by Dot Cannon 
“It’s raining cats and dogs,” commented a CES® 2018 Day One attendee. And, admittedly, it was.
At CES® 2018, which happened in Las Vegas from January 9th through the 12th, the first day’s weather was less than welcoming. (And we can’t believe that’s already been just about two weeks ago!)
But the keynotes, sessions and exhibits more than made up for the slow traffic and splashing puddles.
“This week, in Las Vegas, prepare to be wowed,” said CTA president and CEO Gary Shapiro in his Tuesday-morning opening keynote.
His keynote, which would focus on smart cities and the growth of the consumer-technology industry, also included an intriguing “scorecard”.
In their inaugural evaluation of the nations leading the technology industry, Shapiro said, the CTA had identified thirteen top innovators.
More than 400 of the 900-plus startups exhibiting in Eureka Park™ Marketplace, he continued, would have come from those 13 countries.
The morning’s keynotes would continue with presentations by various speakers from the Ford Motor Company.
“If we move quickly, we can redesign transportation in our cities,” said Ford President and CEO James Hackett. “It’s time to bring our streets into the sharing economy.”
“This is a ‘living street’,” Hackett said, of the projection behind him. “In the future, the car and the system will be talking to each other. The city’s transportation grid will (rotate around what the cars need).
But Hackett said mindful innovation was essential. Earlier in his presentation, he had referenced the ways progress, historically, had come at the expense of communities.
“The average American meal travels 1,500 miles from farm to table today,” he commented. “…For one kind of freedom, we constrain another.”
…”(Autonomous-vehicle innovation is) not about the city getting ‘smarter’. It’s about humans having a better day.”
Marcy Klevorn, Ford’s Smart Mobility President and Chief Information Officer, outlined the ways that could happen, in her presentation.
“Nobody else is talking about providing an open community like this around mobility,” she said. “We’re inviting everyone to build applications and services, to (help) living streets reach (their full potential.”
And Ford Executive Director of Connected Vehicles Don Butler discussed his company’s vision for the immediate future.
“We’re looking at a world where vehicles are connected, not just to each other but to every other smart component in the city,” he explained.
“Ford has over 700,000 connected vehicles on the road. By next year, every Ford vehicle will be connected.”
Venturing into the “park”
Now, CES® 2018 was a record-breaker. This year’s show included more than 3,900 exhibitors, according to an e-mail from the Consumer Technology Association. post-show email. The show spanned 11 official venues. No matter what any CES® attendee does, he or she is going to miss something.
Consequently, here are just a few additional highlights of our 2018 experience.
As you’ll recall from an earlier post, much of our Day One was about AR, VR and AI. After that, we spent the bulk of the time in Eureka Park™ Marketplace…
…exploring offerings from startups from all over the world.
One favorite was Snaappy. This augmented-reality communication platform puts a blue teddy bear wherever you want–with a message for a friend, child or significant other.
And MakePi absolutely wowed us.
This is an educational hardware technology startup which is introducing its first product: the MakePad. Creator Bruno Costa designed this as the first tablet computer kids can build for themselves! (And he’s starting a Kickstarter program to benefit as many kids as possible. We’ll keep you posted!)
We were also in awe of ICI Vision.
CEO Tal Lotan said these digital glasse are designed to restore some sight to blind people!
OK, CES® 2018–what comes after “Whoa!”?
We guess the answer is, “2019”. 
Hope to see you there!