Las Vegas is currently hosting its massive yearly Consumer Electronics Show (CES), and the venue is packed with quirky inventions. Think hospitality droids, gesture-based drones, and massage seats priced like luxury vehicles — CES serves up a buffet of products that either leave you slightly unsettled or genuinely thrilled about the latest audio gear.
Walking the exhibit hall for the first time, I dedicated several hours to hunting for standout experiences.
Several exhibits caught my eye: Skully's motorcycle helmet, equipped with a rear-facing camera and a compact heads-up screen letting riders monitor their back; Tobii, a Swedish firm, demonstrated eye-tracking tech that allowed me to target a virtual firearm using only my gaze; and Furrion showcased an 8,000-pound robotic exoskeleton reportedly capable of hitting 20 mph, according to The Verge. (It was merely on static display — its movements were viewable solely through an online video.)
The absolute highlight, though, was Forpheus — Omron's Japanese-engineered Ping-Pong robot, which consistently pulled massive crowds during its live demonstrations.
Standing roughly 10 feet high and wide enough to overwhelm most home rec rooms, the machine is marketed as a "table tennis tutor" designed to sustain rallies while coaching its human opponent.
Its tech was impressively capable. Relying on camera arrays paired with AI algorithms, Forpheus tracks the ball and calculates returns in mere milliseconds.
Anyone familiar with the sport understands the mental juggling required — factoring in velocity, spin, trajectory, and the precise return angle to stay in play. The robot managed this with ease. Per Omron's website, the system "detects ball position up to 80 times per second." It can even analyze "opponent movements" to anticipate power smashes. Impressive.
A robotic table tennis partner hardly qualifies as essential. Yet it's not hard to envision such precision tracking and near-instantaneous detection influencing broader sectors, including transit and logistics.
If nothing else, it's a fun way to polish your backhand.
