A look at some of the most interesting tech from CES 2024: Roxi's interactive music video channels for linear TV, Samsung's Ballie AI robot projector, and more
Chris Velazco / Washington Post :
Context & Ripple Effects
CES coverage had already framed the show around AI-enabled TVs, PCs and connected-home devices, including AI processing in televisions and smart-home products. This roundup shows that theme extending beyond screens and appliances into interactive TV programming and mobile home hardware.
The significance is less a single launch than a product-direction signal: CES’s broad AI messaging also drew criticism for branding conventional algorithmic features as AI. Samsung’s later plan to bring Ballie to market with Google gives its CES demonstration a clearer path beyond the show floor.
First-order effects
- Roxi gains a CES showcase for an interactive music-video format aimed at linear-TV viewing, putting its proposition in front of TV-industry partners and consumers.
- Samsung uses Ballie to demonstrate a home-device concept that combines AI interaction with projection, extending its connected-device narrative beyond conventional TVs.
Second-order effects
- TV platforms and device makers face a clearer incentive to test more interactive programming formats if they want linear viewing to feel less passive.
- Ballie’s positioning increases pressure on smart-home vendors to distinguish between AI features embedded in existing devices and dedicated AI hardware with visible, practical functions.
Third-order effects
- If demonstrations such as these translate into products, the smart home may evolve from a collection of fixed screens and appliances toward software-led experiences that move across devices and rooms.
- CES’s AI-heavy product framing will make credibility depend increasingly on whether vendors can turn broad AI labels into specific consumer use cases and shipped products.
The trend: CES is becoming a proving ground for AI-branded consumer experiences that span entertainment, televisions and the connected home, with execution determining which concepts endure.