Exclusives

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is expected to have a far more significant presence at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas Jan. 5-8 than it did only a year ago as a larger number of CE companies look to take advantage of greater consumer familiarity with AI. It also comes amid growing demand in the enterprise space for the technology in areas including customer relationship management (CRM) and across multiple industries that include healthcare.

CES arrives just after AI-based digital assistants proved to be among the most in-demand devices during the holiday season in the U.S., led by Amazon Echo and that company’s other products using its Alexa intelligent voice control platform.

On the enterprise side of the equation, Media & Entertainment Services Alliance (MESA) member Salesforce has been among the most prominent technology companies to implement AI. Its recently-introduced Einstein platform provides advanced AI capabilities to sales, service and marketing, and allows its clients to use clicks or code to build AI-powered apps that get smarter with each user interaction, according to Salesforce.

While it wasn’t immediately clear what kind of presence Amazon itself would have at CES in terms of AI and Salesforce isn’t an exhibitor at the show, AI will be out in force among MESA members and other companies at CES, both on and off the show floor.

For example, MESA member PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) will have Anand Rao, AI and machine learning lead, on hand Jan. 5 to moderate a panel on “industry disruptors” including AI and machine learning.

Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang, meanwhile, is expected to address the latest in AI (as well as self-driving cars, virtual reality and gaming) during the first CES keynote, on the eve of the show, Jan. 4. In the fall, Nvidia unveiled Xavier, an AI supercomputer system-on-a-chip that Huang said will power self-driving cars.

Here’s just a few of the many other companies planning to demonstrate AI at this week’s CES:

Boltt Sports Technologies: The India-based fitness wearable technology startup is demonstrating Advanced Fitness Wearables and an AI-enabled ecosystem for them at its CES booth, as well as during a news conference at the show Jan. 6. In September, the company showed its devices and companion AI coach apps at the TechCrunch Disrupt event in San Francisco. The company claimed in a news release at the time that its AI-based platform will “scientifically improve running, track and further fitness levels and show the consumer their health in a whole new way.” Boltt intends to extend its product technology to various business services in the “near future,” including sports analysis , corporate wellness, smart physical education and group fitness, it said.

RnD64: The Wilmington, Delaware-based and Internet of Things (IoT)-focused technology company is demonstrating Hello Egg, an AI-based meal planning and cooking gadget that allows users to plan weekly meals according to their dietary preferences and organize their shopping lists and set up shopping deliveries. It also provides step-by-step, voice-navigated video recipes, the company said.

Robart: The Austrian AI company will showcase its latest next-stage, product-ready Artificial Intelligence Control Unit (AICU) at CES, it said. The company’s navigation ecosystem lets consumer robots “truly understand indoor environments” and ACIUs offer capabilities to clients that include flexible response to changes in the surroundings as the robot “learns” its environment, target-driven motion and reliable localization of the robot’s position allowing users to pinpoint where their robot is at any given time, and “Smart Home Concept” technology that “allows users to communicate with their robot remotely from anywhere, using their smartphone or tablet,” it said.

SmartBeings: The Silicon Valley startup is demonstrating WooHoo, an AI-embedded, interactive smart home hub featuring voice control and facial recognition. The company is in the middle of a Kickstarter campaign for the product in which it set a goal of raising $30,000 by February and has already surpassed that target by raising $45,540 as of Jan. 3. After the end of the Kickstarter campaign, WooHoo’s retail price will be $89, plus a monthly subscription fee of $9, it said.