CTA CEO Gary Shapiro and Karen Chupka, senior VP of CES and corporate business strategy, gave a sneak peek into some of the things attendees will find at CES 2016. Here are a few quick hits:
• Yes, attendance has been capped — but hopefully not forever. As more hotels come in to Las Vegas, CTA hopes the show can once again expand, Shapiro said.
• The “International” has been dropped in the show’s name. “It speaks for itself,” he noted.
• More than 1,200 companies submitted for review in the CES Innovations Awards this year. Twenty Best of Innovation Honorees were named.
• The importance of digital health will now be represented with three separate Marketplaces: Health & Wellness, Fitness & Technology and Sports Tech.
• The Gaming & Virtual Reality Marketplace will see an 80 percent increase in space. There will also be a new Augmented Reality Marketplace with around a dozen exhibitors.
• The Martian VR Experience will be unveiled at CES.
• Auto exhibits will expand by 25 percent vs. CES 2015. GM CEO Mary Barra will deliver a keynote on Jan. 6.
• The Drones Marketplace will be more than 200 percent larger and will have 21 exhibitors.
• Eureka Park, the start-up showcase now in its fifth year, will have more than 500 exhibitors (and currently has a waitlist).
• The Robotics Marketplace will see a 71 percent growth in space and will feature 22 exhibitors.
• C Space will be double in size this year and will now be part of “Tech South” — an area spanning the Aria, Cosmopolitan and Vdara hotels.
• NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke will give the C Space opening keynote on Jan. 7.
• RIP cab lines? Hotels will have designated areas for Uber and Lyft drivers.
• No more Muzak! Lexi Hayden won CTA’s CES Soundtrack contest, and her song “When I’m With You” will be played before events and during the show.
• CTA will release new videos about the show, shared on its social channels.