Samsung will be showcasing several innovative projects from its C-Lab program at CES 2020 in Las Vegas this January.
The company announced that the 2020 edition of the world’s largest consumer electronics exhibition will feature five C-Lab Inside projects as well as four start-ups from C-Lab Outside program. Samsung has been showcasing C-Lab projects at CES every year since 2016.
C-Lab Inside, formerly Creative Labs, is Samsung’s in-house startup incubator that encourages its employees to turn their innovative ideas into products by offering them resources and support services.
C-Lab Outside is also a similar program that assists outside startups with financial support and business collaboration. Select projects also get opportunities to participate in global IT exhibitions alongside Samsung.
Since its inception in 2012, a total of 40 Samsung C-Lab projects have launched as independent start-ups. C-Lab Outside, meanwhile, was created only in 2018. The company aims to support over 300 external startups in the next four years through this program.
Samsung C-Lab Inside projects at CES 2020
CES 2020 will feature five C-Lab Inside projects, namely SelfieType, Hyler, Becon, SunnySide, and Ultra V. SelfieType is a virtual keyboard that uses a front-facing camera and a proprietary SelfieType AI engine to analyze finger movements coming and convert them into QWERTY keyboard inputs. It doesn’t require any additional hardware.
Samsung says SelfieType can be used on various mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops. This is a handy feature especially when your hands are dirty as you don’t need to grab your phone to reply to a text. This idea, however, has been previously explored using laser-projected keyboards and those failed. Further, with SelfieType, you’ll be typing blind as no keyboard is projected on the surface.
Hyler is a smart highlighter pen that digitizes printed text onto a companion app on paired mobile devices. Samsung also talks about a ‘search mode’ that provides the user with extensive search results through search engines or dictionaries linked to Hyler. It appears the leaves marks on the page, though.
Next in the list Becon, which is scalp home-care service. It consists of a hand-held device with some kind of artificial intelligence and a companion app to analyze scalp condition and recommend the most suitable solution. The device scans your scalp for ten conditions such as hair follicle density, dead skin, sensitivity, temperature, and humidity. You can also check if your condition is improving.
SunnySide is a lighting device that Samsung says produces artificial sunlight. According to the company, this device copies the full spectrum of the actual sunlight and can help users synthesize vitamin D without any harmful effects such as skin aging or sunburn.
The last C-Lab Inside project to feature at CES 2020 is Ultra V. It is an ultraviolet monitoring sensor and service that can be integrated into wearable devices. Ultra V can help users monitor and manage their skin condition and Vitamin D production.
Samsung C-Lab Outside projects at CES 2020
The four external startups Samsung is taking to CES 2020 as part of its C-Lab Outside program are Circulus, FITT, Vtouch, and Smoothy. Circulus will showcase a companion humanoid robot called ‘piBo’. Designed for single-person households, piBo can interact with the user based on their facial expressions.
It can also respond to voice commands and offer news, weather, and search for information. Samsung says additional features are downloadable from its store.
FITT, is a healthcare data platform that keeps a record of your personal health based on exercise tests. It conducts three types of exercise tests to offer customized exercise routines to users. It can also predict diseases based on those cardiorespiratory, posture and muscle strength tests.
Vtouch can add gesture controls to your TV, car, home, or any other object. Using the patented computer vision and deep-learning technologies, it tracks the user’s eyes and fingertips to enable them to control devices without physically touching them. This would also keep those devices free from germs and bacteria.
Lastly, there’s Smoothy, a group video chat application. Smoothy allows for up to eight people to participate in a chat. Samsung says the chat initially starts in silent mode. Smoothy also uses Samsung AR Emoji to mirror your facial expressions and motions in real-time.
Clear enough, Samsung C-Lab has plenty to show at CES 2020 in Las Vegas next week. For those attending the mega event, the C-Lab booth will be located at Eureka Park, Sands Expo. It will treat visitors with all these futuristic solutions from Tuesday, January 7 through January 11.