Consumer entertainment technology will be in focus this week as the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) gets underway in Las Vegas.
Over 4,500 exhibitors are showcasing their consumer technology and the conference is exploring the latest trends.
AI continues to be on the agenda this year, with last year’s previous focus on Agentic AI evolving to physical AI, robotics, and autonomous technology.
In audio, open ear glasses (main picture) developed in conjunction with Bose will be displayed as wearables combine visual and audio enhancements in the one device.
The glasses use open ear headphone technology that delivers audio through a combination of air conduction for treble sounds and bone conduction for bass sounds, to evolve the previous open ear designs into a more integrated wearable. Open ear headphone technology is not new, but its continuing integration into new devices shows the functionality of the technology.
Home robots are predicted to be one of the next big things, moving from robo-vacuums to general task orientated robots with arms and fingers to help families develop ‘zero labour homes,’ illustrated by LG’s cleaning and laundry robot.
TV sets continue to get thinner, bigger and brighter with Micro RGB LEDs for precise light control and improved colour accuracy.
Video production has joined with AI to further develop video clones who can present your show, video or podcast as you, without actually having to be face to camera in real life. The more innovative element of this development is interactive video functionality, where a viewer can ask questions of the synthetic host as they are watching the video and the clone will dynamically answer the questions. This function will be particularly useful for training videos, but could also be misused for fakes and scams.
Fitbits and smart watches will be joined by finger rings in the wearables category, delivering health monitoring and also alerts synched to your appointments and productivity apps.
Some of the smart rings such as the Vocci have a microphone for note taking and speech to text AI transcriptions, in a trend towards discreet (or creepy) wearable technology that is less noticeable to people than an external microphone or camera.
Data Centres with huge processing power will also be on the agenda in many conference presentations as power and processing needs continue to grow to service the AI juggernaut.
The speculative cross-company investments that have taken place during 2025 enmesh the AI companies with the power and data companies who have made complex deals with each other. If all goes well for them, they will all make money, but if the complicated web of investments can’t be serviced, the AI investment bubble may spectacularly burst in 2026.
Other consumer tech trends to watch in 2026 will be vehicle tech and advanced mobility, improved home entertainment tech and immersive sound systems, gaming and e-sports, fintech, sustainability and new tech for content creators as they ‘go cinematic.’
Owned and produced by the Consumer Technology Association, the CES trade show showcases the entire tech landscape at one event, including manufacturers, developers and suppliers of consumer technology hardware, content, technology delivery systems and more. It also includes a conference program where the world’s business leaders and pioneering thinkers address the industry’s most relevant issues.
The CES show is taking place this week in Las Vegas from 6-9 January 2026.
Reporting: Steve Ahern
