Face Recognizing TVs, Smart Homes: UrbanTurf's Dispatch From CES

• January 11th 2013

by Shilpi Paul

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UrbanTurf’s Shilpi Paul made her way out to the spectacle that is the international Consumer Electronics Show this week in Las Vegas and reported back on a few gadgets and innovations that could be prevalent in the homes of the future.

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has, at least in the past, been considered ground zero for cool new technologies that consumers can expect to see in the coming months or years.

UrbanTurf took a walk around the conference earlier this week to take a look at the newest and craziest revolutionary home technologies that were being featured. From Smart Homes that efficiently manage energy usage to motion-sensing, face-recognizing TVs, many of these technologies are not available to the public yet, but hint at what our homes may look like in the near future.

Here are a few technologies that jumped out to UrbanTurf.

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LG’s Smart Refrigerators, Stovetops and Vacuum Cleaners

The word “smart” was everywhere in LG’s massive display area at CES, but what does that mean when it comes to appliances.

Well, smart refrigerators will communicate with you while you are at the store: scan a bar code, and your fridge tells you whether or not you are out of a particular product. Input your dietary restrictions, and the fridge will help you eat for your health. The tablet-like display on the door also monitors energy usage. Smart ranges displayed by LG help with cooking — you can input a recipe, and the oven and stovetop will set the temperature correctly. The Smart vacuum was also impressive: the Roomba-like HOM-BOT travels around unaided and responds to voice commands.

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Toshiba’s Home Cloud

Sustainability and energy efficiency reigned in Toshiba’s display area. Toshiba’s Home Cloud monitors all your appliances via your TV, tablet, or smartphone, so you can see your energy usage in real time. The cloud finds ways to intelligently bring down usage, like shutting off lights in rooms that aren’t being used. The connectivity also leads to a few cool interactions, like lights that know to automatically dim when a movie is being played on TV.

The “cloud” component means that this technology can also monitor your neighbors’ energy usage. When the collective usage starts to strain the overall grid, Toshiba may send out a communication to users to reduce their activity or automatically send all appliances in “Eco Mode”. The cloud will act on its own during these times: for example, the washing machine may turn off for a couple minutes while the microwave is on. When the microwave is finished, the washing machine turns back on — all without any input from a human.

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The Ultra HD, Motion Sensing, Face Recognizing TV

Huge, bright and extremely crisp, every company seemed to have Ultra HD TVs at CES, which displayed images in striking detail. Many of the televisions are also becoming increasingly interactive. Some products displayed facial recognition technologies that look at you, recognize your face, and recommend your favorite shows. Motion sensing and gesture control technologies (think Nintendo Wii) were on display as well, to the delight of video gamers.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/face_recognizing_tvs_smart_homes_urbanturfs_dispatch_from_ces/6508.