Best of CES 2023: A color-changing BMW and a boba tea robot

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Tech companies showed off their latest products this week at CESformerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show.

Crowds of investors, media professionals and tech insiders flock to the cavernous spaces of Las Vegas to witness the latest technology. From large companies and startups. There are flashy concept cars, displays of every possible kind, and robots that can help out with a range of tasks technology for homes. Some technical innovations are already available for purchase while others may never make it past the prototype stage.

The show runs until Sunday. Here are some highlights:

Video calls with a twist

Tired of the same old video conferencing calls? Zero Distance thinks it might have the answer.

The company’s Wehead device helps people in a meeting feel like a telepresence is in the room with them.

The device looks like one you might find at an optometrist, but with screens on the front. From afar, the person participating looks like they are there in 3D and when they look around or shake their head, the machine also moves.

Wehead works with standard PC or smartphone webcams.

“If there are few people around the table and only one screen, then not everyone can see the screen, and the person at the laptop cannot see everyone,” said Ilya Sedochkin, creator of Wehead. “This is the obvious application.”

But for people who spend 40 hours a week in their home office, they don’t see other people as much. So having the feeling of the real person in the room, and using some space at your table, can give you a less lonely feeling,” Sedochkin said.

The Wehead costs $1,555, with a Professional version available for $4,555.

Color changing car

BMW is betting on a car that can change its colours.

The German automaker’s latest concept car can display up to 32 colors and allows drivers to digitally personalize their cars.

That’s not the only thing – the midsize sedan has a voice assistant in addition to physical and digital elements that allow the headlights to create facial expressions and express moods such as joy, surprise, and approval.

The car is called BMW i Vision Dee – Dee, which means “Digital Emotional Experience”.

The fun ride is the next iteration of BMW’s color-changing technology unveiled at CES last year, when the company showed off a car with the ability to change from black to white.

The body of the latest version is divided into 240 parts, which the company said can all be individually controlled and allow an infinite number of patterns to be created.

The car will be available in 2025.

Booba robot

From milk tea to passion fruit, robot Adam can make any boba tea you drink.

ADAM can also act as a bartender or barista, but he made boba tea for the cheery CES attendees who used the digital touch screens to choose their drinks.

“ADAM is intended to be primarily a way to attract guests and a way to make drinks fully automated and highly efficient,” said Timothy Tanksley of Richtech Robotics.

The two-armed robot has two handles that can be customized to make specific drinks. While taking a break from mixing drinks, ADAM can dance to keep people entertained.

ADAM, which can be rented for events or hired full-time, is among a group of robots on display at CES this week that perform a variety of tasks from disinfecting surfaces to making deliveries.

Nut milk on request

During the pandemic lockdowns in 2020, California resident Louise Rabacci had trouble finding his favorite almond milk at grocery stores. He looked up recipes online to make his own, but it was messy and time consuming.

Almost three years later, Rapacci was at CES to unveil his nut milk fermentation machine, the GrowUp Fermenter.

With GrowUp, customers can make nut milks at home in minutes with water and their choice of toppings, from cashews and walnuts to almonds and pistachios, Rabacci said.

The device costs $599 and is now available for pre-order.

Perfect eyebrows

Brow Magic by L’Oréal brings augmented reality to your eyebrows.

The company’s app scans your face and uses augmented reality to make personalized recommendations for choosing the shape, thickness, and effect. You apply a primer, and then the Brow Magic 2400 uses a tiny nozzle to brush and line your eyebrows.

L’Oreal developed Brow Magic in partnership with Prinker, which makes a device that quickly applies temporary tattoos.

The makeup in Brow Magic, which is expected to launch later this year, can last up to two days and can be removed with your regular makeup remover.

___

Associated Press writer Hallelujah Hadru contributed to this report.

___

For more information about CES, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/technology