Each first full week in January, companies descend upon the Las Vegas showfloor to display what they think the future of technology will look like. The Consumer Electronic Show, or CES, is where new advancements in technology have made their debut, from foldable smartphones to rollable TVs. This year’s CES took place Jan. 7 to 10 at the Las Vegas Convention Center and featured a wide range of trends, from plant-based pork to exoskeletons that helps the user easily lift 200 pounds.

Impossible Foods has been behind products such as the Impossible Burger, offering plant based alternatives to meat in an effort to reduce greenhouse gasses. The company unveiled their pork alternative at CES to good reviews from attendees. The “pork” is made from soy, sunflower oil, coconut oil, and a variety of binders and flavorings. Impossible Foods also plans on releasing plant based bacon and sausages in the future. 

Cars also turned heads, with Mercedes-Benz collaborating with James Cameron to create an Avatar-themed concept car called Vision AVTR. The car aims to create a symbiote-like bond with the driver, with features such as pulse detection and breath sensing technology. Mercedes isn’t the only company that surprised attendees with a car as Sony came out with their own electric vehicle, dubbed the Vision-S. Traditionally associated with gaming due to the Playstation, Sony’s concept vehicle is equipped with 33 sensors that help with driving and monitoring the passenger’s health. It also comes with a large panoramic screen for watching videos and a spatial audio system, taking advantage of the company’s entertainment background. 

Ben Jamison, a senior in the Humanities program, states: “ I want to see advancements in VR because I really enjoy virtual reality and I look forward to all the improvements that will be made in this technology. I like using my virtual reality headset because it can make you feel like you are anywhere in the world and it has lots of fun VR games.”

Folding technology was also a central focus at CES this year, with companies such as Intel, Dell, and Lenovo each releasing their own version of a folding screen laptop. However, Lenovo’s Thinkpad X1 Fold is the only product that will actually be available to consumers this year. The Thinkpad features a 13.3 inch OLED screen with a 4:3 aspect ratio and allows users to type with an on-screen keyboard. However, the Thinkpad will cost $2,499, making it one of the more expensive laptops on the market. 

Jamison concludes, “I think that voice control will expand rapidly over the next few years because so many major companies, like Google and Amazon, have joined the voice control industry and I think that the competition will likely lead to more advancements in voice control.”