NEW YEAR, NEW TECH

This year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas may have seen a drop in attendance, but the annual gathering of tech enthusiasts nonetheless pointed to a few important developments and trends in the tech space.

One was the summit’s first-ever keynote by a healthcare executive, reflecting the growth of the digital health market – which is expected to reach $600bn by 2024 – and the increasing interest of consumers and investors in it. The sector notably saw more than $20bn of venture funding in 2021, a record number and more than double the 2019 levels.

A range of digital health solutions were on display, from digital therapeutics to virtual care platforms to wearable devices. Medical device giant Abbott, for instance, announced a range of consumer bio-wearables to track key health signals like glucose and ketone levels. While some remain skeptical about the medical validity of the data collected by the average wearable product, the move of traditional players in this space highlights an openness to the technology, especially as wearable companies move to collect data more in line with clinical goals (for example, Apple’s smartwatches are now capable of detecting irregular heart rhythm).

Also noteworthy was the turnout from the auto industry, which showed up in record numbers in their effort to attract consumers amid a drop in car sales globally (15m vehicles sold in 2021 vs 17m in 2019). A bulk of the new technologies focused on improving the in-vehicle experience. Mercedez-Benz for instance previewed new voice technology powered by artificial intelligence that incorporates emotional expression for a more natural feel. Software company Cerence also unveiled an in-car assistant that can anticipate the needs of drivers and proactively initiate actions, such as scheduling a trip to a shop.

This duality – some might say competition – between hardware and software companies also came through on the vehicle front, with the Sony Group announcing the creation of a new company that will focus on the rapidly growing electric vehicle market. Automakers may have an advantage in the short term thanks to their supply chain expertise and ability to manufacture vehicles at scale. Yet it is also clear they are now highly dependent on the tech industry too, including the semiconductor industry.

Accounting for less than 10% of chip demand, the auto industry found itself at the back of the queue of the semiconductor supply. With the chip shortage expected to continue into 2022, automakers with a reliable supply of chips will be better positioned to innovate and deliver increasingly connected, autonomous and electric product lines - which will in turn help to increase their influence in the semiconductor value chain.

Many thus used the opportunity to announce key partnerships with chipmakers. Qualcomm, for example, will now be working with Volvo, Honda and General Motors to build out their next generation tech, such as infotainment systems, AI-driven in-car virtual assistance, and autonomous driving. Similarly, Intel’s automated vehicle tech company, Mobileye, announced deals with Ford, Geely, and Volkswagen. In an effort to consolidate its position in anticipation of its upcoming IPO, Mobileye also announced a new chip which it claims will help it achieve Level 4 autonomous driving.

Gaming companies have also had to adapt. The gap between supply and demand in the GPU market is so strong that despite price increases, prices for graphic cards on the secondary market can be up to three times the manufacturers’ suggested retail price. This has led major players like AMD and NVIDIA to announce new low-cost graphics cards in 2022 – though it’s still unclear whether these will be produced at a scale large enough to meet demand.

Not many technical details are known, but with only 4GB of memory AMD’s cards seem to be directly targeted at gamers. The 4GB threshold effectively makes the card off limits to blockchain miners, who have been a key driver of the GPU chip shortage. Meanwhile, Nvidia’s budget GPU will feature “Deep Learning Super Sampling,” a rendering technology that uses artificial intelligence to increase graphics performance in a computationally efficient way.

Finally, January also saw new development aimed at making the metaverse feel more real. Among these were the launch of the first consumer-ready haptic gloves, along with prototypes of a haptic gaming vest and a prototype bodysuit that reportedly enables users to feel temperature changes.

While the demand for immersive haptic technology is modest for now — Bhaptic’s gloves for example, are currently only supported by a handful of games and apps — this may change in the near future. According to a recent survey, for instance, nearly two consumers in three are interested in using physical touch to interact with others in virtual platforms in real time. And with VR and AR shipments expected to see three-fold and 20-fold rise in shipments by 2025 respectively, the demand base for such haptic interactions will increase substantially.