — More than 100,000 people from all over the globe have descended upon the city for the world’s largest technology bash held mostly at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

CES, produced by the Consumer Technology Association, began its four-day run Thursday. The event, not open to the general public, highlights the latest offerings and innovations being produced. More than 3,200 exhibitors are participating, spreading the word about their products. There’s 2.1 million square feet of space being utilized, which includes venues on the Strip.

One key tool for attendees wasn’t at all high tech: comfortable shoes.

“It’s overwhelming for a first-timer. It’s more massive than you can ever imagine without being here in the past, but it’s everything you need if you’re in tech,” said Brett Perloff, a senior vice president of TVCoins, which builds streaming apps for video content owners who don’t have their own apps.

Electric power was a popular theme from exhibitors.

Aiper was showing off its cordless robotic pool cleaner. You charge the battery, put it in the pool and let it do its thing (while you are admiring the pool).

“It’s the first completely robotic swimming pool cleaner,” said Brett Korner of Aiper. “It understands where it needs to clean and it gets to it.” Korner and his colleagues had a 10-foot by 10-foot by 2-feet deep plexiglass pool to demonstrate the robot.

The robotic cleaner has four independent motors for suction and four independently driven wheels, so it’s good to go on pool bottoms, walls, even water tile lines. Best of all, says Korner, there are no bags to buy. Pool owners just take the basket out of the unit, empty it, and put it back in the unit.

That wasn’t the only innovation for around the house. Yarbo was showing off its autonomous, electric lawn mowing robot. Don’t like mowing the lawn?  The positioning system and algorithms enable the mower to work within virtual boundaries, and it can perform on uneven surfaces and it goes around obstacles.

The United States Postal Service even got in on the action. It was displaying its new electric delivery vehicle. The postal service has come a long way since those little Jeeps with no air conditioning.

“This vehicle has all the modern safety features. Its got emergency braking, its got 360 (degree) cameras. So that makes it really great for a carrier,” said James Boxrud of the postal service. He said the carriers are extremely excited about the new electric vehicles, but there is one amenity that they all think is really cool: air conditioning. The vehicle also allows carriers to stand in the back, with shelves for parcels. It stands close to 10 feet high.

“We’ll start seeing these come out as early as this October in selected areas,” said Boxrud, who explained that the postal service has to make sure the necessary infrastructure is in place in the various markets.

For those who prefer transportation in the air, Ryse of Ohio was displaying what it calls the Ultralight eVTOL. The electric, vertical takeoff and landing vehicle, costs $150,000 and can fly for 25 minutes on one charge. No special pilot’s license is needed.

Melissa Kowitz of Ryse said the Ultralight eVTOL has practical uses for farmers, cattlemen and companies that have to keep an eye out for land or equipment.

And there might be a few takers of the Ultralight eVTOL who describe themselves as adventurers.

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