CES 2026

Transcript

00:00:00Welcome to Think Different, Think AI, the podcast by Mark and Jens.

00:00:07Two technology-loving minds who not only talk about artificial intelligence but live it.

00:00:14Here you will find clear classifications, real practical insights, and a fresh perspective on what is possible.

00:00:20Understandable, critical, and always with a wink.

00:00:24And as always at the beginning of the year, the gates open in America to the world's largest consumer electronics show, I would say the CS2620, I don't even know, I think it really is that big, I've just thrown that out there, Mark is not looking at me reproachfully, so he believes this information, I also have it, if it’s not the case, then tell me which fair is larger in this area.

00:00:52Mark is not looking at me reproachfully, so he believes this information, I

00:00:56also believe it too.

00:00:57If it’s not the case, then tell me which fair is bigger in this area.

00:01:00Today we're making a special slide about current topics to

00:01:04to watch.

00:01:05At this fair, and that's also another reason why we are doing this at all,

00:01:08normally this is not purely a tech podcast, but we take care of

00:01:12it was always about the topic of AI.

00:01:14Of course, AI was ubiquitous at the fair.

00:01:19I would say you could also say it was basically the concept of the fair. So the things,

00:01:23that you saw, whether they worked or not,

00:01:29everywhere there was definitely something labeled e-all, whether it was just pure marketing or if it actually

00:01:34really had something meaningful behind it, that remains to be seen. But

00:01:40let's take a look at a few examples. Mark and I, who is again my

00:01:44co-host here in our popular podcast series Think Different, Think AI.

00:01:51We've both looked at a few examples and will discuss and geek out about the things

00:01:55we've seen.

00:01:56We weren't there live.

00:01:57We just gathered information from YouTube via text, through our AI friends that we have,

00:02:03to prepare this episode.

00:02:06So, I'm excited to see what nice, creepy examples we found

00:02:12or what total fails we also discovered.

00:02:15Mark!

00:02:16So perhaps at this point, a little expectation management, this

00:02:20year we weren't live on site, but if you tell your friends and acquaintances about this

00:02:24great podcast and we gain even more subscribers, then we'll consider

00:02:28that, of course.

00:02:29So I would actually like to fly, Jens, maybe we can meet, maybe

00:02:32do a live episode, just a bit of expectation management, a live episode, but

00:02:37then we need to get a few more subscribers, we don't want to talk about numbers

00:02:40but a few more would be nice. But let's dive in and I would

00:02:44say let's start with a topic we've already looked at in a previous

00:02:50episode, namely the whole topic of robotics. Let's start with that, okay? Let's

00:02:58start with that. So I'll put one out there. I've basically been impressed by two things.

00:03:04one was actually the topic, watch out, don't smirk, the pig robot. So, I happily

00:03:11looked at two different, let's call them, presentation forms,

00:03:17namely the classic problem, colleagues, friends, acquaintances, listeners

00:03:23those podcast listeners who have a vacuum robot know that things might have

00:03:28little arms to perhaps carry away socks, I find that totally useless personally

00:03:32said, but well, another topic. Instead, you have another challenge, once you are in the

00:03:38enjoyment of a sectional sofa that either has a higher seat or even a staircase in

00:03:45another area of your property, things have always been a bit, I would say,

00:03:51yes, had to be carried by you, yes, like the dog when it has an injured paw,

00:03:56up the stairs, down the stairs, the stairs themselves were then also left manually to you and that

00:04:01is now basically hinted at by the manufacturers that this can also be solved differently.

00:04:06The nicest and coolest solution, as I found, was the one that felt like, I'll clean for you and

00:04:12I'm like a kind of all-terrain vehicle, namely the Roborock S7 Rover, which is capable of, I

00:04:19I'll say it now, well, it doesn't look very clever, but it has legs, wheel legs,

00:04:25so it can lift itself enough to get onto the step

00:04:30it looked a bit like it could fall onto the next step and can

00:04:36then also pull its legs back in and then climb up to the next step that

00:04:44I actually found quite, yes, you could see that it had somehow

00:04:49one leg providing stabilization on the lower step and then rolls along the step

00:04:53like that. It looked pretty fancy, I must say. I think it even had,

00:04:57this grabbing arm as well, right?

00:05:00Whether the model has the grabbing arm, I don't know, but I know that there is a Roborock model with

00:05:04a grabbing arm. They also built that obstacle course there. I found that extremely

00:05:08impressive and, well, I think I would also jump in and say,

00:05:13People, be careful, this is much more comfortable than either

00:05:17carrying Robby to the next floor. Although, of course, they're cannibalizing

00:05:22themselves. So if you have multiple floors, it would also make sense to simply buy more Roborocks

00:05:27but apparently this feature is considered so important that people think it over.

00:05:33However, I haven’t seen any video of it going down the stairs. I've only seen it

00:05:36going up the stairs. That's true. They have a ramp for going down,

00:05:42then it drives down the ramp. It can do that too. Then it drives on two legs.

00:05:45It can stabilize itself on two rolling legs and then goes down. I found that quite impressive

00:05:49and thought it was pretty cool. But I don't have a ramp here.

00:05:52I rarely do either, but some households do have it. So that's definitely

00:05:57not bad if these applications are available. I mean, going down, I had

00:06:01a different concept, I've forgotten the company name. It was about this topic with

00:06:05additional flying drones that...

00:06:11Mova, Peile 70, household robot, yes, a flying taxi drone that somehow

00:06:17goes between floors. I would also say that this is more of a concept product than an actual,

00:06:22we buy the product, I test it beforehand, you stand there and you say, please

00:06:26be careful when you’re in our apartment, sometimes the hobby flies by.

00:06:30I'm not so sure how well that would go over.

00:06:33I really don’t know.

00:06:34I find it fascinating if you see it in such a

00:06:36simple example; it hasn't quite functioned perfectly yet.

00:06:40They had the thing in a demo case and sometimes it didn’t manage to

00:06:45lift the vacuum robot. Sometimes it just ended up being more messy, then somewhere.

00:06:50landed, but it's still early days. I believe these robotics topics, we have

00:06:54discussed a few times before, are getting a huge boost through the whole AI theme, through the general

00:06:57understanding of the world that AI can bring to robots, allowing them to adapt very quickly

00:07:02to new situations. That's why we have this gigantic

00:07:06boost. And I don't think that's a bad idea at all. I've always thought,

00:07:10before I ever have, I don't know, a surveillance camera, it would actually be fun

00:07:16to have a small flying drone in my room or apartment that, you know,

00:07:22occasionally flies through the apartment at unpredictable rhythms.

00:07:26When you're not home, it monitors.

00:07:28It flies on patrol.

00:07:29It flies on patrol.

00:07:30Yes, and I mean, when you combine something like that, you know, when you have something afterwards, + **[00:07:33]** then it can not only fly patrols, but could also pick up the vacuum cleaner robot,

00:07:33then it can't only fly patrol, it could also pick up the vacuum robot,

00:07:38free the cat behind the cupboard and somehow fly to the food printer or something, yes.

00:07:42So there is, if you don’t see it as a national issue, I think now the vacuum robot.

00:07:49alone with a flight drone through the counter-transport, as we have seen.

00:07:53That would probably be a use case for me to pay hundreds of dollars more and also a bit.

00:07:59Because you say patrol, a little funny anecdote, don't worry I haven't told you in any episode yet.

00:08:05We own vacuum robots and at least with Roborock,

00:08:10probably with others too, you can connect to the robot from a distance

00:08:14see what it sees. You can even control where it should go

00:08:17and you can also use the speaker and the microphone in it

00:08:20Using robots, and after I sent my regards a few months ago to

00:08:25the family, I couldn't reach my son, so I went into

00:08:29his room with the robot and personally delivered the message,

00:08:33it also caused some strange looks.

00:08:36But we wanted to talk about the CS...

00:08:38That was done via loudspeaker, or what?

00:08:39Yes, yes, the Robi has speakers and a microphone, yes.

00:08:42It also visually indicates that someone is currently controlling it, right?

00:08:46Yes, that doesn't make a difference.

00:08:47So in the motto here, is someone watching right now.

00:08:48I thought, who would have gone so off the pattern, it would basically look like this.

00:08:51Dirt on the floor with the robot, like a sign, uh, like a S-O-Gemat.

00:08:56Yes, when you're high enough up and look, then you see, help me, call me back,

00:08:59here is the number.

00:09:00Help me.

00:09:01No, no, you can talk.

00:09:04You see, but there are other use cases.

00:09:06So accordingly, as I said, who knows, if now a vacuum cleaner robot with

00:09:11if a flight drone is purchased, then there will be the use cases again,

00:09:14that can be implemented relatively quickly.

00:09:16That's right.

00:09:18But they also showcased robots that I actually found much more impressive in terms of their presence on stage.

00:09:24In that regard, I found them to be much more imposing.

00:09:27You’ve surely seen the presentation of Atlas, right?

00:09:31It’s the first time Atlas has appeared publicly. This fully electronic robot, which

00:09:38– what does it have, 56 degrees of freedom, 50 kilograms lifting capacity, is also funny, right? There is

00:09:43the German company, oh God, what are they called, Neura, yes, Neura. They have

00:09:49about 70 kilograms of lifting power, so he can lift more than Atlas, but there’s no doubt that

00:09:55Atlas looks way cooler when you see him. You can also believe that

00:10:00he, let's say, can definitely do quite a few activities on his own,

00:10:05because I imagine if you control him with a VIP-April and controllers in your hand,

00:10:11you’d get quite nauseous if his, let’s say, upper body, lower body, and head,

00:10:17can turn in all directions as he pleases.

00:10:20But probably the foot check will teach me better at some point.

00:10:24But the presentation on stage was impressive.

00:10:27Though it also became clear that this thing, as far as I know, is used at Hyundai in production, and it's very likely that both in terms of price and

00:10:36availability, it’s not currently aimed at households. And I’ll hand the word back to you right away; I see you’re very, very excited. But what I also found

00:10:44interesting, and then I’m finished, is that Gemini, for example, offers the optical models that are supposed to ensure that the

00:10:52robot gets an understanding of its world, and this is also going to be announced big,

00:10:58that Gemini has an integration here. But now I would like to give you back the word.

00:11:04All good. Now you’ve given me a second template. That’s still...

00:11:07It’s as agreed, right? As agreed. Let me briefly touch on this

00:11:12understanding of value again. That’s the point; it’s just been touched on right now.

00:11:15The fact that robotics is now getting this boost through AI simply has to do with the point,

00:11:21that things can understand the world. So if I now have a basic language model,

00:11:27that has a certain understanding of the world and I then have a multimodal model that can essentially

00:11:32see and comprehend the world as a three-dimensional space, these robots now simply know,

00:11:37that when I say, clear the table, they should pay attention if there is still a

00:11:43cat sitting on it or something else is there, that maybe they shouldn't just knock it off. Then it was

00:11:46just a fundamental understanding. In the past, this had to fundamentally be, I also

00:11:50actually always put simply programmed by hand to cover all these cases.

00:11:55think. These things are significantly easier. Not everything is perfect, but it's currently getting a

00:12:00tremendous boost simply. The big manufacturers like BN Video or Google are also involved,

00:12:04you can specifically build models for robots that essentially provide training data or

00:12:10training simulation worlds that can simply offer 1.08 billion options, where robots can then

00:12:15essentially traverse paths, can respond to new situations. These

00:12:19can then be tried out in the virtual world, so that later it can also be tested in the

00:12:22real world. And that's actually the thing right now,

00:12:25which is why this AI topic and robotics have entered into a sort of, perhaps, I

00:12:33wanted to say an unholy union, because I'm already thinking of such good

00:12:37dystopias like Terminator and Co. But of course, these are two things,

00:12:40that simply fuel each other. This way, AI finally gets access to the physical world.

00:12:47And we are always in the physical world and eat from this two-dimensional computer space display,

00:12:54where it actually is behind it or the microphone on the wall, but it can act with the world

00:12:59and it can interact and can also physically experience the world additionally.

00:13:04And I believe that is what makes the whole topic super exciting.

00:13:07Therefore, we will probably talk about this two to three, four, five, six, seven times

00:13:11more in our podcast in the coming months and years, because this is naturally one of the most exciting.

00:13:15Fields and the topic of Atlas. Just a brief overview on that. So the Atlas has been around for a long time.

00:13:23You would often see it in the laboratories of Boston Dynamics.

00:13:27They also have that funny dog that you might have seen somewhere before.

00:13:31That one running around. You could recognize them. They do a lot with the military too. There is also

00:13:38a larger version of the dog, and I don't know if they refer to it somehow as

00:13:41a donkey or whatever, but it can actually carry large loads

00:13:44already. They are already being tested. However, the Atlas was already

00:13:48this first humanity of robots that could jump around and do all sorts of things,

00:13:52like doing parkour, and they had already shown videos of that.

00:13:57It was still wired back then or also larger and wired, the Atlas,

00:14:01that the market had shown. So we should definitely link this video in the

00:14:04Show notes. I think it's only about 1 meter, 1.20,

00:14:08relatively small, right? It's not that big, but it can also do, you know,

00:14:12So the video, that’s what Mark just described, totally crazy spinning, you know?

00:14:16So because everything can turn 360 degrees, it doesn't have to turn around first,

00:14:21to go the other way, but it just turns its head and legs then

00:14:25the other way and walks then... That makes it forward, right?

00:14:28Yes, that makes it forward.

00:14:29Because you are normally used to, okay, this is front and this is back, or that

00:14:32is no longer the case, right?

00:14:34Exactly, that’s a bit creepy, where I say, there is actually, there

00:14:39You think, okay, this is just another robot, but even already in this humanoid form, it is already superior to us now,

00:14:45how he can somehow recover from a situation and can just start walking backwards or how he gets up.

00:14:50So it’s really amazing what they’ve done there, and just a quick word about the deployment.

00:14:58Hunder has been, I believe, the parent company of Boston Dynamics since 2021, so Hunder has

00:15:03purchased Boston Dynamics back then. And if I'm not mistaken, starting from the year

00:15:102026, 2027, or however that may be, they want to

00:15:13take over, I believe, already 30,000, and I think that is the total annual production that Boston Dynamics has planned for a year for the robots.

00:15:21This is now a bit of a hefty bag, right bag, to be honest, but

00:15:26they then buy it directly because they've seen a few videos of how these robots, because they have this load-bearing capability,

00:15:32can carry auto parts and such. I believe they'll be deployed relatively quickly in a factory in America as well.

00:15:36That is actually the first large mass deployment.

00:15:43One will still become somehow faster in the world that we then

00:15:47we will see where we might have such a sent Send-V-Line afterwards, like a delivery,

00:15:54then nonsense, a chain of where the cars are built, then really see. How does it feel

00:16:00the right word can be. We will see where almost only robots and not robotic arms

00:16:06we already have today, but robots that react to different situations

00:16:08can. There will be cars still. So that will be exciting. That could be a real use case

00:16:13because the thing has, I think, somehow 4-5 hours of battery life, then I'm also

00:16:17almost done with the Atlas robot, can independently change the battery. That means you have

00:16:22almost 24-7 operations then simply with this robot, because it walks to

00:16:27a battery change station, pulls then from its chest or back, you don't know

00:16:32really, it spins around like crazy, then somehow pulls the battery out and plants a

00:16:37new battery on it and wobbles happily and without waiting back to the next shift,

00:16:42which it will then operate for another four hours. Very cool, we only talked,

00:16:46so many points came to my mind again. I hope I can pick up the threads again

00:16:49You mentioned the dog earlier, who perhaps has a funny anecdote for the listeners.

00:16:54The thing has four legs and can wonderfully climb stairs

00:17:00and overcome various obstacles. But do you know what surface it has a problem with?

00:17:05Tall grass. Tall grass, ah. Because the sensors tell it, the ground is lower or no, the ground

00:17:13is higher, but he perceives the ground as deeper. Let me chime in here briefly, because there too

00:17:19a lot has just happened, so we simply say. That where AI is then again

00:17:24used on a small scale. In robotics, it is exactly this topic, how does the robot even sense

00:17:29the world? So there are indeed specialized companies that have specialized

00:17:35in producing hands, producing robotic hands that can feel particularly well.

00:17:39Because the human hand is of course enormous in the, in the tactile senses that then yes

00:17:44just provides a lot of information, whether I take something and then crush it. I don't necessarily look at that beforehand.

00:17:49I notice that already. Just from the first pressure,

00:17:52when my fingers touch things, for instance. And to process such things in this

00:17:57millisecond, when I'm grabbing something or catching something as a robot. That is of course totally

00:18:03important for the robots. And I believe we’ve also heard this. Then we really have to

00:18:05make our robot episode, which we intended, again. I think we can get a little

00:18:08more curious and share a bit more. This is actually increasingly

00:18:12like trying to develop a feeling skin layer, so that the robot, in a sense, has an

00:18:16overall skin on all parts of its body similar to human skin. I believe the

00:18:23skin is our great sensor as well, and in principle, the robot

00:18:27will also be equipped with that. So I believe we have a lot of material now

00:18:31after the CES for a good, good robot episode this summer as well. And a point that didn't come to mind earlier

00:18:38Neura didn't immediately come to mind. Neura is really the right name, before we always do the fluff check

00:18:43we have to clean up. Metziger company and the lifting capacity is actually, I just

00:18:48checked afterward, even 100 kilograms. And the Neura Generation 3.5 is supposed to be available for

00:18:56a modest 98,000 euros. Starting this June and for educational institutions or research sectors

00:19:06there is also a mini version, which is supposedly already available from April 26 for around 20,000.

00:19:13should be available. Also excited about that. And regarding the topic, how quickly do the

00:19:18things learn, yes, also a funny story. I believe it was the, what was his name,

00:19:25what was his name, was it Onero, yeah, I need to look it up again. There was a robot,

00:19:30that demonstrated live on stage how to load a washing machine. And it was

00:19:35quite funny to watch because when it does it with that speed, there should be children who can,

00:19:40who grow out of their clothes over time until it was far enough along to count that stuff in.

00:19:46It's not about bashing, but also about the different levels, how far or not far the

00:19:52various companies are and how they are also putting in the effort to show something on stage.

00:19:57Many things that were shown on stage are certainly also for show,

00:20:01you can imagine. I mean, if you can make the robot jump,

00:20:04it's just a button on the remote control. But you can tell there's the music in there.

00:20:09There is, it feels like an emerging market that wants to be served, where no one wants to

00:20:14show weakness either.

00:20:17Definitely. I think that’s actually true, that I say, so we have now

00:20:23also, we had talked a long time about Boston Dynamics, even there a

00:20:27few years ago, the things were stumbling around. And now you not only have Boston

00:20:32Dynamics, but at many other companies, like Unitrie for example, you see robots,

00:20:36whether they are now AI-controlled, whether they are still being pushed by some operators

00:20:41in the background and guided. But the level of mobility, that they

00:20:46can jump, can fight, do karate kicks, roll over, then stand up again

00:20:51and actually do that almost human-like, because that is really

00:20:56also very difficult, when they have to assess the speed again to land on two

00:21:00legs and stuff like that. That is really impressive. So we are, in this respect,

00:21:05with humanoid robots, especially in the industrial environment, probably not

00:21:13that far away anymore. That we will soon see that this is coming more frequently and such a household robot,

00:21:18I’ve always talked a bit about that in the past. I believe that is going to come gradually now, too.

00:21:22I would still speculate that this year we will see more such things,

00:21:28things that roll, like a smart vacuum robot or something, not really

00:21:34two legs yet, because that, I believe, is just too dangerous. There are still too many

00:21:38things that could fall in the home if a humanoid robot were to walk around here,

00:21:44I think that it’s just, just imagine if it trips over something,

00:21:47you have lying around. And then your cat would run around again, and it would be

00:21:51not so good for the cat. I think no one wants that yet. I believe the

00:21:56less dangerous vacuum robot would probably be the first choice for now, and if it has a few more functions, we will actually see such things under the Christmas trees in Germany. The trend is rising with the robots.

00:22:09You mentioned earlier that the systems are trained, whether through the real world or through virtual environments, as Nvidia also does with their Metavers.

00:22:22Metavers, the Metavers were the other colleagues from the other side of the excuse.

00:22:26Ah, I’m already fixing my own fluff sticks here.

00:22:29That's amazing.

00:22:30I mean, okay, new chips and AI platforms were introduced by NVIDIA, after the engine

00:22:36higher, faster, further.

00:22:37NVIDIA is currently facing some criticism, depending on which industry

00:22:40you refer to.

00:22:43Not for what they presented at the trade fair, but because it feels like

00:22:48they’re shifting the capacities for gamers in terms of graphics cards.

00:22:51Let’s just tilt it a bit and say, so many fewer graphics cards and for expensive prices you can

00:22:56feel free to buy three, four, five-year-old graphics cards for even more expensive prices because we’re making our money now with

00:23:02storage systems. Yeah, the memory manufacturers have somehow transitioned, it's quite funny because it means that companies like Apple, which have always been seen as

00:23:10hohoho, they are so expensive, could perhaps be looked at again with new eyes because they build their own memory and

00:23:16while maybe, I don’t know, there’s no more memory for the classic,

00:23:20so-called Samsung phones, it is even assumed that they will potentially produce fewer in the future

00:23:24getting RAM because memory prices are so high, and you'd rather sell it in AI for more.

00:23:29It can be sold for even more in AI.

00:23:31That will also be exciting, but it has nothing to do with CS.

00:23:34What I wanted to bring up from Nvidia was what they showed with Mercedes,

00:23:37I think, namely the topic of autonomous driving.

00:23:40Because while Tesla, you can complain about it or not, there was something in December.

00:23:46there were various demonstration cities where you could check out autonomous rides with Tesla by

00:23:52simply booking a ride and then in the cities of Cologne, Munich, Stuttgart, Paris, Rome, I don't know,

00:23:57so a whole bunch of cities were offered, where the device, although it drives with a bicycle,

00:24:02the device, where the car drives with a bicycle, autonomously went from parking space to parking space

00:24:08and the only thing I think I noticed where it went wrong,

00:24:13is that the Tesla was standing at the red light and an emergency vehicle came from behind and the Tesla

00:24:16has not driven through the red light on its own to make way for the emergency vehicle.

00:24:22Then the driver had to intervene, otherwise I wouldn't have known anything at all. Somewhere

00:24:26there are even autonomous taxi rides being offered, especially where public transport is not very well provided,

00:24:31just now for evaluation, so it's quite interesting. But back to Nvidia,

00:24:36they have basically shown what is possible with virtual training, to make a Mercedes drive, for example,

00:24:42through. I forgot the city they showed in the video.

00:24:45And the head of Nvidia has also said that Tesla is certainly just about

00:24:50the benchmark for what? Level 2 Plus? So you still have a driver and

00:24:54the driver is responsible and blah, blah, blah. But I am also sure that the

00:24:59material data plus with their virtual training data will catch up very quickly,

00:25:03and then you have the future of the self-driving car.

00:25:08where I actually thought at the birth of my children, they will never have a

00:25:11driver's license. They probably will get a driver's license after all. But now

00:25:14everything suddenly seems within reach. So everything is much, much closer. Although,

00:25:20we also had the topic of robots, which we still had to present, when was

00:25:23that, two, three, four years ago, when Samsung presented that ball that somehow

00:25:29so as an assistant driving around the place and answering questions. That thing doesn't exist until

00:25:33today. Just because it was shown, doesn't mean it's really

00:25:37available to buy, but you can tell the industry is basically igniting, no, is igniting. The

00:25:43The statement is incorrect. Please feel free to comment from the side.

00:25:46Set it on fire.

00:25:47Yes, I have learned.

00:25:48I have to install a lot so that people can comment. You know? So from the side, we just stay

00:25:52with the laid fire, no idea. And that there really is music in it and

00:26:00that you can't get distracted, but I'm repeating myself. But I think that's all

00:26:03I've taken away from the topic of robotics now.

00:26:09Okay, then let's switch to another area. We've seen robots

00:26:14in all shapes and colors and functions, right? There were also

00:26:19a few, for me at least, some creepy things in the Twitter house, let's say,

00:26:26creepy, let's start with that. But the situation with health is probably not creepy

00:26:31or it's not pressing. I think that's great. I think that's great. This is from

00:26:35Wiffing. How did you find it? Wiffing? ETH, yes. Yes, exactly. They already had such a

00:26:42smart barge. I think this is the second one, the body scan or something. You can

00:26:45essentially switch and you pull a small device, so a start that is connected

00:26:50with a cable upwards, you hold it in your hand and I believe

00:26:54there are other things, and there’s a display up there too,

00:26:57which you can read; it indicates the 60 body functions via the flow from the

00:27:03capillary—whatever, don't kill me with that, but it’s somehow, I think, so a

00:27:07everything under nagging mix-not-dead is also not?

00:27:10I don’t know.

00:27:11I don’t know.

00:27:12That means nagging mix-not-solid is also not.

00:27:14Yes.

00:27:15We have few sayings today, but it's all under this topic long-live-T,

00:27:20which means I think the trend has already been noticed by some,

00:27:24especially looking at a lot from America, how can we actually live longer, and this

00:27:29device is marketing-wise really hitting the mark. I think something like that is super useful. So if you

00:27:34say, if you look here in Germany at the time, where a typical German is basically waiting

00:27:40for an appointment with their doctor, then all

00:27:45devices that can already gather information at home in the care area. And that is then

00:27:51just more than a mere thermometer, rather those things can actually

00:27:55record a lot, much more. That can only be helpful, right? Because not everyone always has

00:27:58access, and sometimes it’s also that we say, oh, I have such a little sweetness

00:28:02or something else, and if maybe a scale can already tell me, now I'm not really

00:28:06making a fuss, Jens, that’s not bad either, and then I'm not blocking an appointment

00:28:10for someone else who might need to see the doctor more urgently. So I think,

00:28:14that’s an area I actually find, that’s not trippy at all, right? So there's

00:28:20someone who can also say, we can deploy, blah blah blah. But I think,

00:28:23in this case, there has also been a success. For God’s sake, give me a mirror in my bathroom that

00:28:28can scan me for skin cancer or something else. Yes, of course I want

00:28:31to have something like that. So why not, for heaven's sake? So, what I find, just briefly, because I,

00:28:38who wanted to interrupt further, wanted to say, is also the topic, they also

00:28:43showed things like not the mirror that scans you for skin cancer, but via

00:28:48awakening cameras that make analyses without AI about what happens in a video image.

00:28:56So not just, oh, there’s movement, but there's also a real assessment of movement,

00:29:00that there are sensors that not only detect, oh, there are people, but also which body positions they’re in.

00:29:05But since you also mentioned the health data, I mean, in Germany, that doesn’t exist yet,

00:29:09you can put yourself on the waiting list, so that you can now explicitly upload

00:29:14Apple Health data and various manufacturers' data to ChatGPT, and then

00:29:19you can ask not just Chatty Pity, if I cough, does it look weird, but rather

00:29:23that the thing can also additionally track, I don't know, your fever, your weight, your, what

00:29:29do I know, what else you can store with the help of sensors and so on in the various health systems

00:29:34around the world in the private sector, and have access to that, which will also

00:29:38be interesting to see how that gets received, what

00:29:43comes out of it, and if then, let's say, also a medical practice or the

00:29:48professional medical service, perhaps if someone from the audience

00:29:53works in that field, I would also be interested in how they assess it,

00:29:59because I find it technologically exciting, that doesn't mean, however, that the specialist,

00:30:04let's say, is totally happy with it, although I must also say that things like heart arrhythmia

00:30:10from the Apple Watch or irregular heart rates, such things have certainly

00:30:15genuinely helped people. Yes, definitely. I mean, there is,

00:30:20I have also uploaded some blood test reports, let's say, when I

00:30:25got from the doctor, just to ask,

00:30:28what does that actually mean? And when you get more information,

00:30:32you have to also say again, some doctors,

00:30:36you know, in the field sometimes really struggle to speak in an understandable way to humans,

00:30:44so that you really know what you have. So, every third time, it does happen to me that I come home from my doctor and don't actually understand what I have.

00:30:51And you can definitely solve that with AI, just with the chat AIs quite easily.

00:30:57You can upload images of your pension documents. I was also recently, just yesterday, at X-Wars,

00:31:05where someone received a file format, a scan of their spine, but couldn't open it on their computer; they then had someone create software, I believe with CloudCode or Manus, I’m not sure exactly, that basically displays this image and now looks really cool compared to many of those software programs that exist to view such images in high formats.

00:31:29Because then the AI actually has another prompt, which can then say, okay, where are the weak points of my spine, and then they were marked on his back.

00:31:38Then the main vacuum cleaner came, then the main vacuum cleaner came to the leg and hand and fixed it briefly. Yes, so that's the nice future.

00:31:44What I found funny was that you mentioned earlier in the preparation that you might have a few script things, but what I also found amusing and positive was that I realized I have become too old for this world. You know why? I would like to play like Lego.

00:31:57play. Normally, you always have to say, manufacture plumbing building blocks. In this case

00:32:02I think we can say Lego there, because they introduced something that is like a, they

00:32:07it's called Smart Brick. The first set they are building with the Smart Brick and I will tell you

00:32:11shortly what that is, is Star Wars. Who would have been surprised? Lego has licensed Star Wars,

00:32:16which should be available from March. And this is basically a Lego brick. I believe

00:32:22the brick costs 70 euros, which is basically able to interact with other Lego bricks of a special

00:32:30type, and then, depending on which Lego brick it has in its environment

00:32:36or which Lego brick is brought near it, it can react. So, I press

00:32:43a button on an X-Wing that I built, then the stone moves a bit forward,

00:32:48This activates the color sensor or whatever it is, and then it makes shooting sounds,

00:32:52like when the X-Wing is in a battle, and then you move the X-Wing with your hand

00:32:56through the air, and it has a motion sensor, and then it makes a corresponding sound,

00:33:00like the X-Wing does when it's being moved. Or it has a helicopter,

00:33:05I think, that shows when you turn it upside down, it makes a crashing sound.

00:33:08Yes, but all sounds come from the stone, which will be a bit exciting,

00:33:14I haven't quite understood that yet, maybe you do,

00:33:16otherwise we need to take a look, because it partly goes after

00:33:20optical markers and I'm curious what that means, because they said

00:33:24that the thing can interact with figures, especially with something like Lego,

00:33:28well, when you have Rex and Luke and Vader or however, if they suddenly have,

00:33:35I don't know, a weird symbol, then it's not Yoda, the yogurt,

00:33:42the juice is strong within him, then maybe that would be a bit disturbing

00:33:47while playing, I don't know, I'm not sure. But I found this idea that you have a stone,

00:33:52that, let's say, gives it a bit more life. Not life, but more emotional,

00:33:59emotional closeness. I find that totally fascinating. You can't program that yourself today,

00:34:04you can somehow update it so that when new sentences come out, it knows that too,

00:34:08I don't know, I'm 20, 30, I don't need to know how to crow when the X-Wing flies, who knows.

00:34:15But I thought that was really cool and it sparked a bit of interest,

00:34:18oh yeah, I think a Lego set, I don't know, but it would definitely intrigue me, I like to see that.

00:34:23Yeah, I think so too. So that's actually something that caught my eye as well.

00:34:30So I think this is actually when you google CES and look at what was a good invention,

00:34:35the Lego Smartbrick is almost always suggested as the first one too.

00:34:40It made quite a splash because I think everyone still has that playful instinct that you just demonstrated.

00:34:46They actually do this with the Smartbrick once, and the rest is basically with small NFC chips.

00:34:53So the little chips that are attached to the figures or something else.

00:34:56I think with that, they can also build a small mesh network.

00:35:00That means they essentially know each other's positions.

00:35:04when the X-Wing is in battle against the TIE Fighter, if we were both playing,

00:35:10then they can basically determine based on this position whether I hit you.

00:35:14If I also shoot with the knife, then they try to,

00:35:18figure out if I hit you and actually make an explosion sound

00:35:21for the TIE Fighter. That means it’s not visually,

00:35:27but it is actually about the NFTs in spatial relationships,

00:35:31NFTs, I already said, NFC in spatial relationships, which are just there. That means, there is

00:35:36like a small mesh built up. That's the topic. The more sensors we get everywhere

00:35:40I mean, the surveillance cameras, you just mentioned that, there are also

00:35:45smart sensors, which I believe were also additionally showcased at the CSS, that

00:35:49so your position as a person in the room can be better assessed, are you lying down, have you fallen

00:35:53or ever anything else. The military can, I believe, through that, that's also already

00:35:58quite normal over the Wi-Fi signal that we have at home, they can already do that. There are also

00:36:03already videos circulating that show how the military can actually

00:36:08look through a wall nowadays, because they can recognize, also due to the Wi-Fi signal,

00:36:13where your position is on the other side. So that's all on the one hand always

00:36:19intriguing and on the other hand also a bit creepy. Lego is really trying

00:36:22to make it that way. So there are no microphones in it, there are no cameras in it

00:36:26or anything else. Internet connection, and the thing is also designed so that you can

00:36:30leave it lying around for a long time. It's thoughtfully designed so that you can

00:36:35say, I don't have to worry about giving this to my child or putting it under the Christmas tree

00:36:41or gifting it for Easter if it actually comes out in March.

00:36:44I also know the price for Germany. It’s actually, I think, a bit

00:36:49cool for mom, dad, daughter, child, son at home, whoever plays with it in Lego

00:36:55. That could be a good gift because I think it would be fun for me as well.

00:37:00Just to, you know, personally from my side, we have

00:37:05solved it then. New usability, you just hinted at it, how is it with different

00:37:09Stones. What happens when four different things are together? They have

00:37:13embedded a few Easter Eggs. I think, if you place two figures somewhere,

00:37:16then they start talking to each other in some language or interacting

00:37:21with each other. You can buy the Cantina here from Star Wars, where the band played

00:37:27. You can then pack the stone, and depending on how fast you move the stone,

00:37:31it's like a metronome swinging back and forth, the faster the music from

00:37:36the Cantina band plays. And if you place Darth Vader there, I’ve seen,

00:37:40then Darth Vader also sings because he recognizes that he is basically on stage at the

00:37:46Mos Eisley Cantina, and then he starts singing. So that's pretty funny,

00:37:49I think, what they did there.

00:37:51If that exists as a video, you need to send me the link because I haven’t seen that yet.

00:37:56From that side, I only have the X-Wing, can shoot, and helicopters can crash, but yes.

00:38:07Do you have anything else? I mean, those are a lot of things that excite us,

00:38:11I would say. I think, I would immediately put an eagle like that at home.

00:38:14Just the idea of having it open the door when the mail comes is a great idea.

00:38:17Yes, I think that’s worth the investment for the mind and vision,

00:38:20Speaking of opening doors, something comes to mind that I saw.

00:38:22Actually, because we don’t want to blame too many manufacturers right now,

00:38:26I think it was a large Asian manufacturer.

00:38:28There was a refrigerator that could open its door with voice control.

00:38:33That worked more poorly than well, even in the demo mode, where I say,

00:38:39sorry, this is again such an application case.

00:38:41I really don’t need a voice assistant for going to the fridge and saying,

00:38:44open the fridge.

00:38:46Well, I think that we’re incorporating AI and technology somehow without really

00:38:51saying why, actually.

00:38:53By the way, wasn't there someone who tried that trick again

00:38:57with the motto, I’m using optical image recognition and checking what’s in your fridge

00:39:02inside and so on, so I think something like that happened again, only I suspect,

00:39:06this time it works compared to the historical, the historical things.

00:39:11We said that the refrigerator opens on command.

00:39:13I think my wife would command the refrigerator to stay closed when the market comes.

00:39:17But that has other reasons, maybe then the refrigerator coordinated with the scale

00:39:21while the robot not only vacuums but also the cat from before.

00:39:26takes away.

00:39:27That could be another application scenario, better.

00:39:30So look, the scale is obviously, because it's a different manufacturer, not

00:39:34dirty and teases the refrigerator, but maybe convinces the vacuum cleaner

00:39:38or someday brings the scale up into the kitchen so that your scale

00:39:45can talk to your refrigerator and say, the one who doesn’t get anything anymore. Or

00:39:49it just flies over. Yes, yes, I've seen something like that. Yes, there are also the new

00:39:57updates for the Ring camera, which are now going towards emotion recognition and so on, where you

00:40:02of course have to consider from privacy points of view here in Germany or

00:40:06Europe, do I want to have all of this? That then also a larger

00:40:12corporation in the background always knows how I’m feeling everywhere. That we

00:40:16remain exciting, how we will do this in the future, how we can actually cover it despite the gain in comfort

00:40:21for certain situations, for certain use cases so that we

00:40:27don’t just blindly feed the data monster, but really let these things

00:40:31help us at home, help in everyday life, or in situations where we really need

00:40:34help, and not just be used to extract even more

00:40:38information, except in children's rooms, bedrooms, kitchens, or anywhere else

00:40:42in the moment. So there is still a bit of the creepy side. I have another

00:40:47thing where I say, I'm kind of torn, I think it's from,

00:40:53is it Racer or something like that, I believe they have a virtual, not virtual,

00:40:59the wrong word, like a little project work, that's what this thing is called. It's basically a small,

00:41:05looks like an avatar. A small cylinder with an avatar that looks like from

00:41:11Axe. Exactly, it has, exactly, like from this Grog avatar, which is a little animated

00:41:17representation, the thing is there basically 24/7, so if you will, actually,

00:41:23the super smart Tamagotchi from back in the day, a little being that helps you

00:41:28But lives in the household, not just some character,

00:41:31man, woman, whatever.

00:41:33Holographic representation, right?

00:41:35And a bit like 3D in there, yeah.

00:41:38It stands there in the promotional videos on the bedside table or watches you while you play

00:41:43computer games and makes smart remarks about how bad or how good you are at it, right?

00:41:47You can constantly talk to it.

00:41:50That's this corner, you know, this emotional angle, right?

00:41:55where AI is not necessarily sold as a toy, but rather as a filler for humans,

00:42:02they have less contact with something, with other people, who then actually

00:42:07we have already seen in the pure chatbot world, that real

00:42:10emotional relationships have also developed, or there are enough cases, good

00:42:15and bad, where a genuine emotional relationship has been established with the chatbot

00:42:22is further reinforced here. I believe this is something that really needs to be observed

00:42:27closely, how the user experience is, what possible fail-safes are in place,

00:42:32so that no overly intense emotional topics arise. Or

00:42:38people end up discussing themselves into silly situations with this AI avatar,

00:42:44because in the end, it is again just an AI, which does not

00:42:49really have emotions. It also doesn't matter if the user jumps out the window.

00:42:54I was just about to bring up the jumping out of the window example, but what interests me

00:42:59will, is what everything integrates with, simply put, the smart one, I have

00:43:04the knowledge of the world, but I can only present it to you and not somehow

00:43:09trigger any action. Of course, it can't vacuum either, we

00:43:12have revisited that topic, but I always find it interesting,

00:43:16how it develops. So which positions might eventually be offered and maybe

00:43:21there will be something like, oh I'm going to the next room and then in that cube

00:43:25your avatar will come back up. Because you don't want to constantly carry it around, you know,

00:43:29hang it around your neck like, what did he say? It's in the bedroom. So I mean,

00:43:33the thing also wants to be taken along if it's running 7x24. So this

00:43:36might also be exciting. And if Croc is behind it, one has to

00:43:40be a bit careful right now anyway. I mean, the assistant from Croc has

00:43:44yes, also definitely, I mean, there was some degree of openness back then, some time ago

00:43:49a while ago, you know, a few months ago, it was highlighted. Currently, there's also this

00:43:53stupid stuff. Apologies for the language. I probably am already a bit

00:43:56explicit, where Croc just starts, oh, you want to show him in underwear? No

00:44:02problem, I can do that for you. Of course, who even cares, yeah, I can manage that and then you get

00:44:06even, if someone sends a reply to a photo you posted on X, this

00:44:11picture. Yeah, that means you kind of see, oh, someone just

00:44:16showed me here quite openly. So on that note, phew, Croc somehow manages to

00:44:21constantly make headlines, but that's another topic. What I might

00:44:26want to conclude from my points, something that stayed with me

00:44:30at CS, that I would like to highlight again, to return to the topic is, as far as

00:44:35I know there weren't really any new products shown, but also the whole topic of

00:44:39smart glasses. So glasses with a display, without a display, whatever.

00:44:44They were shown as an interaction interface for AI systems.

00:44:51Samsung showed a few displays, quite funny. Samsung has a display

00:44:55that is a foldable display, where you don't see the crease anymore.

00:45:01After the gall, I hear your trapsing, supposedly, we're also getting

00:45:05an iPhone Fold this year, where you don't see the crease.

00:45:08Samson is a supplier for displays. Let's see what that brings. But that was basically all I had

00:45:15looking at the time, yes, we have gone a bit longer again, but a lot was presented. I found it exciting.

00:45:22I don't have more. Do you have anything else?

00:45:25No, it's as you say. We could talk about the

00:45:29AI.

00:45:31we talked about self-cleaning toilets that have been mentioned and

00:45:34So, a lot has really been done in that area. Now I've just kind of bashed it a bit.

00:45:41This emotional aspect. So, I dream of having something like an R2D2 or something else here that...

00:45:49It's not bad, and there were also super cute little penguins,

00:45:56similar robots with big eyes looking at each other nicely.

00:45:59That is, of course, this emotional part that robots and AI can also take on.

00:46:07If it's meaningful, if it's done safely, you can't underestimate that.

00:46:12That can definitely be helpful, it can help with certain illnesses.

00:46:16I believe there's a lot in that, especially in our stressed healthcare system here in Europe and

00:46:20Germany, that this gap can also be closed. But we can actually,

00:46:25so that's absolutely right, we've already talked long enough about this episode,

00:46:30across the big pond. I believe we'll do our robot episode, and we'll also include

00:46:37this part, this emotional component that robotics can bring, and then we are,

00:46:43I think, with a broad view around the CS, the innovation we saw there,

00:46:52about all the KITs that were there, we're not done, are we? I would also say that. And I want to

00:46:59touch on what we started with. If you want Jens and me to visit the next CS

00:47:04live and in color on-site, then let your friends and acquaintances know,

00:47:09what a great podcast this is. If it's too long for you, write it in the comments. Then we have

00:47:15the opportunity next time, based on our listeners' feedback, to be shorter.

00:47:20Or if you find it too short, hopefully not, you can also write that, because then we'll just talk

00:47:26longer. Or I can do it in post-production at double speed.

00:47:31Or slower, it doesn't matter, you know what I mean. We've already had some or

00:47:34other slip-ups in there. I don’t want to keep you any longer. Jens,

00:47:38It was nice with you. We look forward to it. Until next time. Stay healthy and look forward to the next episode. See you then. Bye.

00:47:47Welcome to ThinkDifferent, ThinkAI, the podcast by Mark and Jens.

00:47:53Two technology-loving minds who not only talk about artificial intelligence but live it.

00:47:59Here you’ll find clear classifications, genuine practical insights, and a fresh perspective on what is possible.

00:48:06Understandable, critical, and always with a wink.

00:48:10AI to think about, to smile at, and above all to discuss.