Below are some of the most exciting tech trends that our team identified at CES:
Health Technologies
CES has shown us the scale and pace of the research and development being undertaken to progress wearable personal health monitoring, and the sensors that enable this. Many of us may already use some of these technologies daily, such as heart rate monitors, step counters, and blood oxygen sensors.
One trend we saw was the introduction of non-invasive blood glucose monitoring. If their capabilities live up to the claims then this presents a game changer for people affected by diabetes. It is claimed that the sensor is accurate to within +- 15% of a traditional blood measurement, without the need for invasive tests. A multi-sensor device was also shown, which combines a two-electrode ECG with heart rate, blood O2, blood pressure, and blood glucose monitoring, all in a pocket-sized device.
As these technologies develop, and the number of health markers they can monitor continues to increase, the potential benefits increase hugely. By combining and processing this wealth of health data (likely using AI!) we can monitor trends in wellbeing and spot early warning markers that wouldn’t be visible from monitoring only one parameter.
The defence applications of this are only beginning to be explored, but cover many areas, from monitoring participants in human factors and human performance tests, through to evaluating the wellbeing and continued performance of a deployed squadron. Another potential use is in rehabilitation and recovery of injured or unwell individuals, helping to safely return them to work.
It’s still early days for these technologies, but we have seen a substantial increase in the work ongoing in this field, and are sure to continue to see the outputs in the coming years.
Optical Metasurface Technology
While exploring the Central Hall at the convention center during CES, we came across the 2pi Optics booth and spoke with them about their metasurface lens. What particularly stood out was its compact dimensions, just a few millimeters in size. This unassuming lens became even more intriguing as we learned about its versatility. The live demonstration showcased its application in smartphones, augmented reality, and both short-wave and long-wave imaging, proving its adaptability across various technologies. A key defence interest of these technologies is in addressing the continual drive to reduce Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP) in our devices. These lenses provide improved performance at a lower SWaP, compared with traditional systems. Systems from soldier-mounted displays, headsets, imaging systems, vehicle displays, and many more may stand to benefit from these improvements.
They also featured a live microscope display, adding another layer to the narrative. Instead of 3-4 glass pieces, they demonstrated that you could use this single lens design without compromising performance. This again provides an improvement to SWaP, as well as reducing device complexity, without compromising risking performance requirements. What stood out the most was the cost. To our surprise, we were informed that a single lens could potentially be acquired for less than a dollar. This combination of small size, versatility, and affordability made the 2pi Optics metasurface lens a noteworthy find.
Immersive Peripheries
Immersive technologies continue to be well represented at CES, with its innovation hub, Eureka Park, continuing to enable start-ups and small businesses to bring their ideas to the masses. This year, the variety of Extended Reality (XR) solutions showed that the industry is innovating to respond to some of the current technical challenges faced.
Clicked, a South Korean business, presented their XR streaming capability called “onAirXR”. It enables game engine software built on common tools such as Unity or Unreal to be streamed with ultra-low latency, from local PC devices to multiple XR units. This has the potential to support the development of software to deliver high complexity content (such as digital twins) to lower powered XR devices. This presents an enticing option for areas such as virtualised training, and reducing the complexity and cost required in these systems.
Both Afference and Microtube Technologies had alternative approaches to the long-running challenge of building better haptic glove-type devices; the desire for XR users is to be able to touch and feel the digital objects presented to them.
Microtube demonstrated a new untethered HEXR glove powered by pneumatics. During the demo, raindrops could be felt, and the rhythmic beat of a human heartbeat was captured when held. Whilst the sensation was subtle, the device was free of any wires, and was relatively lightweight. This provides opportunities for better training and situational awareness through immersive devices in the defence industry.
Afference presented “The Phantom” which won a CES Award for Best of Innovation. Users are able to “feel” objects through electrical stimulation which is conveyed by rings worn on each finger. They claim they can modify how this is delivered to the skin so those feelings can be directed towards different parts of the finger. Bringing this localised sensation is important for simulation and training in activities such as counter-IED or detailed engineering and maintenance tasks.
Other notable companies were Valkyrie who showed off their product, EIR, which consisted of devices worn on each arm that provided real-time muscle stimulation during Virtual Reality exercise. Another company was AAVAA who announced their new Brain-Computer Interface which translated facial expression into usable machine interaction – potentially reducing the physical burden for those in the field.
LiDAR & EV Grid
In the world of automotive autonomy sensing, several brands are showcasing new tech in radar and LiDAR (light detection and ranging) systems. Luminar Technologies has partnered with Webasto to unveil a new high-tech low-profile Roof Sensor Module (RSM) with integrated display and LiDAR. The elevated roof position of the LiDAR is optimized for performance and ensures reliable monitoring of the vehicle’s surroundings, ensuring safer automated driving.
AEVA also showcased a game-changing product named Atlas. This is the world's first automotive-grade 4D LiDAR and will be available for purchase in 2025. This product is 70% smaller than its predecessor and not only does this system detect reflective targets at a range 25% further than its predecessor (reducing the potential for incorrect or manipulated readings), it utilises 4x less power. Combining these upgrades, with its environmental and safety ratings, it looks promising for integration into autonomous military platforms globally.
Beyond the products landscape, we saw a lot of talk at the show surrounding grid preparedness for electronic vehicles (EVs). There a many parallels to this in our military applications that will become relevant as our fleets move from ICE to Hybrids and eventually full EV, though that is likely a distant reality. Sentiment is that EV batteries are no longer the primary offender in consumer range anxiety. EVs consistently can make it 200 to 400+ miles per charge which is comparable to their ICE counterparts' mileage per tank.
Battery tech is moving towards cost reduction, improved safety, lower weight, and faster charging. It’s now up to EV charging station developers to improve the rate of charge available, as well as on the grid providers to develop a more robust charging network. One very exciting avenue being discussed is the use of the charging network locations, including retail, employer, and at home chargers, to more intelligently manage the grid power draw. If we can understand consumer patterns, charging speeds can be ramped up or slowed down during surge and slumping times to provide a better consumer experience. This will likely be necessary with any large network of EVs or plug in hybrids, the military not excluded.
Military applications can also benefit from an understanding of this use of grid power for deployable units, it is often hard to set up new infrastructure and there will be a dependency on local resources to enable operations at speed. This improved understanding also presents opportunities for managing high power draw defence systems, such as high performance computing, large-scale test facilities, or even next generation laser systems, potentially reducing costs and improving reliability.
Wireless Power Transfer
This year’s show has shown significant advancements in Over-the-Air Wireless Power Technologies. The transmitter we were shown can transmit up to 1 Watt of power, and operates by transmitting radio waves in the 915MHz band for remote power and data transmission, although the technology could be adapted to target other frequencies if required. This showcased technology holds the promise of minimising the constraints associated with delivering power via cables, thereby simplifying the installation process of low power systems—no more tangled cords or searching for outlets. Capable of functioning at distances ranging from a matter of inches (2-5cm) to 120ft (36.5m – but with reduced power availability), its only limitations lie within spectrum approvals and local legislation. However, with the appropriate approvals, distances greater than 120ft can be achieved.
A number of defence areas stand to benefit from this technology, including powering wearable devices and on-the-solider sensors, distributed sensor networks and remote monitoring in the field, and generally streamlining the operation of low-powered electronics. For example, in covert areas where running cabling may be prohibitive, or revealing, this technology may enable new opportunities.
Artificial Intelligence
The dominant theme at CES 2024 was AI, and especially how AI has become an enabler for more technology and applications. It is striking how AI has enabled a whole new era of technology similar to what we have witnessed in previous technology leaps, such as scientific experiments at school, where mass spectrometers were first used to identify constituents of various gases.
On this topic, Sharp Electronics exhibited their AI Olfactory sensor. Scents are molecules at low concentrations in the air, and they can be detected and identified by various instruments such as a residual gas analysers (RGA), but RGAs are mass spectrometers and are rather bulky benchtop instruments requiring a high vacuum system to operate; not a thing you could carry with ease, and typically not robust!
Sharp has created a compact smart phone sized Field Assymetric Ion Mobility Sensor using a proprietary ionizer and glass olfactory sensor. Air is drawn in through a small tube, ionized and passed through an electric field while under a controlled airflow. Ions drift and are detected by the glass olfactory sensor creating a pattern unique to whatever molecules are entrained in the air flow. It is impossible to perform elemental mass analysis like an RGA on these patterns, but Sharp uses machine learning to associate the ion drift patterns with odours, enabling AI with a sense of smell.
They are currently promoting joint development of their AI Olfactory sensor with Sake breweries and training their system with the assistance of sommeliers.
Identification of chemicals, especially those carried aloft by air, is difficult to do with electronic sensors of any kind in small concentrations. Accurate, compact, electronic olfactory sensors with good sensitivity have been somewhat elusive to-date. If Sharp, and likely others, have created a successful olfactory sensor by the use of AI it is one that has numerous defence and security applications. This could enable the rapid and field-portable ability to detect explosives in an area, improving the safety and effectiveness of our troops, and also for detection within airports, for example. Detecting if a person has been in contact with substances such as gunpower, gunshot residue, or other incriminating chemicals may also become a reality, proving real-time information supporting investigations.
Innovation in Digital Technology
One of defence’s challenges is designing, developing and delivering to completion mission-critical capability as fast as possible, whilst ensuring safety throughout. There is an increased need for accelerating development timelines, and the utility of digital twin solutions to design, assure and accept platforms and capabilities in the virtual world, before producing them in the real world. These challenges by no means are limited to defence, and often when it comes to scaling innovation, no one industry has the full solution, highlighting the importance of shared vision and collaborative execution.
Siemens’ keynote at CES 2024 introduced a number of collaborations that seek to enable what they referred to as the realisation of the ‘Industrial Metaverse’. This is being applied to a broad set of use cases, such as with Sony, to develop a new immersive engineering solution that uses Sony’s head mounted display with Siemens Xcelerate transformation software. But they also announced collaborations with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to make generative AI more accessible to all with AWS Bedrock and Mendix Low-Code platform. These will all contribute to pushing the boundaries of digital innovation that can be leveraged in defence, such as for safer, faster, and more secure sub-system and full platform development, testing, assurance and training.
Overall, CES 2024 has seen the global tech industry come together to showcase some of the world’s most innovative capability and highlight current and future trends. With 4300+ exhibitors and 135,000+ attendees, it has provided an invaluable opportunity for QinetiQ, as a defence company, to learn from other industries and horizon-scan for new technologies that could be relevant to military objectives. Events like CES demonstrate that cross-industry collaboration is vital for the mission-led innovation that is key to our approach at QinetiQ.
