Ultraleap booth at CES with Lynx R1 headset

CES 2023: An Ultraleap Rundown

Posted; January 31, 2023

At the beginning of January, the Ultraleap team headed to CES for the ninth time with more to show than ever before. Here’s the download of the action…

CES (Consumer Electronics Show) takes place every January and is often referred to as the biggest tech show in the world. Many were wondering what a post-pandemic CES would look like, and the good news was the event was back to strength. With an estimated 115,000 visitors and 3,200+ exhibitors over the four days, it was impossible to experience everything. Some lines were so large they broke the system. People queued by the dozens every day for demos, all wanting to get their hands on the latest innovations at the show.

Ultraleap’s booth was no different, with lines throughout the four days with people waiting to try our technology. For the first time, Central Hall was called Gaming, Metaverse, and XR and it was where we chose to locate ourselves for the event. It was a sold-out show floor that brought visitors from all different industries trying to figure out what the metaverse means to them.

XR

This year we were able to show off hand-tracking integrations in three different XR headsets.

Hot off the production line was Lynx R-1 which was named a CES 2023 Innovation Awards Honoree alongside Ultraleap. We hosted the Lynx team at our booth which helped to both bring and manage the crowds during the show. The excitement for this new mixed reality headset was tangible, with XR influencer Nathie and others saying it was the star of the show…

Using the Lynx R-1 you can high five in MR!

Using the Pico Neo 3 and Ultraleap’s Hand Tracking Accessory which launched in 2022, we showcased our updated launcher. The launcher is the first thing people use when turning on their headsets and helps organise every application that you need quick and easy access to. People new to VR were able to explore the demos on offer instantly and use a keyboard for word input without instruction or controllers, proving just how intuitive our hand-tracking technology is.

Man without controllers using Pico Neo 3 at CES with Ultraleap hand tracking

Pico Neo 3 and Ultraleap’s Hand Tracking Accessory bringing the crowds

Also on offer was the Varjo XR-3 which continues to impress, thanks to the combination of superior visual quality and our integrated hand-tracking technology.

As always, CES provided a rich ecosystem of visitors from OEMs, content developers, brands, and distributors. We were amazed and hugely encouraged by the range of new XR enterprise use cases and deployments that were discussed at the event.

Automotive

Haptics proved to be one of the core areas the press honed in on this year at CES and Ultraleap was at the forefront of the conversation in CNET editor Scott Stein’s round-up of metaverse technology for 2023.

The metaverse focus of our location proved to be a big draw for automotive visitors. CES was also the first event for us to show off our new haptics development. The timing of those two things worked very well.

Mid-air haptics demo at Ultraleap CES 2023 booth — The haptics demo lineup at CES

At CES we demonstrated how our mid-air haptics software, hardware, and tooling, can not only help keep eyes on the road and reduce distraction but can also help car brands emotionally connect their users to their vehicles by adding drama and theatre.

Ultraleap’s driving experience with mid-air haptics

Electric Vehicles and automated driving are the expected future and as a result, we are seeing a shift in focus from the vehicle and the powertrain to the in-car experience. In short, the definition of a good driving experience is changing. This was evident at CES, and BMW was the best example. They have built a brand over the last 100 years of having the best driving experience but have completely redefined what that means with their new i Vision Dee concept on the back of the changing market and user expectations.

OOH

Again, the metaverse term brought brands, retailers, and agencies to the hall, all looking for new and engaging ways to interact and engage with consumers. Touchless technology, powered by AI and computer vision was also a big theme this year.

Our Out-of-Home (OOH) and retail demos proved to be a crowd-pleasing hit, allowing participants to experience how 2D interactions can be revolutionised by our technology and are more engaging, cheaper and cleaner than touchscreens.

Visitors had an opportunity to interact with our brand-new ballpit demo. The experience demonstrated how TouchFree engages the user for longer, gamifying customer journeys and making memorable moments.

Touchless technology engaging CES visitors

Continuing from CES, our teams took these experiential retail demos on to NRF, the retail industry’s largest trade event in New York.

So, what next?

Bolstered by the overwhelming excitement and enthusiasm for all our demos, the show has confirmed the market demand and rapidly growing applications for our hand tracking and mid-air haptics solutions.

The event has helped us to verify and validate existing insights. More than ever, post-pandemic and post-metaverse launch behaviours are pushing a positive shift in attitudes, and the need for touch-free technology to interact with virtual content and engage more people is obvious.

At Ultraleap, we are raring to go for 2023 and our plans to make digital worlds feel more human remains our top mission. Want to keep up to date with our journey?