By Sarah Ivey, CEO, Agents of Necessity Inc.

As an attendee at CES for many years, I had no idea exactly how much fun it would be to actually curate the show. This coming show will mark the second year that I will be walking the floor with my fellow guides, talking to innovators, touching and testing the latest tech, and choosing the best and most interesting stories to tell.

When it comes to curating which technologies to show on the tours, it’s a lot like being a “truffle pig” of innovation: you know a truffle when you see one, but it’s going to take a while to find it.

The hunt starts in the early hours the day before the show opens, when curators like me scout the floor. The floor is usually pure chaos, full of forklifts, pallets, and harried exhibitors. A lot of the demonstrations aren’t running, half the exhibitors – particularly in Eureka Park — haven’t even turned up yet. It will take at least two passes, sometimes three, to start to see the gems that will form the basis for an informative and entertaining tour.

There’s no shortage of trend forecasting and big themes leading up to the show. Those big themes – AI finally becoming a reality through the power of 5G, for example – does guide our thinking, but that isn’t the only factor in our choices. This is where the truffle analogy comes in. Anyone can talk about a flying car, but sometimes the most interesting innovations aren’t always obvious. In canvassing the opinion of my fellow tour guides, the technology that tells the best stories falls into these four big categories:

1. Innovations that serve a previously unmet consumer need

In a world of constant dynamic innovations there are still a few standout solutions that truly address unmet needs. Some examples from the 2019 show include Tivic Health’s bioelectronic therapy device for sinus pain – one of the recipients of Time Magazine’s innovations of the year. We knew it was going to be a hit when several of our attendees volunteered on the spot for a demo. Another standout from this year’s show was P&G’s Opté Precision Skincare System that combines camera optics, proprietary algorithms, printing technology and skincare in one device that scans the skin, detects hyperpigmentation and applies a corrective serum. Genius.

2. Innovations that solve a business problem

WeCheer’s demo was a popular stop in Eureka Park.

CES is a consumer show, but some of the most interesting innovations we’ve found address the less sexy, but equally important area of business operations. An excellent example from the 2019 show is WeCheer, the smart bottle opener that tracks what beer is being opened by whom in what bar. This is less about the tech than the data is provides. For beverage clients this creates a whole new window to data-driven insights from on-premise in real time, a world that has been historically opaque.

3. Media/Advertising/Data-Friendly Platforms

Marketers and agencies are always on the lookout for new platforms that can carry ads, and of course, produce data. From our perspective, we’re looking for something far more than a new media touchpoint. It has to be a rich experience from a consumer perspective. A very strong example from CES 2019 is the CareOS’ Artemis smart mirror, Artemis leverages the time we’re already spending in front of a mirror to create a richer experience, from connecting to other smart devices, to checking the weather, to showing makeup tutorials, all in a gorgeous interface. Of course, it can carry advertising, but more importantly it creates a rich stream of data.

4. Sheer entertainment value

Last but not least, we never underrate the capacity of technology to just deliver sheer delight. CES is also about the stories you tell and pictures you show of cool and funny experiences – the smart boxing machine, the flying car, and of course the applause robot. Those are obvious choices, but sometimes we’ll come across something really offbeat and delightful, like Mui, a smart plank of wood that delivered a display interface that was so beautiful everyone gasped when they saw it.

Whether it’s solving a decades-old business problem, or solving an unmet consumer need, or simply serving up delight, combing CES for the best stories is an experience unlike any other. I’ll be there with bells on, bright and early, ready to hunt for “truffles”.

Curating CES: The "Truffle Pigs" of Innovation