LAS VEGAS – The best part of CES, the sprawling consumer electronics showcase that kicks off Thursday, is the sneak peek that the event provides of where technology is taking us.

Intel Chief Executive Brian Krzanich gave a glimpse of what’s possible for virtual reality in the semiconductor giant’s press conference on the eve of the show’s official opening.

About 250 attendees donned virtual reality headsets and tuned into the live NCAA basketball game between Villanova and Butler. With the headsets, their perspective was as if they were sitting in the stands watching the game in person. (A big problem with virtual reality is its tendency to make people nauseated. So Intel provided barf bags in case anyone felt ill.)

If they looked up, they saw the scoreboard. Overlaid on the right side of the screen were conference standings. Looking ahead, they saw the court.


Unfortunately for Krzanich, the demonstration occurred during halftime, with the players just returning to the floor. But it did offer a snapshot of what virtual reality could eventually bring to sports programming.

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Using virtual reality, viewers could choose where they wanted to sit in the stands – on the 50-yard-line for football, court-side for basketball, behind the net in hockey.

“I believe virtual reality will be about far more than playing games” said Krzanich. “I believe it will radically enrich people’s enjoyment of sports and entertainment by transporting them into the middle of the action.”


The demonstration was just that – a look at what could happen with virtual reality. Live VR sports content is not available now and it’s unclear when it will be.

But Krzanich said Intel hopes to help bring some sports to Oculus Rift later this year. Intel claims to be among the first technology providers to enable a live sports experience on multiple virtual reality devices.

Intel wasn’t alone in showing offer new technology. Sony rolled out the A1E Bravia 4K OLED TV – which uses organic light emitting diode technology to deliver deeper contrasts and more vibrant colors. It supports Dolby Vision High Dynamic Range standards, and also taps Sony’s image processing expertise to boost picture quality.

Sony’s President and CEO, Kazuo Hirai debuts their newest Bravia OLED television set at CES 2017 in Las Vegas. (Nelvin C. Cepeda/U-T )


Several TV makers are touting brighter lights, darker shadows and a wider color range this year. But Sony’s A1E Bravia also serves up another trick.

There aren’t conventional speakers. It produces sound by vibrating the OLED display, said Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai. Sony calls the technology Acoustic Surface, where the entire screen resonates with sound coming directly from the screen itself.

Sony isn’t saying when this technology will come to market and what the price tag will be. OLED TVs are usually more expensive than LED sets – topping $2,500 or more.

Still, the notion of sound coming directly from the screen – if it is any good – is an example of TV technology moving forward to provide a three-dimensional sound experience.


Another electronics heavyweight, Samsung Electronics, also unveiled a bevy of new products Wednesday with the aim of putting the problems of 2016 – namely battery meltdowns of the Galaxy Note 7 -- behind it. New products included an updated smart refrigerator with a display screen and cameras built into the doors. It also rolled out new smart TVs with the company’s Quantum Dot technology for better picture quality. Samsung held a whopping 46 percent market share in the U.S. for TV sales in 2016.

Among other things, Samsung is emphasizing product design this year. “We are re-committing to our customers in 2017,” said Tim Baxter, president and chief operating officer of Samsung Electronics America. “We are making elegant, thoughtful design the centerpiece of what you’ll see.”

Business


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Twitter:@TechDiego

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