Podcast: An Audio Walking Tour of CES 18

First Stop The Google Home Gallery E B Moss Google39s Consumer Electronics Show sponsorship presence was everywhere including the city39s monorail where they piped in audio to the passengers instructing them to learn how to utilize Google Home amp160David Polinchock That Hey Google kind of new audio assistant is what we39re getting in homes and in the rest of our lives One AR manufacturer announced a partnership with Alexa so you get voice control in your headsup display so you can see how this is changing how people are doing things at home One friend had one of the voice connection systems all throughout their house and had to take it out of the kids39 room because the kids were doing their homework by asking it all the questions and just getting all the answers Overall I think what people are looking for is a connection of all their things so it39s not quotI have this list over here and this list over herequot but with Hey Google on my phone when I get home at night I can follow up the conversation with my Google Home Assistant because it39s all connected We also have interactivity in air conditioners and washing machinesSo you39re seeing Hey Google and Alexa and other products leave the single device and get incorporated into all of our livesAudio Everywhere amp8211 A Chat with Tom Webster of Edison Research MediaVillage will be publishing more takeaways about updated smart speaker research that just came out in conjunction from Edison Research and NPR but a couple of specifics from his CES panel jumped out at meEB Tom you said gifting over the 2017 holiday season exponentially upped ownership of smart speakersTom Yes we39ve seen the initial adoption of smart speakers grow at a clip more than we saw smart phone adoption grow when we first started tracking With both Amazon and Google coming out with 29 units had a lot to do with that but I think eventually we39re going to stop caring about the devices themselves because that technology is going to just be baked into everythingE B What do you think Hey Google needs to do to compete more with Alexa which dominates the marketplace And you said we39re at about 16 ownership of smart speakers in America right now so there39s still plenty of growth opportunity there What are the differences and how do you see it competing moreTom They39re both going to be very competitive devices for a long time to come and for a lot of people it39s just learning the use cases We know from the previous Smart Audio Reports with NPR that 88 of people with an Alexa are Amazon Prime members So there is a natural connection there They39re already being marketed to in a way that is contextual for them And 44 of smart speaker users tell us they39re using the audio assistants on their phone more as a result of using the smart speaker So it39s just learning education and getting people context Ten years ago we used to ask quotWhat39s your mobile strategyquot Now I think it39s valid to ask quotWhat39s your audio strategyquot because people want to communicate with brands that they care aboutE B Yet perception of trust and security are a couple of obstacles we still have to overcome Tom They are valid concerns When we interviewed people who don39t own a smart speaker but who are interested in the category three of their top concerns were all related to security privacy having the government listen in on their data All of the makers of this technology are going to have to find ways to address them because it39s one thing to say 39OK Google or Alexa play some Fleetwood Mac39 it39s another to start reciting your credit card number into itFrom NoiseCancelling Headphones to TrafficCancelling Autonomous TransportationNext I spoke with Jeff Simcox Director of Marketing Communications for AudioTechnica on his idea to entice attendees into trying noisecanceling headphones via a welcome treat of a chair massage plus a tongue in cheek guided meditationmeets sales pitch amp160Then it was on to autonomous cars and Virgin39s supersonic Hyperloop all new forms of transportation that drove crowds to see and touch new ways to get aroundHyperloop looks like a long monorail pod from the future and we spoke to Director of Marketing Ryan Kelly amp160Ryan Kelly In 2013 Elon Musk had a vision for a new form of transportation and founded Hyperloop One Now we are actually Virgin Hyperloop One and just broke a speed record 240 miles per hour in 300 meters How Hyperloop is in a tube from which we suck out the air to almost zero atmospheric pressure to provide frictionless travel and reach higher speeds than trains that you might see in Japan It also means it39s more energy efficient and effective because once we start and accelerate we39re floating So this actually levitates above a track which is pretty unbelievable Think about where we39re going to be in 2021 amp8211 when we39d like to be up and running faster autonomous vehicles with cleaner energy and we are a completely energy agnostic solutionDavid So if I39m inside what39s my experience Ryan This is the first time that we39re talking about the passenger experience in public 2017 for us was what we call our Kitty Hawk moment to prove the technology works Now 2018 is about let39s get real how do we commercialize what39s the experience going to look like how do we work with regulators et cetera In the same way that in the digital space we expect fast on demand and a personalized customized experience we39re trying to bring that into the infrastructure mind frame which hasn39t necessarily been the case because this is one of the first new forms of transportation over 100 years Let39s say I book a ticket for the Hyperloop here in Las Vegas The app knows that I39m having a meeting with three other people that I met at CES so they39re going to give me a customized pod with a meeting table et cetera Versus 39I39ve had enough of CES and I don39t want to talk to anyone I know and I just want a silent pod39 In the future when we get this thing up and running and potentially maybe there are other apps like Seamless et cetera by the time I get home my pizza is thereAt Accessible Olli Brittany Stotler of Local Motors described their form of creating commuter connections for the differentlyabledBrittany This new project is about what it means for people that may not have the function that everyone else has as well as the aging community interact with selfdriving vehicles making it easier for them and ideally providing them more freedom For example how to make an Olli stop accessible for somebody who is visually impaired or wheelchair bound Ideally you39ll have an app on your phone requesting to get on the next Olli that39s coming into the station with your preferences set We39ve got a couple of different options with ultrahaptics a really neat technology system which for those who can39t see or have limited mobility they can actually rather than having to press a button they can just wave their hand in front of it and you feel it and it creates like a virtual button for themE B What39s the revenue model for thisBrittany We are selling Olli and Olli stops to cities master planned communities which is where a lot of the elderly will come into play amp160and then into large campuses and theme parks amp160E B Is there an opportunity or a plan to take advantage of some of the data capture via the appBrittany There is potential Currently we would own all of that data though our app but depending on the partnership it could potentially be a white label for a city39s Olli They can wrap it however they want on the exterioryou can have a video playing and it39ll go on any of our windows so it turns into almost mobile advertisingDavid For our readers and our listeners in this case I think this is an opportunity to reach this new audience in a very compelling wayBrittany Right Say you39re on a campus and students are going by a Peet39s Coffee every morning and as they39re rolling up to that stop Peet39s ad comes up on the app or within the bus to say 39come inside tell us you were just on Olli and here39s your discount code39 Then that39s another way whoever39s purchasing the vehicles can start recuperating and making money on the advertising pieceFor a less autonomous but very elevating experience we spoke to Workhorse about their quotoctocoperquot called the SureflyDavid What39s the range on this experimental aircraft this personal electric quotoctocopterquot Workhorse 70 miles With a gasoline generator that powers it without waiting for the lithiumion battery for hours to charge up and all that stuff A normal helicopter you have to have pedals and handles We fly like a drone All the kids here could jump in and say 39let39s go let39s take it up39 because they39re so familiar with video games which is like the way this flies It is also not as complicated as the helicopter and only has a ceiling height of flying of 4000 feet The helicopter39s been here for 78 years We39re planning on creating a new method of transportationDavid And what39s the price point on it or what will it beWorkhorse 200000 and for 1000 your place is saved in line and we would probably start delivering in 2020How It All Comes TogetherOne of the trends we see is serving the aging population which has a certain expectation level of service and experience and technology and that39s only getting bigger A lot of brands are really trying to figure out how to deal with a population that39s having vision problems and mobility problems and hearing problems But the 25year olds are very tech savvy They39re the Hyperloop audience they don39t want to be waiting on the street corner without having any idea of when the bus is coming So you39re seeing mobility things like Olli and transportation systems and whole ecosystems You39re seeing companion bots You39re seeing machine learning artificial intelligence computer vision coming into playAnd we39ve seen the trend of connectivity to make things easier in life like not having to pick up one device to do one thing and one device to do another or I want to get some place and how do I get there So everything is connecting us whether it39s virtually or physically like with Olli like with the experimental aircraft everything we39ve seen today is all about connectivityThe big thing is its connectivity that has value to you and me not connectivity that has value to some corporation I39m excited about a technology that will help my life be better and in the course of my life being better the company makes money off of that that39s great Like with Olli Where there are branding opportunities but it39s giving me something of value Gen Zs might say quotWe get that brands track us every day and we39re okay with that that39s the world But what they39re not okay with is 39you track me every day and then you don39t know who I am39 quotOur CES lesson is to quotconnect with me but in a meaningful valuable wayquotClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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