This story is part of CESHere, our editors bring you the latest news and the hottest gadgets of the fully virtual CES 2021.
The first all-digital CES has come and gone, and it was a very different event from what we've seen in the past. But it wasn't just the format that was different. The technique was different too.
There was a noticeable shift in some of the products exhibited by exhibitors - a step towards technology designed to help us live, work and stay safe through the world Coronavirus pandemic. Among the technologies affected by this shift, robotics was a category that events of the past year have steered in a new direction.
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We saw many robots that graced the virtual trade fair with their presence. But instead of just making incremental improvements over previous efforts or novel concept technologies, we've seen robotics companies push their technologies into brand new areas to meet our needs in this new normal by going where we can't and doing things that we weren't allowed to do.
This shift towards robotics was part of a broader push by the consumer electronics industry to meet the new needs that have arisen from the pandemic and that continue through the lockdown. Among the hot items at the show were Razer's Project Hazel Smart N95 mask, a LG Fridge with UV light Disinfect the emitter, and a touchless toilet from Kohler. With people trapped in their homes and unable to interact with other people as usual, we need to find new ways to keep people safe and complete important tasks.
For robot manufacturers, this is already good in their wheelhouse. At CES, there were numerous indications that many robot manufacturers were able to adapt their technology to the new requirements of COVID.
Old dogs, new tricks
Reachy, a humanoid robot whose strengths are interacting with people and manipulating objects, made its first appearance at CES last year. But this year the robot was back with a new ability.
Pollen Robotics, the French company that makes Reachy, made the robot compatible with a humanoid VR teleoperation app. The idea is that by wearing one VR headset With hand controls, anyone can control Reachy remotely, so the robot can do tasks from anywhere in the world.
Telepresence robots are nothing new, but the past year has shown us just how many ways they could potentially be useful. For Reachy, who is open source, there are limitless opportunities to go where people currently can't and be a proxy for them.
UK-based company Shadow Robots, a frequent CES exhibitor, came to the show this year with news that it had been funded by Innovate UK to investigate whether its tactile telerobot would be used to make COVID vaccines for Pfizer can.
Shadow Robots is an expert in building advanced robotic hands that can mimic a human hand in real time. In brief, Shadow Robots will be working through a checklist of tasks that require a high level of skill and accuracy to determine if the system can operate in a sterile environment. Vaccines are cheaper, better, faster, and easier.
It does tasks that are normally done by people who need to work, by putting their hands in a sterile box with gloves attached called an isolator, said Rich Walker, managing director of Shadow. It's tricky work with a lot of room for human error. The hope, however, is that telepresence robots will give human workers more control and result in greater efficiency in the manufacture of vaccines.
Walker, who almost exclusively sells Shadow's robots to professors and research institutes, is enjoying the opportunity to bring the company's know-how to another area. "It's just really nice to do something where you can really see that we have the opportunity to help people who solve real problems, real challenges and a difficult work environment," he said.
New robots to solve new problems
However, not all of the pandemic robots we saw at the show were simply re-used. A new category of robots also emerged: droids specifically designed to keep our environment clean and safe.
Both LG and Ubtech, two companies that keep bringing new robots to CES, have unveiled robots that use ultraviolet light (UV-C) to disinfect areas of high contact and high traffic. The idea is that these can be used in hotel rooms, classrooms, restaurants and other such high touch areas.
For Walker, who is also a member of Innovate UK's advisory board for robotics and autonomous systems, this is an ideal job for a robot as it requires a high level of accuracy - by having a UV scanner at a certain distance for a certain amount of time holds - be effective. It would be nearly impossible for a human to make sure an entire room was perfectly cleaned, he said. "While a robot does that, it's absolutely consistent and absolutely error-free every time."
The CLOi robot from LG is designed in such a way that, depending on its size, it can navigate around chairs and tables within 15 to 30 minutes and irradiate the touchable surfaces of an entire room.
The robot is supposed to bring people "peace of mind" so that they are not exposed to harmful bacteria and germs, said Michael Kosla, vice president of LG Business Solutions USA. "Higher levels of disinfection is becoming a new customer expectation in the new contactless economy that we all now live, work, study and play in," he added.
The spread of disinfection robots at this year's show came as no surprise to Ben Wood, Senior Analyst at CCS Insight. In an email, he said that new roles for robots beyond manufacturing and storage have been emerging for some time, and that CCS forecast in October that the pandemic would accelerate their adoption in other contexts amid fears about the spread of infection.
"We predicted that robots would be used to perform tasks such as health monitoring and cleaning in hospitals, housekeeping in hotels and catering, and payment in restaurants," said Wood. "This has certainly proved to be the case, and the LG UV-C robot that was unveiled at CES is a good example of this."
Welcome robot savior
As I looked around for the robots that made their debut at the show this year, I felt that there was more room for them in our lives than ever before.
In the past, when I wrote about companion robots to combat loneliness, it was mostly for the elderly, people with dementia or disabilities, or for people who are socially isolated. But nowadays we are all socially isolated.
An adorable fluffy guinea pig robot that can respond to your touch and the sound of your voice may not have spoken to you in the past, but could be a welcome addition to your home right now, especially if you live alone. Moflin, made by Vanguard Industries in Japan, is one such robot.
And Samsung's new robots respond for similar reasons. Being home all the time seems to lead to an endless parade of dirty dishes. Wouldn't it be great if you could rely on a bot cellphone to load and unload your dishwasher for you while you work? With no bars open for happy hour, it would be nice if a robot poured you a glass of wine at the end of the day while you sit back and relax.
Similarly, the Bot Care might just be the colleague you really missed. The mobile personal assistant can pop in for a chat and remind you to take a break and stretch, or it can go through your schedule with you without having to silently switch between screens again.
In the meantime, Moxie, a cute desktop robot, can keep your kids entertained and help them study with special content developed by educators and child development experts.
Robots have always been a luxury in the past, but CES 2021 showed us that it might be time to re-evaluate. The world has changed and we have no choice but to adapt - and why shouldn't robots take at least a small portion of the load?
