Here are the cool incubator projects and startups Samsung will display at CES next month
From Tuesday, January 7th through Friday, January 10th, the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) will take place at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Samsung announced today that it will be showing off several new projects from its C-Labs in-house incubator at CES. Inkuk Hahn, Vice President and Head of the Creativity & Innovation Center at Samsung Electronics said, "We will actively support C-Lab to create products that reflect the latest market trends and customer demands and will showcase outstanding projects and startups of C-Lab in various global exhibitions."
C-Labs Inside is Samsung's in-house idea incubation program that nurtures ideas from Samsung employees. Started in 2012, this will be the fifth time that it has shown off new ideas at CES. One of the new ideas that we'd like to see implemented is a hands-free typing system that uses a phone's front-facing selfie camera and AI. Called SelfieType, the project uses machine learning to analyze the finger movements seen by the selfie camera and convert them into taps on a virtual QWERTY keyboard. The beauty of this technology is that it doesn't require any additional hardware and can be used on smartphones, tablets, and laptops.
A smart highlighter digitizes text printed on paper and manages the information using an app
Another cool project is called Hyler. This is a smart highlighter that can digitally record words printed on a written piece of paper by going over the page much as you would do with a highlighter. The information collected by Hyler can be managed with an app. In addition, when using search mode, the user will receive prompts to look up results from browsers and online dictionaries that are linked to the device.
SelfieType allows users to type on a virtual QWERTY using the selfie camera on their phone
Ultra V is a sensor that records ultraviolet rays. Samsung says that it is easy to integrate into a wearable device like a smartwatch. With Ultra V, uses will now how to take care of any skin condition they might have depending on the solar UV readings generated by the sensor.
Hyler is a smart highlighter that digitizes text printed on paper
Some of the other C-Labs Inside projects being displayed at CES include "SunnySide," a window shaped device that produces artificial sunlight, and Becon. The latter analyzes a person's scalp and recommends steps to take in order to avoid hair loss.
Samsung will also display four C-Labs Outside products from third-party startup firms that receive "financial support, business collaboration, and opportunities to participate in global IT exhibitions alongside Samsung." These products include a humanoid robot named piBO which offers simple conversations and information like news, weather, and search. According to Samsung, piBO "interacts with users based on emotional analysis of facial expressions and contents of conversations and gives appropriate responses with sayings, music, and dance." There is also a robot app store where new applications can be downloaded on piBO.
Ultra V measures solar UV rays and analyzes them
FITT is a healthcare data platform that runs three different tests (cardiorespiratory, posture and muscle strength) in order to devise a personalized exercise program for a user. It can also predict future diseases and devise a personalized exercise program to help someone lessen the risk of getting high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, stroke, heart attack, and cardiovascular disease. VTouch allows users to control devices through the movement of their eyes and fingertips. And Smoothy is a group video chat app that allows eight people to communicate at one time. The app starts out in silent mode at first when answering a call so that video calls can be answered anywhere at any time. It also supports video calls using Samsung AR Emoji which "can mirror facial expressions and motions in real-time which makes video calls more fun."
While we don't know when or if any of these products or features will be made available to the public, it is interesting to see some of these incubated ideas and the products being developed by startup companies.
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