The world's largest consumer electronics show, CES 2020, opens soon
Technology is expected to be utilized in the food, health, care and treatment sectors.


The world's largest home appliance exhibition, 'CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2020', hosted by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), will be held for four days from January 7 to 10, 2020 in Las Vegas, USA.

Ahead of the opening of CES 2020, CTA released the '5 Technology Trends to Watch 2020' in November. The five technology trends selected by CTA are ▲Digital Therapeutics ▲Flying Cars ▲The Future of Food ▲Facial Recognition ▲Robots.


1. Digital Technology Beyond Healthcare to Treatment
Until now, technology has developed around 'digital health,' which means patients connecting to or utilizing technology for health-related purposes. It is expected that the focus will now be on ‘digital therapeutics’.

Digital therapeutics refers to an independent field of technology that provides direct 'therapeutic interventions' to patients through software to prevent, manage, and treat medical disorders or diseases.

Digital treatments are not limited by time and place, and guarantee a certain degree of anonymity, so it is expected that they will be of great help in various fields where traditional existing treatments were not suitable.

In the field of digital therapeutics, a variety of wearable devices and software are being developed to treat mental health-related disorders and diseases using leading technologies such as AI and VR.

Telemedicine to prevent drug abuse, mobile apps providing digital subscription treatment, and various technologies that combine digital treatment with drug treatment are attracting attention.

At CES 2020, various companies are expected to showcase digital therapeutic platforms, and it is expected that attention will be paid to digital therapeutic technologies that enable consumers to ‘manage stress’ and ‘relieve pain.’

In particular, we can pay attention to digital therapies that maximize users' positivity and sense of healing by allowing them to experience the healing process in a virtual space using VR and AR, as well as wearable devices that calm the brain with vibrations to relieve symptoms such as headaches or stomachaches.


2. Flying cars become the next-generation transportation system
The 'flying taxi' industry, which utilizes vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (VTOL), a combination of helicopters and drones, is growing, led by Uber.

CTA predicts that this will be one of the most notable technology fields driven by advances in foundational technologies such as autonomous vehicles, electric vehicles, sensors, hardware and software, batteries, and vehicle-to-vehicle connectivity.

According to a report published by Morgan Stanley Research in December 2018, the overall market size of the U.S. VTOL sector is expected to grow from approximately $2 billion in 2020 to $21 billion in 2025, and the global VTOL market is estimated to reach approximately $328 billion in 2040.

Although there are still issues to be resolved for the commercialization of VTOL, various companies in related fields are actively developing technology, and the development of a system that can manage air traffic is also being promoted.

The tech community's interest in new transportation options of the future continues to grow, with hybrid air taxis and self-driving aircraft among the most talked-about exhibits at last year's CES.

CES 2020 will feature a variety of sessions on the next generation of transportation, as well as how aerospace, transportation and technology companies are transforming the way we get around.


3. Future food, changing society
Advances in food-related technology are changing not only food producers, distributors, and consumers, but also society as a whole.

As technology is incorporated into the food and beverage production stages, such as agricultural and livestock products, it is reducing production costs while increasing profits and productivity, and ultimately helping producers address important issues such as human and animal welfare and environmental impacts.

Advances in food technology are leading to the development of sustainable foods such as plant-based alternative meat products and insect proteins, which are having a positive effect on creating a sustainable food ecosystem.

It is analyzed that it will be possible to create new food consumption experiences, such as food designed individually based on the genetic structure and nutritional needs of each food consumer, and food that is made on the spot with a 3D printer upon order using a recipe database and edible ingredients.

It is expected that there will be an evolution toward contributing to solving social problems, such as 'food upcycling', which identifies surplus food in each region and turns it into better new food, or smartphone applications that provide a platform for sharing leftover food with people in nearby areas.

As the relationship between the food industry and technology becomes closer, we were able to meet various food companies at the last CES. At CES 2020, it is expected that even more diverse companies in the food and food production, agricultural and livestock products, and urban agriculture will participate, and it is expected that new products and food technologies combined with the latest technology will be able to be seen in one place.


4. Facial Recognition, from Security to Entertainment
The core of facial recognition technology, such as face filter camera applications or unlocking functions through facial recognition, is facial recognition technology.

Facial recognition technology is one of the most popular technologies in the field of biometric technology. It is a system that captures a user's face with a camera, measures the 'faceprint', which is each individual's unique facial shape and features, similar to a fingerprint, and compares and contrasts it with information in a database before producing results according to the intended use.

According to a report by Markets and Markets, the global facial recognition industry market size is expected to reach approximately USD 3.2 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16.6% over the next five years to approximately USD 7 billion by 2024. North America is expected to form the largest facial recognition market.

Facial recognition technology is most widely used in the security field, such as access control and criminal detection, and it also has bright prospects for use in the commercial and entertainment fields, such as smartphone applications and SNS services, and in the medical field, such as assisting Alzheimer's patients in recognizing others and making detailed diagnoses.

As of now, there is no 100% accurate facial recognition system, so facial recognition technology is expected to further develop in terms of 'accuracy'. It is expected to grow in a direction that solves the problem of bias in facial recognition algorithms against the faces of people of color and women, which are often found, while avoiding the possibility of privacy invasion.

Facial recognition technology was also covered with interest at the last CES. CES 2020 will also showcase a wide range of use cases for facial recognition technology, from retail facial recognition technology that analyzes consumer characteristics and helps with the easy operation of in-store membership programs, to facial recognition platforms used for thorough security purposes in homes and businesses.


5. Human-assisting robots are increasing in our daily lives.
Robot-related technologies, such as robot vacuum cleaners and smart speakers that we commonly see in our daily lives, are being used in practice today and are making great progress. Types of robots that will be noteworthy in the future include caregiving robots, educational robots, and retail robots.

Care robots help elderly people who feel lonely and children who are isolated from their peer group communicate. They can also help people remember to take their medications or control smart home devices in the home. Educational robots that perform roles such as class assistants, distance education, and coding education assistants are also receiving a lot of attention recently.

Retail robots are working as assistants in various stores and public service areas such as airports, hotels, and hospitals, providing consumers or users with necessary information or direct services, and they also act as receptionists who greet guests at information desks.

The development of robot assistants and related technologies in various fields is expected to continue in the future. In the future, robot technology is expected to grow in a direction that can increase 'people's acceptance of robots.'

Robots and robotics are a key exhibit area at CES. At CES 2020, we can expect to see even more advanced robot assistants supported by fundamental technologies such as the latest machine learning, sensors, and data connectivity.

“There are many cases where technology is being grafted and applied to industries such as food, health, care, and treatment that were previously considered to be distant from technology,” said Woo Eun-jung, a specialist at KOTRA Los Angeles Trade Center, who analyzed CTA’s five technology trends to watch in 2020. “In the future, when various technologies such as AI, VR, AR, 5G, and IoT are converged, technology penetration into a wider range of industries will deepen,” she explained.

He said, “CES is the world’s largest event to kick off the new year, and it is an event where buyers, experts, and media from related fields all gather to understand the technology and industry trends of the year,” and “Through CES, you will be able to understand the latest trends in consumer technology and gain insight into where the global technology flow is headed.”