hunting for scams at CES

[@JOman04]

The "gets water from the air" scammers are great. They've invented the dehumidifier and attached a water filter to it.

[@Swell_Popcorn_Simps]

Swell blessed you with a like, you're legendary! 🍿

[@DarknessDust]

HAH xD

[@BernardNator]

Thunderfoot had a great review on one of those, cracked me up.

[@Leeno96]

How is that comment a day old when this video was released today?

[@honeybee347]

I thought that device sounded familiar. I think coffeezilla did an episode watching an mlm aspect with those machines trying to pitch it on dragons den.

[@podenco]

The water from air thing is actually an old school scam MLM device! There's a famous moment on Dragon's Den where someone tries to sell it and gets absolutely destroyed

[@Chris-zd2zi]

Pretty sure Thunderfoot did a video on it or similar product before. Now if you tell me a machine that is able to make water from air the first thing that comes to mind would be a dehumidifier.

[@3ikilee]

Omg yes! I just watched that coffeezilla video on it like yesterday lol

[@camipco]

@@Chris-zd2zi Yup, that's what they are. Dehumidifiers with a funnel.

[@georgeyreynolds]

The 'Water Seer' and also there was a version for your bike which had a self filling water bottle. I think it all came down to an Amazon-quality condenser?

[@7RStudios]

For anyone wondering what a digital twin is, this is a buzzword which essentially means a virtual 1 to 1 creation of something in the real world. Often times this means recreating an object or a room, or maybe the entire inside of a structure so that you can slap on a vr headset and see exactly what this place is like without being in this place. A more extreme example of digital twinning would be Tuvalu, which is an island nation that is sinking into the ocean due to rising water levels. Tuvalu is currently trying to create a digital twin of their entire island nation with hopes of preserving what their land looked like along with their culture.

[@jennacided6502]

jesus christ, that's actually heartbreaking.

[@sweetcherryblast7251]

That is sad but a very good use of digital twin technology. Most people hear about it being used for crypto-scam worlds masquerading as videogames.

[@ianrobertson3419]

Ah, but how will they monetize it?

[@ElektrischInkorrekt]

Another example: Miele is creating a digital twin for their washing machines to simulate and optimize the whole product life cycle of them, eg. to make repairs easier and/or reduce the amount of failures of the devices, before it's produced and shipped out to the customers... (At least that's what they told at the yearly Congress of the ZVEI - short for "Zentralverband der Elektroindustrie" or in English: "Central Association of the Electrical Industry" )

[@7RStudios]

@@ianrobertson3419 I think in this case, since their entire country will be underwater I'm okay with a little bit of capitalism. Just this once. We could maybe, instead of focusing on the money, focus on helping these people.

[@ann-gt4hh]

First semester as a writing studies student my professor told us people in the real world don’t know how to write. More as, people in the real world don’t know how to put the thoughts in their heads down on paper efficiently. I was baffled, but ever since I’ve come across professional writing that wouldn’t be accepted in my high school let alone college.

[@bookcat123]

This never fails to baffle me.

[@DanielaMartinez-wt6ir]

Agreed! I’ve worked both in marketing and education (as a graphic designer) and oh man, the crap I’ve read from “experts” on their fields. My biggest complains come from engineers, throwing around buzzwords and making the most unreadable texts 😵‍💫

[@aneisleeper5515]

@@DanielaMartinez-wt6ir Our mission is to disrupt the entire with the most innovative digital twin of the future.

[@finyafuxfell3031]

@@DanielaMartinez-wt6ir As someone who is about to write their dissertation, I truly don't understand why people need to write super complex. Education should be accessible to everyone, in my opinion. Of course, your writing should match a certain level, but that doesn't mean it should be complex af. Writing in a way, that makes every single braincell have a seizure is just not it. :') Although it's useful if your findings are just as valuable as hot air.

[@iu.lia.na.]

@Daniela Martínez In my defence for all engineers out there, we were forced to only talk in buzzwords in university papers. 😂

[@cassandratruth]

Hi Swell, just a note. As a disabled person, many of us really don't like the term 'differently abled.' It's a phrase that serves more to make abled people feel comfortable than accurately describe our experiences. Just saying "disabled" is fine and generally preferred.

[@lizalex8829]

Agreed, myself and my friends with disabilities all find 'differently abled' so uncomfortable

[@BiMads]

Definitely agree, I feel in general it matters more on the phrasing of the word. For example, most people with disabilities I have met would rather someone say 'someone who is disabled' over the phrase 'a disabled person'.

[@jaywolfie24]

was going to comment this as well, you worded this perfectly!

[@colorbar.s]

as another disabled person, exactly!!

[@whatthehelliot]

@@BiMads as a disabled person with lots of disabled friends, i see ppl prefer 'disabled person' the most, but 'someone whos disabled' is fine imo, just not my fave.

[@lisahoshowsky4251]

On a side note I’m also annoyed that so many of these things require their own app as well now. Like you mentioned the convention has an app, which I know you can delete it once the convention is over, but it’s just another aspect of everyday life that is quickly becoming overwhelming. Every fast food place, a lot of grocery stores, cruises (niche, but I watch cruise content on KZbin😅), online shopping, anything membership based, etc. If you frequent like 10 different fast food places and 5 different membership/loyalty requiring stores a month that’s a lot of apps.

[@emmaatkinson7379]

Dude my washing machine has an app and I can't get it to work without it. Whhhhhyyyyyyyyyyyyy

[@lisahoshowsky4251]

@@emmaatkinson7379 nooo!!! That’s actually horrific, why is app based everything the future we’re getting😫 I feel like it’s getting weirdly dystopian for me.

[@whatthehelliot]

@@emmaatkinson7379 they have these in the accommodation im in but the app doesnt even work on my phone!!! so i cant even do my laundry lol i have to go to a separate laundrette

[@Kayla_P99]

It's so they can sell your data (in my opinion, knowing what I know about how much data is worth)

[@amberisrad]

exactlyyy. its so annoying. but i will say as a cruiser i love cruise apps. being able to make an event schedule and make reservations from your phone is very useful!

[@WallebyDamned]

Yes, auto-caption glasses! I thought Google Glass dropped the ball by not working with movie theaters to develop their speech-to-text and interpretation technology, I hope this developer considers it.

[@phoenixfritzinger9185]

I’m more interested in like if translation software gets a lot better

[@kiricappuchin]

They have some "live caption" tech on their Android phones now

[@emilied5517]

as someone who’s boating life adjacent, self automated boats sound like a h o r r i f i c idea

[@ann-gt4hh]

I’ve only ever been in boats when I was younger, drove a few of them but with supervision, and even I recoiled at the self docking boat idea.

[@packers12to80]

Wait....so no to self driving boats....but cars ......u are on board with that? Very curious lol

[@shannonceleste5557]

Being against the idea of self driving boats doesn't automatically mean one is in favor of self driving anything else lol

[@emilied5517]

@@ann-gt4hh The sheer amount of variables to take into consideration when you're on the water, i can't see that being a viable thing anytime soon

[@bookcat123]

My mind immediately goes to run away boats going in circles with the throttle stuck open. 🤔

[@dontdriveat88]

As a PR major, it's hammered into us to make pitch emails and releases concise. New pet peeve unlocked.

[@AdaptiveReasoning]

I think the CEOs or someone important enough in management weighs in, demands everything and the kitchen sink be put in there, and the pr person gets stuck.

[@hellaSwankkyToo]

i'm starting to think a lot of these PR people are self-described, self-taught b|c i too was a print/PR major + press releases are like PR//Journalism 101. there's no way some of these people went to J school or studied mass comm or PR. good luck, BTW! :0)

[@AnInnocuousBlueCube]

Me: OK, so now we've got the draft, we need to trim this down to just the top priority, most important items, and give it some punch. Client: But it's all important. And so are the notes we buried in this email chain. We need all of it. Oh yeah, and give it some punch.

[@tiffanymayer782]

@@AdaptiveReasoning One thousand percent. Any PR person who’s pitched to traditional media knows better. The issue is that the person with the final say does not, yet I still gotta put my name as the GD media contact. 🙃

[@CainXVII]

Still no excuse for having no line breaks

[@oniricodosfatos8286]

the idea of having AM/FM radio signal privatized and only accessible to subscribers almost gave me a panic attack 😊👌

[@NaviciaAbbot]

The FCC won't let that happen. And if they do, we need to revolt and spin up pirate radio stations.

[@juliaboon9741]

Fun fact: this was done before but for TV (back when TV was via your antenna); they scrambled the signal and then you rented a box which “decoded” the signal. It worked horribly.

[@jubies6286]

You will own nothing and you will be happy. :)

[@TheNugettinage]

@@juliaboon9741 Done before? It is still done, as is wireless TV signals?

[@marleneflanagan7137]

@@juliaboon9741 but not on all channels. Just one. it was ON TV. I remember trying to watch scrambled nudies when I was a kid in the 70's.

[@Cheyne_TetraMFG]

The Technics turntable thing is especially funny to me as a producer and DJ. They probably didn’t realize the turntable needed to be grounded, or how to do that, which for what is ostensibly a technology convention, is hilarious.

[@tasytasia1916]

I was super impressed by the caption glasses and translator! I'd love to hear more about them. The controller that's customizable to disabled people is also great, but your raise a great point with pricing. It's suprising a lot of companies didn't answer some understandable questions you bring up. Great video as always!

[@Chris-zd2zi]

I have tried out the pocket translator before CES, it did translation from english to chinese. It can be a bit lackluster, but compared to not being able to communicate it is much better. Now some people did look at me weird when I handed a small device for them to speak into whenever I needed translation. Also some phone apps can already do this but require internet.

[@NankitaBR]

As someone tha works with professional translation, this terrifies me. I think it is very useful and very good for people vacationing and such, but as soon as it is "good enough" companies will just drop translators altogether regarding of the quality of the translation. And I worry not just for the lost jobs, but also mistranlations can spread around false information very easily and completely change the meaning of things... (anyone that speaks more than 1 language knows what I'm talking about) Like for example, a few hours ago I was looking at a website that had automatica translation (even though I tried to turn it off), and it kept translating "fall" as the verb when it was actually talking about the season. Any translator would pick that up and translate correctly, but not the machine.

[@noot-noot-pingu-noot-noot]

Xbox put out their adaptive controller a few years ago to make gaming easier for disabled people, and it has extra ports where you can attach any other buttons/controllers/joysticks etc. unfortunately it was pretty expensive when it came out, right now it's on the website for €90 for the base controller, but i think i remember it being more expensive when it was first released. this doesn't include any custom peripherals that people might need, so hopefully Sony can make theirs a bit cheaper but i wouldn't be surprised if it was around the same price point

[@TarunoNafs]

@Crickets I watched a Japanese TV drama a while ago. In the story, a girl communicate with a guy who has lost his hearing, using an instant captioning app.

[@TonyMarzipan]

I can see the translator thing being super useful for people who wanted to communicate with family members that don't share a language.

[@nat6098]

I feel like the metaverse is to industry what crypto is to morally dubious influencers. They only see how to in theory make money without knowing if it will be at all sustainable. Also I'm with you in being suspicious of costs when it comes to accessibility. It also makes me wonder how accessible the event was because a lot of companies will talk about helping the disabled but fail to do the most basic things like ensure that the location of the event is accessible.

[@whatthehelliot]

this is a super good point!! they had a product mostly marketed to Deaf ppl but did they have sign language interpreters/lip reading seats available?

[@shyviolets]

I thought metaverse was just Zuckerbergs attempt to corner the VR headset market

[@shyviolets]

@@jaykingplays okay that's interesting. So there's 3 big players: Google, Apple, and Microsoft. Are they just calling users across all games part of the "metaverse" to inflate numbers? When I Google metaverse it just references the VR app.

[@whatthehelliot]

i totally agree with your point about tech designed for accessibility being absurdly expensive (like why is it $363 to get standard push handles on a tilite wheelchair??) but 'differently abled' is a kinda weird term. idk if that's what they said at the event but generally disabled is the preferred term in the disabled community :)

[@Inkinhart]

It's absolutely ridiculous how much stuff for disabled people gets priced up. It's generally called the "crip tax" in disability activist circles, and it's just as ridiculous as the pink tax. (Yeah yeah economies of scale or whatever - I still think it's nonsense when you can get a carbon fiber racing bike for cheaper than you can get a carbon fiber wheelchair)

[@whatthehelliot]

@@Inkinhart yeah absolutely, I knew it was called the crip tax but bc it comes from cripple I didn't want nondisabled ppl to pick up the term not knowing its meaning/history lol!

[@Inkinhart]

@@whatthehelliot Ah that's a good point!

[@Klinkertinlegs]

Or you break a bracket or something and they want $$$ for a small piece of metal. Pretty sure I could have parts custom machined by a local small business for less than from the people who make/sell the chair.

[@whatthehelliot]

@@Klinkertinlegs dude yesss and they take like 3 months to send you a tiny easy to make part like...I could've learnt to do it myself at that point lol

[@Lolabola25]

As someone who studied media writing and had to write a press release before (they’re a pain) I think Swell is hot on the money with her anecdote! They’re concise and meant to give the information in an cut and dry way. They were not designed for for the social media age. I believe there should be a new form of press release *specifically* designed for the purpose of releasing content to social media/social media influencers! Press Releases historically were used in print forms of media like newspapers, journals, etc. I think this is something that needs adapted for the change in time because of the drastic shift in the way we consume media.

[@Pavo2203]

I agree! As someone who worked in that diaspora, press releases are usually written for printed media and not internet/content creators

[@walkonart]

100%, as a journalist I very much prefer basic, straight to the point press releases with all the info I need over those extra “creative” press releases I receive sometimes where you have to hunt for an important information

[@jauxro]

I wonder if "digital twin" is when they use all the data they've gathered about the public to straight-up replace them 🥰

[@TwatMcGee]

lol, no. It refers to a digital recreation of a physical object. So a construction site might 3d scan the building as they go and have a "digital twin".

[@xDyxe]

Both of you are right. It began as digital twins of objects or systems and now people are thinking of personal digital twins especially in the EU to avoid using "personal data" which is a huge legal hurdle but if its the data of a personal digital twin or alter ego the legality is more gray so effectively companies can still run their surveillance capitalism as normal. Its a pretty big area of research now, not quite deployed as much as things like digital twins of ships which are being tracked today (as I understand)

[@mashthebanana]

Honestly that reminds me of mystery tv show I really enjoyed called The Capture!! I would say, though, if anyone has a history of delusions about people watching or framing them the show could potentially be triggering.

[@drewjay8940]

​@@mashthebananathat's also a plot point from King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence. The "ghost" in the so-called "grouch machine" is an AI that was programmed through decades of stalking.

[@macgirl1234]

I don't care about the metaverse, and no one has been able to convince me to care .... This is exactly how I feel about it!

[@BonJoviBeatlesLedZep]

I think it's a marketing issue. The "metaverse" isn't a real thing so much as a collective term for any virtual space you can hang out or work in. Many games count as that. I think the crypto bros just completely gate crashed and ruined the term

[@Klinkertinlegs]

I think it will go the way of 3D TVs. No one could convince most consumers to care about those either.

[@laartwork]

It's just like when they said computers would be in every household. Then 8 years later there was a magazine cover story about how the computer revolution never happened and most people don't care about having a computer. Or how online shopping will never be a thing. Just because you don't see or understand what it will become doesn't mean it won't. Just give it time.

[@meaganblack1529]

Accessibility is often so damn expensive. The Disability Tax is a name some disabled people use, for how much is costs to live in the world when the world isn't built for your body/mind.

[@meaganblack1529]

Crip Tax if you're nasty. :P

[@beckyginger3432]

I'm nasty! I use crip tax

[@brennan3723]

A lot of my LinkedIn connections went to CES, so it kind of took over my feed for a few days. At one point, I was starting to feel like I'd missed out on not going until the LinkedIn algorithm saved me. It showed me two posts about it back to back with one talking about how the event was bad because most of the tech wasn't actually focused on helping people or making positive changes to the world. The second post was super positive about how incredible it was and how game changing the innovations were. That post was from an NFT/metaverse person which basically reassured me that I missed nothing.

[@NankitaBR]

As someone that has work in a few "industry" events, a lot companies hire people just to work at their booths at events, and most of this people only get a small briefing on what the company does/sells (a lot of times there is no one that actuallyworks on the companyon the booth because they spend most pf the time on business meetings or just going around the event, enjoying themselves). So it might be that most of the times that people were trying to just give you a pen and send you away these people probably are just hired for the event and they don't have the information you were looking for and there was no one around that they could call.

[@ItCameFromAVlog]

This is a great point.

[@Grace-er9ep]

Hermes being a brat is the comedic relief we need in this capitalist nightmare. I love him so much even though he has no idea I exist

[@CatTheEpicRamenNinja]

I've seen a couple comments about this already, but I just wanted to add to it so this doesn't get overlooked. As a disabled person, please don't use the term "differently abled." It's condescending to us and meant to make other abled bodied people feel comfortable around disability. Disabled, people with disabilities, disabled person are all better options. We live with it, it's not a surprising or hurtful fact, and disability isn't a dirty word to use.

[@valdahlberg5679]

It also implies that accommodations aren't needed and super important!

[@angie.castle]

Indeed, by ppl trying to become more PC, they end up indirectly negating or downplaying a person's lived experience.

[@hop-skip-ouch8798]

Depends on where you are. In India, differently abled is not a bad word. It's officially used too.

[@PsRohrbaugh]

As a minimally disabled person, I don't have any strong feelings, but I have felt "differently abled" is supposed to be a reminder that the world should be as accessible as possible for everyone. For example, I'm colorblind. Lots of things are needlessly color-coded, making them artificially inaccessible to me. I can't become a pilot because color-coding is so prevalent, even though there's no actual need for it. So when I hear "differently abled", to me it's a signal to remove those artifical restrictions that TURN A DIFFERENCE *INTO* A DISABILITY. The logic might be completely different for people with more serious disabilities. But that's my personal take.

[@appalachiabrauchfrau]

I'd much rather only get called cripple than deal with the psychic damage I take when I hear "differently abled." ew same with "housing challenged neighbors" bro I was a dirty hobo, please. Patronizing speech under the guise of gentleness gives me the icks.

[@IamLegionGreen]

Last year turned into a superspreader event. My entire company basically got taken out all in one shot. Thankfully i was lucky enough to not be invited.

[@black-moon01]

I'm so interested in the translation/CC glasses, that sounds like sci-fi technology. And so useful too

[@msjkramey]

I know right? And we've had voice to text on our phones for a while. How has no one thought to do this before???

[@audriraine7867]

imagine if it could advance to directly translate other languages into your mother tongue! that would seriously be a game changer

[@AoriDracius]

I feel like it's very telling that a lot of companies didn't have answers for the consumer's point of view. The point of going to an expo like this would probably be to try to interest investors in a lot of ways, and the implication that most investors either just forget to ask or don't care about how consumers would actually feel or interact with the product is very telling for the current state of startup and investment culture. So many companies are used to investors just throwing money at them if something just Sounds Cool, and then when the product actually comes out it's invasive or not useful enough that it doesn't actually have a market and things just flop. I hear more and more about that happening. I think it's good to have more people associated with media and investment actually asking these questions because it seems like people who consider themselves 'investors' have generally forgotten that they're important to ask. That also might be why there seems to be less innovation in the American market than in international markets- American entrepreneurs don't have to actually innovate to get investor money, or they just need to make something that goes along with the hottest tech trends, even if those trends mean nothing outside of the start up/entrepreneur culture in general. The tech sphere feels like it's becoming more and more disconnected from actual consumers.

[@icekraze07]

I would say your booth experience is pretty much the experience at most (non-comic book/fandom) conventions. Some people go for other reason and will go around for the “swag”. I did this in college at scientific conventions (best things were lab timers and water bath floaties). At first I made an effort to talk to everyone but I realized sometimes it is better not to do that. If it was a company that i knew I wouldn’t need/work with it was just wasting both our time and energy. If you have 10,000 people coming to your booth it is going to get tiring to talk to people, especially if you know they are not someone who will be a client or help your company.

[@fergalicious214]

Thank you! I hate how many screens are in cars now. My 2017 hyundai elantra was wrecked so I bought a 2023 hyundai sonata and my gosh. The screen in that thing is so big. I had to turn the brightness down on everything too cuz it was so distracting to drive at night and now I'm the jerk with binding headlights I can't tone down. Feels like I have my high beams on at all times.

[@shelbymp13]

And that's the standard now! I went from a 2012 kia soul to a 2022 kia sorento and felt like I was in a spaceship. I did the same thing as you, turned down the brightness. I wish I could easily adjust the headlight brightness, too. So freaking bright man.

[@Klinkertinlegs]

I wish some company would create cars with the benefit of modern safety standards without the “benefit” of modern amenities. I want a safe car, but I don’t want a wall of screens either. Heck, I still prefer manual windows since they are cheaper to fix.

[@rechtrecht]

My dad was thinking about a new Hyundai as well, something electric preferably but he specifically wants something that's durable which he can use to haul a trailer through a forest if needed. We borrowed a friend's brand new car and Jesus, all these things were confusing. Going from a 2006 Volvo XC90 that was an experience. Especially the lights! The normal light was more intense than his long distance light. He decided to keep his car because the ones they offer don't have the power to pull as much as needed and are just too good to be used like he wants to

[@mybuddyphil8719]

The "water from air" device is a dehumidifier with some minerals added. They are terrible for the environment, and make water obscenely more expensive than just opening your tap, or even buying a water cooler jug if you don't like your tap water. They are dumb in all ways.

[@nicolescats2]

They seem worth it in the UAE. They rely on desalination for their drinking water there, so taking moisture out of the air instead of having more hazardous salty brine doesn't seem so bad. Sure it's less efficient than desalination, but if you were looking into a dehumidifier anyway it could be a nifty product. Now if you live in a normal city that isn't an affront to the environment, it likely isn't for you. But if the groundwater isn't there or is too salty to drink, maybe. (at least the date palms in Abu Dhabi can handle brackish water, reduces the strain on the water plants)

[@molybdomancer195]

@@nicolescats2 how much water is there in the air in places like the UAE? There’s a reason why they have little rainfall

[@nicolescats2]

@@molybdomancer195 Average humidity in Abu Dhabi/Dubai/rest of costal UAE is 60%. The population centers of their country are mostly along the coast. If you live more inland, you have less humidity but don't have to worry as much about seawater infiltration of ground water. Which means you might have to ration well water in an emergency, instead of having to use the sun to desalinate seawater or ground water intended for agriculture. Some groundwater near the coasts is still freshwater, so a soldier might bring you some. If you still had power, you could try drinking the condensation from your AC, or you could use a "water from air" special dehumidifier. That dehumidifier would likely take less power than an AC, potentially allowing it to run off a set of fold up solar panels intended for hiking.

[@tzarcoal1018]

@@nicolescats2 The efficiency is terrible and AFAIK there is not much room to innovate to improve the efficiency, you just run against fundamental principals of chemistry/physics. Even in a place like the UAE where they have plenty of cash, i feel like the math just does not check out. Desalination is more affordable and with desalination is also a higher chance to improve the process in the future to make it more efficient. Air Dehumidifier re-marketed as a water provider are an old trope and clearly something that should ring the "scam alert" bells.

[@boateye]

I was so confused when Amanda mentioned Gran Torino, thinking Clint Eastwood was making a movie with Sony. But I think she meant Gran Turismo

[@RBNinja]

Me too. I was like "the movie where Clint Eastwood is racist?" But I looked at it and saw it was about cars. I know Amanda isn't a gamer, so she probably just didn't catch it or care.

[@thomaslienert4225]

I was trying to bridge the gap, how do they get the Clint Eastwood character into racing, until it clicked. Maybe it was all the shots.

[@LucidFlight]

Fingers crossed for a Gran Torino racing simulator.

[@thomaslienert4225]

@@LucidFlight It's all fun and games as you long as you stay off the lawn /on the track.

[@weirdhousewivesclub]

I'm glad you bring up the ethics issues surrounding these discussions. I also can't wait to see your AVN review! Definitely would be interesting to see such a wide array of tech in one event.

[@Smartdazzle]

Just so you know, as a disabled person myself, we prefer you to say “Disabled” instead of differently abled. “Disabled” is not a bad word. Saying “differently abled” can be seen as patronizing towards us

[@annaf2110]

Came to comment this! I wouldn’t be surprised if the company itself used the terminology and Amanda was following that - euphemisms for disability are so common in the corporate world even when it comes to stuff marketed to us which is such a pain!!

[@lamibonxd]

yup! came into the comments to say this too

[@emmaatkinson7379]

Ahhhh all the disabled people came to the comment section haha :) :') nice to spot community in the wild!

[@DEFxRECON]

It’s so weird how people who aren’t part of a group trying to come up with terms to describe said group can sound so patronizing lol

[@thelemon5069]

Fellow disabled person here I agree. I got called a "cripple" at a jiffy lube once though. Rightly pissed me off

[@howdyitsren]

Hi Swell! Love your content. Please just say disabled. Not the euphemisms. We’re disabled and it’s okay to say that. Please don’t try to soften or distance us from our disabilities with euphemisms like “differently abled”.

[@howdyitsren]

Everyone has different abilities. Not everyone is disabled. I know those are probably the words that the press release used, but disabled folks like myself are so sick and tired of it. You can read the APA guidelines for it, but I will say that person-first language was created by a non-disabled person because she thought it would humanize us. As of being disabled makes us less human.

[@audreygilmore7408]

This

[@duzdee420]

@@howdyitsren agreed, changing the term stigmatizes disabilities further as well, even just the term "disability" itself.

[@lilaniaadventures]

@@howdyitsren They aren't the words the press release used. Sony say people with disabilities. I can't understand why this was a year ago and Swell still hasn't spoken about this, apologised, even put a little sorry in her description or anything. Makes me wonder if she really likes her disabled audience when she's totally ignored so many of you who spoke about this.

[@byeFofiko1]

​@lilaniathefair197 i feel like this is overly dramatic. I'm disabled but like it's not that deep. She used a phrase she thought was the right one. I really don't think any kind of dedicated apology is needed, and tbh I get why she doesn't read her comments because they can be so critical. Like expecting this level of worrying about being perfectly exactly correct from an internet person like swell is unhealthy imo.

[@chosoistryinghisbest]

ngl the autocaption glasses and the translator was really cool and honestly a must have for the modern era. especially with translating since it's a real hassle to learn a language when modern life is so busy nowadays

[@LetterNumber]

8:02 The movie you were talking about is Gran Turismo, you kept saying Gran Torino and I briefly thought it was weird they were revealing a remake of the Clint Eastwood movie at CES

[@EMSenseiMusic]

As someone who has worked booths at CES and beyond, people who werent interested in talking with you was likely because their target audience for interactions are VCs/people with significant sums of money for investment. Usually big companies tell front liners to not talk to the media and instead refer them to a designated person. Ontop of that, you're often evaluated on how many relevant badge scans you get for biz dev purposes.

[@gigiiv]

People don't want to waste their time and if they don't think you are serious or a potential ally, then they won't want to waste their time talking to you. That's why you should always send the sales folks to these things. They have never met a stranger and they can get their contact information in a very smooth, natural way. They are generally very well educated on the company and products and if they don't know, they are more than happy to do a follow up after finding out the answer. I've done some industry events and there's a big difference between office staff and sales reps manning the booth. Starts up may just have to use who they have and they may not be as personable.

[@Kinsume1]

I love you listing all of the different companies you observed, stare off, thinking, say "Hermie" I'm like "Oh what company is that?" Next cut, you're holding a dog "Ah the best kind of company"

[@stubbsfinch]

So glad you got to try Kizik! I have some accessibility issues with being able to bend down, so tying my shoes can be really hard for me. I got a pair of Kiziks and absolutely love them. Great company with a very cool product.

[@Paradox_Incognito]

Unironically, the subtitle and translation glasses/tech are seriously cool if they actually work outside of conventions.

[@hyacinth.hyrule]

Okay, but the translator and the close caption glasses actually sound really cool! I know so many people with audio processing issues (including myself) so close caption glasses sound absolutely incredible! Also, anything that makes communication easier in general is always a win in my book.

[@Maria_745]

Lol as someone who works events, talking to people about their product is very normal and polite. But a lot of people go in opposite extremes of either completely ignoring the person greeting them at the booth or trying to tell you their life story

[@SurveyTurtleGaming]

I work in IT but I'm pretty young (still in college) so when I go to these sorts of trade shows I always ask a ton of questions that probably sound super oblivious to the professionals working there. Also talk to everyone so I can grab as much merch as possible. Once got a yoga mat from Google that was supposed to be in a raffle but they just gave it to me because I was the only one who had a real conversation with them.

[@fireshark142]

22:51 The idea of investing came to mind for me too-I looked up the pool cleaning bots and the accessible shoes company but couldn't find anything about that immediately...I know some of these companies must be smaller or not publicly available but I'd really like to invest in them too, the ones that seem like they are /doing/ something. Totally agreed.

[@khazermashkes2316]

I am looking forward to the health startup video! I would especially like to see coverage of the privacy issues with companies not covered by HIPAA.

[@RiaxaraCo]

As someone with an audio processing issue, the real time captioning glasses sound cool as hell, genuinely.

[@jfye10]

The pool cleaning robot sounds super cool. I wonder how they clean the sides

[@monkeyincorporated]

As someone living outside US, love it when KZbinr I watch cover CES. Especially when the event expanding the invite to non tech KZbinrs. thank you for giving a normal person view, Amanda. ❤

[@BirdmanDeuce26]

One more comment; I was reminded of another channel I follow (RegularCarReviews) and one of the more enlightening episodes was when they were invited to their first auto shows as official "press" and they discovered that companies were handing out USB drives with basically pre-written articles for the journos to post. Like Swell, they were the only ones at the event actually talking to the presenters and taking down notes, while every other person was basically treating it like a free vacation...which it effectively was...

[@holybird0079]

Digital twins are frankly fascinating and I’m very interested in how we can utilize them for urban planning and the like. Potentially EXTREMELY dystopian, but I am still at least kind of excited.

[@flippanties]

My thoughts exactly. Digital twins could be fantastic for preserving the image of land lost to rising sea levels (like Tuvalu), and could have great use in certain scientific fields like geology, as well as your point of urban planning. It could, however, just end up another Metaverse type deal or some Matrix bullshit.

[@jamg8483]

“I don’t boat”. Without a doubt my favorite line this video.

[@LauraMoncur]

It’s good to know that CES hasn’t changed. I did CES for years. They most definitely will let you back in. I had a lot of nostalgia to hear you talk about the various halls. The cars are still in the west hall. The thought of going now is utterly exhausting. I’m so glad that my current job doesn’t require it.

[@Dudofall]

I didn’t expect a CES video from Swell, but the more she talked about it the more sense it started to make. Can’t wait to see the other videos that come of this!

[@annoyedbyyourface]

Never heard of CES before this video so they definitely should invite you back lol.

[@good-tn9sr]

everybody that’s mildly interested in tech knows about it, even the largest youtubers talk about it, like MKBHD or Linus tech tips

[@theklr]

Tech conventions are the biggest goalposts of “you know what, eat the rich”

[@mxbmnn]

I work in a hair product manufacturing plant as an engineer and work with a lot of our digital systems. A digital twin is when you completly map your process with sensors and then have all sensor data feeding into the database live. This gives you a 'twin' of your process built completely digitally. With the 'twin' you can apply data modeling, summarized data displays, etc.

[@noctissilentia]

i was really excited about you talking about those captioning glasses. they would be extremely good for hard of hearing/deaf folks

[@tatiana4050]

I can imagine them rolling them out on subscription basis. And increasing the subscription with each update. Making the glasses stop working If you don't update them

[@DieuwertjeSara]

@@tatiana4050 I expect once the whole glasses idea becomes an actual product there will be diy open source projects if the price is to high. It basically is the idea of Google glass with speech to text functionality. If it can be recorded with a phone it can be shown on another display. The same happened when an automatic insulin level detectors and administer device became super expensive. But it would probably mean a lower quality product and a bigger time investment for those who cannot afford the original. I have high hopes the open source community will come trough in this case

[@tatiana4050]

@@DieuwertjeSara well insulin monitors are available in NHS in UK forexample. Wonder if same would be for glasses. Or like with hearing aid where there could be big deduction.

[@whatthehelliot]

yeah I'd love them, would take the pressure off from lipreading for sure! however, there may be problems bc they are glasses, a good chunk of deaf ppl can't wear glasses for a variety of reasons. they can interfere with hearing aids, plus some deaf ppl just don't have ears at all! so glasses might not be the best form for this tech.

[@theycallmejodamo]

Two things that stood out to me were the caption glasses and the translation earbud. I feel like if those two companies got together, it’d be even better

[@duckiekraft6893]

I'm focused on something you mentioned only briefly: the groups that make a big deal about how you 'don't need a bachelor's degree to make money.' I get what they're trying to do, but they tend to come off rather insulting to those of us who have graduate degrees. I've had someone argue that he's insulting less than 1% of the population, so he's not too worried about it. 1.2% to be exact, and that's not the point. If everybody stopped getting higher degrees, there would suddenly be no more medical doctors or therapists available for the other 97.8% of the population. I just find it to be an extreme undervaluation of education and a terrible marketing strategy. Thank you for coming to my rant of a TED talk.

[@annas2487]

I don’t think it’s intended to be an insult to those who have degrees, just a reminder to those who may not be able to afford to go to school (or don’t for other reasons) that they can still live decent lives, despite what we are told our entire lives. I think it’s a good sentiment, however weird execution

[@nav2269]

8:01 Gran Torino is a Clint Eastwood movie. Gran Turismo is the one with race-cars. I also just learned that neither of them are "grand" just "gran", huh wild world

[@vadalee6301]

hi! i noticed you used the term differently abled when talking about the video game equipment that sony is developing. i don't speak for all disabled people, but generally the preferred term is disabled instead of differently abled. disabled isn't a slur and is completely fine to use! i'm sure you didn't mean it this way, but differently abled can come off as condescending. just letting you know!!

[@audreygilmore7408]

This! It's not a bad word

[@tf7602]

I wonder if the company themselves said differently abled? If you market stuff as explicitly for disabled people, the products might need to be certified as medical products/assistance products. Not sure about the legalese.

[@whatthehelliot]

@@tf7602 I don't think so, plus saying 'differently abled' as well as the fact that it's clearly an accessible controller would remove any doubt that it was for disabled ppl

[@janjamiyt]

It’s funny how the most popular “metaverse” experience is VRChat, which is pretty much entirely run on a user subscription service for optional perks, with content created by users. Completely opposed to what facebook’s is like, there’s so many microtransactions and it’s utterly lifeless

[@Oonagh72]

My son is deaf. Those captioning glasses would be everything.

[@eddiejames4006]

9:09 the exoskeleton sounds like the robot Sigourney Weaver pilots in Aliens. Can’t imagine this being cheaper or safer than forklifts. It’s a fun, sci-fi type fantasy of “Look at how new technology can enhance the human body’s capabilities!” or whatever but has very little real world application. Maybe it could be useful in some other context though. Idk. Either workers will continue to use forklifts or (like Swell said) just be replaced by robots. The only idea that actually excites me is the translation glasses. They could be life changing for so many people. So long as they’re not too expensive, like those reading pens.

[@disaidra]

We have some really gorgeous VR games, so what is it about metaverse that means it has to look like it's running on a potato?

[@7RStudios]

Tied to Stand Alone HMDs unfortunately. As Meta wants stand alone and they just don't have the needed processing power, we get uh. 2008 Nintendo graphics. Though I also work with VR and the headsets are surprisingly powerful, and definately more capable than Zuck and Co are developing them at. My other guess is that it's to avoid Uncanny Valley effects, but that's just speculation.

[@johnhoo6707]

Digital Twins, at least in my world (automotive), usually refers to a highly detailed simulation of something that exists in the real world. In the case of automotive, it’s usually a highly detailed scan of a real place with roads, other forms of transport (buses, trains, etc) that you can then put another digital twin of an autonomous car into and see how well it works.

[@vernath5609]

I’m surprised that more companies aren’t trying out AR when VR is what it is currently, like yeah the meta verse is “emerging” but Meta is a really wealthy company and the fact that they aren’t really doing anything to make the visuals at least a little more appealing. With AR (the stuff like the captioning glasses) the only thing people need to worry about wrt visuals are fonts/image placement/etc and it gets people away from being stuck to a headset they may not want to use

[@vernath5609]

Idk I just think AR is a more worthwhile investment for tech companies to look into with todays societal preferences

[@7RStudios]

There's also a massive ethics concern in this space. While AR glasses seem harmless, we live in a capitalist society and there are no laws saying I can't try to sell you a Big Mac while you're driving by attaching that ad to your face. Theres also the whole battery thing. I'm actually very proud of all these companies for forgoing AR development.

[@vernath5609]

@@7RStudios I don’t necessarily disagree, but to oppose that, we could have AR goggles/etc have a way of knowing when you’re driving/in a car and block out all incoming signals like that, otherwise I just think Holograms would be neat to be expanded upon

[@7RStudios]

@@vernath5609 while it is definately possible, there will be a lot of pushback from late stage capitalism. We already have phones that have perminant ads baked into them.

[@DarthG33k]

Speaking of Accessibility, I do fundraising for an organization called Able Gamers, that makes adaptive controllers for people that would likely use Project Leonardo. Their setups have to be made custom for each person they help. Prices start at the low, low price of $800 and can go as high as $3,000-$4,000 for an adaptive controller. And that price is after Microsoft announced their adaptive controller system and slashed the cost necessary to make a controller. It's now a fraction of what it once was. Food for thought.

[@ZiriO]

Definitely super interested in the accessibility aids, little annoyed to see them working on a new gaming controller but not list the price, which means you can bet it's probably going to have a price tag near $1000 or some obscene amount

[@RudyGGs]

8:00 it's giving grandma walking into GameStop to get 'the new Gran Torino game' for her grandkids 😂💀

[@msjkramey]

Congrats on being official media!

[@elphive42]

I can confirm what they mentioned about Kiziks - switched to them after wearing through a lot of shoes due to slipping them on and off instead of untying them. Most shoes I owned previously wore out after about two years, to the point that they got holes right through the bottom - my current pair is going on 4 years, with no wear to the treads or the back of the heel. Personally, I think that’s pretty impressive, comparatively. My one complaint is that I did find that the black dye of the fabric part could stain other things when cleaning them. I didn’t notice them losing any color when I did, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

[@elisanoro]

I'm very interested to hear more about the translator and caption glasses you talked about!! I love language learning so I'm def interested in the translator and it's capabilities

[@jennabrilon1186]

Hi Swell! From someone who is also looking at interesting companies to invest in down the road, one that seems really cool is Recylico (formerly American Manganese) they can take old dead lithium batteries (like from a Tesla or something) and recycle it back into new batteries with less than 1% loss. They can actually do it with most materials, and they sell the process instead of making the material themselves… long term I think it’s the only way we stop mining things from the earth all together, definitely something interesting if you want to look into it! Love your content!

[@_pixelchris]

So I am signed up for press releases for a few video games companies and I can confirm that ALLL OF THEM ARE BORING AND LONG AND SO NOT APPEALING TO THE EYE

[@Swell_Simps_United]

Is anyone else UwU for Swell to protect us from innovation that's really just a human rights violation? 🥺

[@Red-sp3lv]

How do I join the cause?

[@justinhamilton8647]

🥺🥺🥺

[@Michelle_Wellbeck]

She should invest in the human rights violation companies

[@trollymctrollface]

Yes. Swell should become a majority shareholder and force them to change their evil ways 🍝🐐

[@HNGuthrie]

I'm impressed with how you really made the most with that Vegas trip. Two conventions at the same time?! Exhausting, but a brilliant use of resources.

[@jauwn]

omg so glad to see you recognizing and calling out these stupid / shady companies, great vid as always!

[@Sam-mx6yh]

Love that you heard “bowling” when they said “boating” 😂😂😂

[@erinpidcock2017]

I think that if I were the organizers of this event I would really want to have videos like yours openly talking about how the latest tech feels kinda cop-out at times and that it’s really a dime a dozen for worthwhile developments that would be beneficial. I think it would really light a fire under people’s asses to cater towards what real people want and move a lot of people away from this misguided notion of what the common person wants. However, I think that’s not realistically what a lot of these tech-bro’s and tech giants are going to be wanting because these people invested in the metaverse and NFT’s are a big part of their audience these days and a big portion of the people that end up at their event. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I’d like to go just because I’m someone in the chemistry field who is also interested in chemistry’s contribution towards sustainability and cleaner energy, as it’s something i’m currently researching, but I think it would overall not be worth the money unless I were sent to attend and most of my expenses were paid for.

[@asadavis9532]

The exoskeleton for warehouse work is a good thing. Repetitive motions with heavy weight can destroy your body before you're 40. They sell it as "you'll save money from workers comp" because that's the only way bosses and owners are going to give a shit

[@defensivepotato1998]

The pool cleaner has been a thing for a while. My work has one and they’ve had it for years now, we named him roger.

[@puppylove2]

Right!? One our old house had one. Pushing 2 decades ago.

[@phoenixfritzinger9185]

My aunt has one of those pool robots named Jimmy

[@mynotificationsareoff.400]

Any advancement with real time translations is impressive to me. I would feel so much more comfortable traveling if I wasnt going in with no way to communicate with the local language. It hasent been a huge problem because most folks ive met traveling have at least basic English skills to do business with me, but it would be amazing to fully understand, and they understand back.

[@G4rfield]

This kind of stuff usually bores me, but you always manage to make it entertaining

[@alishasamnani5607]

omg yes THANK YOU - as a journalist that gets press releases constantly, I fully agree with your assessment.

[@rob.rubiera]

I love these brutality honest reviews it gives us consumers a good perspective on whatever it is that companies are trying to sell us but on the other hand if I was a company and saw that you were at one of my Events I would shit my pants or make sure everything is 100%

[@Amanda.aka.Megan.Shines]

I work in BI and had to sit in on a sales pitch from a consumer data company that kept bragging about how the data was all provided by their receipt scanning app and the customers all agreed to it tracking all their activity on their phone, not just the stuff they directly input in the app. The data company was under a different name than the app so I had to do some digging to find the app name, and I wasn't able to find anything suggesting that people were aware that the app was selling all the information from all their emails, their google searches, the social media use, etc in exchange for a few pennies per scanned receipt. I'm usually very "whatever" about companies potentially selling my information, but finding out that these little apps are tracking all this information and then turning around and selling it to anyone who would give them the time of day made even me paranoid.

[@morganburt2565]

check out the documentary CITIZEN4, free on youtube

[@dejausser]

The auto-captioning glasses sound amazing and something I’ve talked about wanting as someone with auditory processing issues, but they would need to work with my glasses as I can’t get by without them, and ideally I’d want them to be less obvious looking.

[@h3yw00d]

I'm sure others have pointed it out but my OCD won't let me let this go. It's gran turismo, not gran torino. I apologize for my OCD.

[@ziggystardog]

The thing about accessibility costs is they are often subsidized and the subsidies vary. I believe the “steering wheel” of a boat is called the helm, or the wheel or tiller depending on how it’s implemented.

[@jasoncrandall]

My company stopped doing trade shows a few years ago because they’re massively expensive and the attendees aren’t buyers.

[@MeaganRose08]

I went to the NAB conference in vegas at the convention center last year and there were a few companies there showing monitoring software and cameras and stuff it was definitely freaky. And this was a public event too it felt so out of place

[@kneau]

19:18 Between 2006 & 2010, quite a few casting calls went out for "scenario enactments." These were to be used for informing software in security surveillance. The ideal usage was in places with large crowds coming & going -- airports. An actor & actress each act out certain "states of mind" -- satisfied, bored, suspicious, angry, fearful, paranoid etc. I really hope those companies update that reference footage.

[@podenco]

I thought I saw you at CES but immediately doubted myself as it doesn't seem like your kind of event!! You walked right past my booth since it's not public and therefore boring outside^^

[@podenco]

For the record, I agree with all your conclusions about CES. They'll definitely let you back because there are very harsh critics of the event that still go since in the end the fact they talked about the silly urine tracking devices (can't believe you didn't mention them) negatively still means more people now know these brands As a little insider scoop, the show floors are not the reason for CES. They're a lot of glitz and glamour but they honestly don't say THAT much and definitely don't feel super innovative most of the time. The real event happens behind closed doors, it's a reason for these companies to be in the same place and have a week of meetings in person that you'll never hear about. Only the startups really have something to gain by getting media attention from the event while other bigger organizations only are there to talk to each other and strike deals. I personally wouldn't go if I weren't an exhibitor because the show floors feel exhaustingly massive and yet empty with the hollow claims and incremental improvements on products ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

[@shawnhallman1797]

Gran Torino was a 2008 Warner Bros movie. Gran Turismo is a long-running Sony-published racing series. They're making a movie on the latter, not remaking a different company's IP.

[@quantafreeze]

AM/FM Radio as a subscription service. The end times are here.

[@cellscribe]

The problem with the metaverse is they are building something without asking what people need, want, care about. They are pricing digital assets like real assets without understanding they are fundamentally different. The app to create has value, the items created with the app are near valueless. As for subscription services. There will be less in cars not more. I have my phone, I'm not paying a subscription for something I have for free.

[@michaelapetersen1511]

I have a couple pairs of the Kizik shoes, and I love them. I'm just lazy and hate bending over to put on my shoes!

[@daniellemhall1358]

Hopefully they realise that you are exactly the kind of person they need at their event. These are the kind of questions the consumer needs answered in order for us to give them money.

[@No1PlutoSupporter]

Yoooo i remember hearing about break dancing becoming an Olympic sport !!!! You’re the first non dancer online I’ve heard mention this

[@angelalovell5669]

ADHD brain was reminded of the Kiziks shout out on the rewatch - I am absolutely looking into picking a pair to buy, it would help me immensely to not have to bend or wiggle my ankle to get into shoes. Thanks, Amanda! And please do CES again next year if you have the chance, new tech through a wary eye is good fun.

[@skylarkblue1]

For what it's worth, please just say "disabled". "Differently abled" is... not a nice term to use. Disabled isn't a bad word!

[@emmaatkinson7379]

She's got the spirit in that she doesn't want to be hurtful - "differently abled" is more cringe than offensive to my ears. When spotted in the wild I think it's well-meaning. Just - no disabled person talks like that lol. Disabled isn't a slur. But I can't blame anyone for getting that wrong really, the disabled community isn't that big and we're silenced so often, so a lot of able-bodied people never interact with us and don't learn it that way. What matters is listening after being corrected, I guess

[@audreygilmore7408]

Was just about to comment this

[@skylarkblue1]

@@emmaatkinson7379 "differently abled" was made by abled people who've never spoken to anyone disabled in their life lol. It's a product of the "people getting offended on other people's behalfs". Abled people didn't like to hear "disabled" and felt that was a bad thing so they wanted to call it something else. I don't think I've ever heard an actual disabled person, in any capacity, use "differently abled" aha. That particular fight is one of the largest and longest I've seen from the disabled community and honestly, I've been hearing it less and less recently outside the community. So it was just quite a suprise to hear it here lol.

[@emmaatkinson7379]

@Sky yeah I've had the same fight about "person with autism" vs "autistic person". The only people who seem bothered by these terms are the able-bodied/allistics! I'm not bothered by it, I've wanted to scream, you are! And yeah it's more infantilisation than anything from the people who came up with the term. These days I figure it's used by people who just don't know better but who do mean well. I'd rather have those guys than the straight-up eugenicists, but that's a low bar.

[@msjkramey]

I don't mind either. They're synonyms