CES gets weird: Scenes from the show floor
Now that more of the show floor is open, the booths, the demos and other strange happenings are on display
This is how the machines take over, they convince us we don’t need our real eyes. Show attendees play a video game wearing Oculus Rift virtual reality headsets at the Intel booth at the International Consumer Electronics Show on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014, in Las Vegas.Jae C. Hong/The Associated Press
“Hey man, where’s the rest of this camera?” Actually, this is one of the new Sony lens-style digital cameras that doesn’t need the big chunky body. Kinda cool.STEVE MARCUS/Reuters
CES has a lot of cars this year, but just like any auto show it needs some stuff that will never, ever, hit the streets: Like this Toyota i-Road electric three-wheeler concept.Jae C. Hong/The Associated Press
Oh, wait, THIS is the even more futuristic “car” that will definitely never share the road with real automobiles: A three-wheeled Toyota FV2 Future Mobility Concept vehicle.STEVE MARCUS/Reuters
A few disappointed show-goers look at the Sharp Aquos 90-inch HD LED. Sure, it retails for about $10,000, but it’s under 100 inches and doesn’t even curve. Might as well just throw it in the dumpster behind the casino.STEVE MARCUS/Reuters
There you go, look at the crowd for this wall of curved OLED displays at the Panasonic booth.Jae C. Hong/The Associated Press
Booth design is one of the keys to CES. What will you do to set yourself apart and stop the roaming herds? At the Moneual booth “Boom Boom,” a Korean drum troupe makes its case for... I had to look up what Moneual makes: Home automation appliances like cleaning robots and computer equipment.STEVE MARCUS/Reuters
LG decided to go with “Wait, is that a giant washing machine? Oh, it totally is. Huh.”STEVE MARCUS/Reuters
The Fujifilm booth went for creepy: Use our array of high-quality cameras to take a picture of this model we paid to dress up like a saucy car-hop from the 1950s!Jae C. Hong/The Associated Press
DTS just put its ladies in a box/stage shaped like a giant smartphone, with a DJ!STEVE MARCUS/Reuters
But Polaroid doesn’t go for cheap titillation, if you want to take pictures using their new cameras they want you to try and snap shots of 18-year-old skateboarder Peter Betti (apparently a member of the Polaroid Action team).STEVE MARCUS/Reuters
But CES is about products, right! Sony makes the subtle point, with a table full of splashing water, that its smartphones and tablets are waterproof.STEVE MARCUS/Reuters
Meanwhile, Nikon goes one better, and just suspends its waterproof Nikon 1 Aw1 in a tank of water. You can see this attendee trying to figure out how to get it out of there to test it. The camera retails for $800 and is available in stores.STEVE MARCUS/Reuters
Pentax just went with a huge wall of cameras at the Ricoh booth. “I want to look at the one, second from the top on the far left.”Jae C. Hong/The Associated Press
I don’t have a joke for this one, but it is also not exactly a product. Show attendee Limore Shur waits inside a Nikon-powered XXArray during the 2014 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, January 7, 2014. The booth uses 68 cameras that fire at the same time. The images are processed to create a 3D model of the subject that can be placed inside a computer video game.STEVE MARCUS/Reuters
Hisense, a Chinese manufacturer, makes televisions. I don’t know what any of that has to do with this dance group looking through ViewMasters on the stage of its booth.STEVE MARCUS/Reuters
You never know what will happen at CES. Cisco CEO John Chambers could invite comedian Sarah Silverman up on stage during a keynote address.ROBERT GALBRAITH/Reuters
Or Cisco CEO John Chambers is suddenly breaking into his magic act... well, it is Vegas.ROBERT GALBRAITH/Reuters
Also, because it is all the rage at CES this year, here’s another fitness tracker: The Razer Nabu wristband acts like a fitness tracker but also serves up notifications, texts and emails like a smartwatch.Jae C. Hong/The Associated Press