CES 2022 attendees will encounter a far different show, in mostly good ways, both physically and virtually.
Most obviously, the upcoming show won’t be nearly as crowded. CTA has reported it had more than 1,600 committed exhibitors, a significant surge from the 1,100 exhibitors the CES producers had reported just a few weeks ago. While this is less than half the exhibitors of CES 2020, CES 2022 exhibitors include more than a third of the Fortune 500 companies. “The show will be different,” admits Karen Chupka, CTA’s CES EVP. “It won’t be what it was in 2020, but a lot of excitement has built up.”
Most startling physically to CES 2022 attendees will be the new 600,000-square-foot West Hall, located on what used to be the parking lots across from the North Hall, which will house the 185-plus automotive exhibits. To get around the LVCC with a minimum of long walks, Elon Musk’s underground vacuum Loop people mover will stretch from the new Resorts World Hotel to stops at West Hall, Central Hall, and South Hall for anyone who might be arriving from locations off Joe W. Brown Drive.
North Hall will host smart cities and digital health exhibits. Central Hall will, as usual, house the show’s largest exhibitors including Samsung, LG, and Sony, along with gaming exhibitors. Both the Sands – now called the Venetian Expo – and Aria will also host CES booths, with smart home, sports/fitness, and Eureka Park at the former, and the marketing/advertising C-Space exhibits at the latter venue. There also will be outdoor exhibitors in the LVCC Central Plaza. South Hall won’t be in use.
Covid Precautions
CES 2022 will be open only to the fully vaccinated, and masks will be required in all indoor Vegas venues, the Monorail, and CES shuttle buses. CTA is partnering with CLEAR to make it easier for U.S. attendees to share proof of vaccination, and with similar third-party platforms to serve international attendees.
Possibly the most fascinating way CTA is dealing with the pandemic “new normal” is acknowledging in-person greeting awkwardness. Attendees can request dots on their badges to indicate their comfort with various types of physical greetings:
- Red dot – no touching
- Yellow dot – fist or elbow bump is okay
- Green dot – anything goes, including an old-fashioned handshake or hug
Placards that can be placed on chairs to maintain social distancing will be available for those attending keynotes and conferences.
Virtual CES Redux
CTA will once again create a virtual version of the show for remote access. However, a new, more expansive platform from Web Summit will be used to create more and better connections, not only between exhibitors and remote CES attendees, but between exhibitors. All keynotes, conferences, and media events will be available for streaming.
The CES 2022 digital venue will be open until the end of January to give all attendees, exhibitors and media a chance to catch up.
What/Who To See at CES 2022
While attendees will be able to physically or virtually see the latest in work-from-home equipment, home entertainment gear including next-generation 8K TVs and OLEDs, true wireless earphones, smart home, gaming, digital health/fitness, 5G, AI, VR, automotive tech – including the first high-speed Autonomous Car Challenge at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday, Jan. 7 – and smart appliances, CES will host exhibitors displaying new tech categories Food Tech with cutting-edge kitchen and food production technology, plant-based proteins, vertical farming, and sustainability; Space Tech, including Sierra Nevada, whose CES Central Plaza exhibit area will include its spaceplane, the Dream Chaser, recently selected by NASA to transport critical supplies to the International Space Station; and, NFTs and digital asset exhibitors including initial coin offerings (ICOs) and other blockchain technologies.
In addition to tech, physical and virtual attendees also will be able to hear from a variety of tech corporate leaders including Samsung President J.H. Han, Peloton CEO John Foley, Abbott President and CEO Robert Ford, GM CEO Mary Barra, T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert, Instacart president Carolyn Everson, McDonalds chief marketing and digital officer Tariq Hassan, Waymo CEO Tekedra Mawakana, Moderna president Stephen Hoge, and Sierra Nevada owners Eren and Fatih Ozmen.
See also: C Space Panel Keynote To Highlight Transformed Consumer Experience
