Chris Pfaff moderates the ‘Immersive Theatre: Building the XR Stage for New Audiences’ panel at AWE 2026 at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, CA on Thursday, June 18th. Richard Broadbridge, CEO of 4Dviews, developer of the leading volumetric video capture system, and Kiira Benz, executive creative director and founder of Double Eye Studios, appeared on the panel.

You can watch the entire session at: https://youtu.be/_nY35c1MFgI?si=Abw77SC07W20QTny

Chris Pfaff, Kiira Benz, Richard Broadbridge

ABOUT 4DVIEWS AND DOUBLE EYE STUDIOS

4Dviews currently provides the volumetric capture and supporting technology for some of the world’s most striking immersive experiences, including:

• ‘An Ark’ (The Shed, New York)
• ‘Playing with Fire’ (Symphonie, Paris)
• ‘Inside Project’ (Bristol, UK)
• ‘KAGAMI’ (Tokyo), and soon-to-be-released projects
• Artists, directors, and producers ranging from Sir Ian McKellen, Yuja Wang, Todd Eckert, and Antoine Cayrol are using HOLOSYS to deliver stunning, sold-out experiences that are traveling the world.

Kiira Benz’s work has premiered and won awards at some of the most prestigious festivals in the world. Selected credits: Finding Pandora X received the award for Best VR Immersive User Experience at the Venice Film Festival (2020), while Runnin’, filmed on the world’s largest volumetric capture stage at Intel Studios and starring Reggie Watts, won the SXSW Jury Award for Best Interactive. Other projects include Loveseat (Venice International Film Festival), territory (the first VR piece presented at Jacob’s Pillow), and Cardboard City, a 360° VR short film that won Samsung’s first VR contest in 2016.

Across her career, Kiira has consistently been at the forefront of innovation, achieving numerous “firsts” in the XR field. She directed the first AR documentary, founded the first VR Theatre Repertory Company, the first VR Theatre production to win at an A-List festival, the first VR Variety Comedy Show, the first VRChat experiences to premiere at A List festivals, and the first PCVR experience to integrate Meta Haptics. She has expanded the possibilities of live performance in virtual spaces for the XR Theatre industry. Her productions often combine worldbuilding, interactivity, and theatricality, inviting audiences into shared spaces that challenge the boundaries between art forms.

From Streaming Media Magazine, by Tyler Nesler, March 2, 2026 (https://www.streamingmedia.com/Articles/News/Online-Video-News/Vertical-Leap-Growing-the-Free-Vertical-Drama-Business-at-Streaming-Media-Connect-173716.aspx)

On Thursday, February 26, at Streaming Media Connect, Chris Pfaff, CEO, Chris Pfaff Tech Media, moderated the panel “Vertical Leap: Growing the Free Vertical Drama Business at Streaming Media Connect,” which explored the ways that vertical drama is exploding on free streaming platforms, driven by mobile-first viewing, bingeable formats, and a new generation of viewers and global creators.

The panelists were Grace Gao, Founder/Executive Producer, Celestine Pictures, Inc., Thom Woodley, Partner, Hudson Vertical, Brandan Dennehy, CEO & Head of Vertical Drama, Stratagem Vertical, and Carina Williamson, Creative Operations Lead, GoodShort.

Key points discussed included the following:

• The potential of vertical series to become a major mass media form
• The integration of AI in content creation and distribution
• The shift in content strategy and audience engagement for microdramas
• Brand integration in vertical drama

You can watch the entire session at:

The potential of vertical series to become a major mass media form

Pfaff began the discussion by noting that vertical microdramas are a rapidly evolving and exciting new area of media. He asked the group, “How can a seasoned executive in microdrama leverage their past experience from traditional film and TV to increase both artistic and commercial value of this medium?”

Woodley shared his journey from early web series to mobile storytelling, emphasizing the importance of compact stories and the potential of vertical series to become a major mass media form.  “I think we are starting to see the aperture widen,” he said. “We’re not only talking about micro budget production…we are now at the precipice of this really becoming a big new mass media in a way that we haven’t seen in a while.”

The integration of AI in content creation and distribution

Grace Gao discussed the launch of her microdrama studio, Celestine Pictures, and the integration of AI in content creation and distribution. “We are focusing on IP screenwriting as our core moat, but also utilizing AI in the pipeline, and also acquiring and distributing internationally at the same time,” she said. “And where it all came from was [that] I’ve been a bilingual person my whole life, and I started out my film and TV career out in New York, the very independent filmmaking scene, traveling with a co-production crew around the world, from Australia to Asia, back to the States.”

She went on to recall that, “after coming out of grad school with a screenwriting degree, straight into the strike, the only gig in town was the verticals. So I naturally fell into this landscape and started learning about this new medium early because of that, learning from the best platforms out there, best collaborators early in the game. Now I’m able to see where we fit best in this entire landscape, and I decided to establish our own thing, really honing in on human creativity as we’re evolving further into automation, trying to cut the cost down across the board.”

The shift in content strategy and audience engagement for microdramas

Brandan Dennehy recounted his experience with Pocket FM and the rise of microdramas, noting the shift in content strategy and audience engagement. “I sort of backed my way into this space completely by happenstance, even before microdramas were a thing. I spent 20 years in Hollywood working with folks like David Ellison, Kevin Feige, and Michael Mann. And even then, it was impossible to get anything made. The pandemic came along and killed everything that I had set up, and serendipitously, a company [Pocket FM] reached out to me, pitched themselves as the Netflix of audio, and I said, sure, let’s do it. And what I learned immediately was that this company’s business model was quite different than anything else that was going on.

“We were licensing content from China, we were localizing it, we were testing it. And then, when we were validating through testing, we would make those shows for the US audience. And that model was in late 2021, which led to the explosion of microdramas about a year and a few months later, when ReelShort came out. And so we moved into that space in our own way at PocketFM, mostly for marketing purposes, but also putting shows in the app.

Carina Williamson highlighted the opportunities for new graduates in the vertical space and the rapid production cycles that allow for quick audience feedback and content adaptation. “We’re seeing a new generation similar to me who are coming to Hollywood out of school or moving to try and make a career in entertainment. And they’re all turning to verticals instead because, one, there are just so many of them that there’s an endless amount of options, and also because there is a severe lack of options in the traditional Hollywood space.” She also emphasized that microdramas are well-suited for highly optimizing audience engagement due to their quick turnarounds. “[We] have the opportunity to see projects through from script to production to editing to release in such a short amount of time, and be able to understand the data and our audience in such short timeframes, make such quick decisions, test things out, and get to understand what people are looking for out of this new form of media.”

Brand integration in vertical dramas

Woodley discussed the unique opportunities for brands to fully integrate themselves into vertical dramas. “I’m Dos Equis, and at the top of the quarter, I could say, ‘Oh, you know what? I think I’ll do a microdrama. And by the end of the quarter, it’s out, and I have my results.’ And that’s the kind of thing we did when I was at College Humor, leading the branded content division, but that would be for a brand with a one-off sketch video. And now the question is really, well, why can’t a brand make an entire series? And they’ve started to. Procter & Gamble recently made a 55-episode series with Jonas [Barnes] at Pixie USA. And there’s been a couple of other experiments in this space, [such as] Maybelline.”

Chris Pfaff moderated an expert session – ‘Removing the Friction of Content Discovery on CTV’ – at the (virtual) Streaming Media Connect conference, on November 14, 2024, with the following panelists:

Chris Rodriguez, CCO – Revry

Monica Williams, SVP, Digital Products & Operations, Content Distribution – NBCUniversal

Gatsby Frimpong, Co-Founder & CEO – Gatsby TV

Katrina Kowalski, SVP, International Content Programming and Acquisitions – Pluto TV

The premise of the session was that today’s streaming providers deliver endless amounts of content, which can overwhelm viewers who are simply looking for something to watch. The content discovery process often takes far longer than viewers are willing to wait. FAST channels have the power to redefine content discoverability by using data to serve customers the content they want to watch and help them find new content based on prior viewing habits. FAST platforms have a vast amount of data available to them, but only a small amount of it is being used to its full potential. Incorporating viewership data into the content discoverability process can remove the pain points that have bubbled up in the new streaming landscape, lead to more engagement with the content, and open up more opportunities for advertisers to reach their target audiences. This session looks at the success of genre channels and provides attendees with insight into how they help their viewers find their content faster.

You can watch the full session at:

Chris Pfaff moderated the virtual panel ‘Targeting, Measuring, and Scaling Connected TV Advertising’ on February 20, 2024 for Streaming Media Connect, the virtual conference series produced by Streaming Media Magazine.

Discussion of CTV’s rapid growth centered around the recent Walmart acquisition of Vizio. Joining Chris were panelists Aneessa Steilen, VP, Media & Distribution Marketing, Vevo; Jack Mollins, SVP, Advertising Sales, Atmosphere.TV; Jennifer Monson, VP, Ad Sales, Fubo; Tim Ware, Senior Vice President of Programmatic Sales and Revenue, Sales, Crackle Connex, and Mark Loughney, Senior Consultant, Hub Entertainment Research.

The full panel can be viewed at:

Twenty years ago, there were no smartphones (with full web browsers); broadband was 5 MB/s downlink; 1 TB of storage cost $10,000; there were no social networks; the iPod was the hottest tech toy; there were more than 8 Tier 1 cellular carriers in the U.S.; MP3 and BitTorrent were creating headaches for the music industry; Nielsen was still king of ratings; OTT was mostly a cable Internet industry term; AI was still in the labs; DVD defined digital video; HDTV was still a niche offering; mobile video was non-existent; VR was only for industrial customers.

It was at that time – on November 21, 2002 – that I founded Chris Pfaff Tech Media LLC. To help bleeding-edge tech entrepreneurs gain market traction. To bring new ideas and approaches to legacy industry segments. To bring global visibility to early-stage ventures. 

From WAP to TikTok; from holographic storage to Flash drives; from contextual content to projected holograms; from facial recognition to virtual humans, and beyond, Chris Pfaff Tech Media LLC has been there. And – in many ways – was there. At the protean start. 

Many, many thanks to all of the collaborators, colleagues, and clients who worked with us on this epic journey at the beginning of the 21st century and over the past two decades. 

Here’s to the next 20 years.

And beyond.

Thanks to:

William Wilson Kevin Curtis Roy Elkins Moses Asom Eric Petajan George Caravias Narain Gehani Barry Cinnamon Michael Wood George Searle Steve Lubin Duncan Campbell Daniel Goldscheider Larry Henderson Steven Socolof tony Verderosa Edward Boddington Troy Sample Jason George Matt Frost Jani Houponen Sam VashIsht Irwin Kornfeld Paul Smith Mike Folgner Eric Eccles Thanasis Iatrou Nikos Kyriopoulos Chris Gottschalk Robin Rush Harry Kargman Boris Fridman Stein Erik Sorhaug Romain Eude Jacques Edouard Guillemot Stelio Tzonis Hans Eriksson Amorah Sandberg Fredrik Oscarson Michal Suchon Laurent Weill Colas Overkott Paul Amsellem Werner Haan Helmut Bems Agnes Chung David Hoga Tobias Soppa Jonathan Levy Bencheton Thierry Coutanceau Jean-Christophe Perier Christophe de Courson Petri Martikainen Richard Collins Janne Neuvonen Pasi Ilola Tony Hope Heini Vesander Mikki Kuusi Ville Makinen Wilhelm Taht Roope Suomalainen Hannu Anttila Harri Pesola Heikki Rotko Kaius Meskanen Mika Rautiainen Ville Hulkko Hannu Verkasalo Joonas Makkonen Olli Rundgren Topias Soininen Jesse Heikkila Vesa Perala Jani Penttinen Jouni Maaranto Tarmo Virki Laura Avonius Will Cardwell Nilay Oza Tuomas Kosonen Jari Tuovinen Peter Vesterbacka Laurent Martin Vamsi Palukuru Jussi Autio Chris Thur Jussi Harvela Antti Keranen Jari Mieskonen Sami Hyrylainen Jarno Eerola Projjol Banerjea Arkady Fridman Are Traasdahl Helge Hoibraaten Karl Kathuria Miguel Silva Jonathan French Paul Finster Lindsay Stewart Christina Castellano Brian Kline Juraj Siska Oliver Lietz Jason Porath Tom Link Cheng Wu Hal Vogel Jon Vlassopulos Seth Schachner Christian Egeler T.J. Vitolo Mohammad Raheel Khalid Brian Johnson Kanwaldeep Kalsi Jan Ameri Eero Kaikkonen Janet Greco Fred Pfaff Margus Uudam Andrew Knight Rob Rosenberg Suren Pai Sanjay Macwan  Claude Theoret Martin Enault Stephane Rituit Olivier Trudeau Anick Beaulieu Richard St. Pierre Daniel Japiassu Thomas Jelonek Kristjan Laanemaa Urmas Peiker Mike Klyszeiko Kris Kolo Nathan Pettyjohn Anne-Marie Enns Tracy Swedlow Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen Joel Unickow Trygve Refvem Jarno Vanto Sami Paihonen Pekka Parnanen Anton Gauffin Sami Niska Ekaterina Gianelli Andrew Johnston Pia Erkinheimo Beni Cohen JR Dawkins Robert O’Neill Nita Pilkama Imram Ahmed Jakub Majkowski Andrew Bud Peter Northing Ted Iannuzzi Felix Froede Kris Ramanathan Werner Haan Patricia Steele Bradley Glenn Simon Schatzmann Jonathan French David Hoga Agnes Chung Christoph Huning Jonathan Levy-Bencheton Thierry Cottenceau Jean-Christophe Perier Christophe de Courson Petri Martikainen Richard Collins Janne Neuvonen Pasi Ilola Tony Hope Heini Vesander Miki Kuusi Ville Makinen Wilhelm Taht Roope Soumalainen Hannu Anttila Harri Pesola Heikki Rotko Kaius Meskanen Mika Rautiainen Ville Hulkko Hannu Verkasalo Joonas Makkonen Olli Rundgren Topias Soinenen Vesa Perala Jani Penttinen Tarmo Virki Laura Avonius Will Cardwell Nilay Oza Tuomas Kosonen Jari Tuovinen Claude Theoret Martin Enault Stephane Rituit Olivier Trudeau Anick Beaulieu Richard St. Pierre Daniel Japiassu Thomas Jelonek Kristjan Laanemaa Urmas Peiker Mike Klyszeiko Kris Kolo Nathan Pettyjohn Anne-Marie Enns Tracy Swedlow Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen Joel Unickow Trygve Refvem Jarno Vanto Sami Paihonen Pekka Parnanen Anton Gauffin Sami Niska Ekaterina Gianelli Andrew Johnston Pia Erkinheimo Beni Cohen JR Dawkins Robert O’Neill Nita Pilkama Imram Ahmed Jakub Majkowski Andrew Bud Peter Northing Ted Iannuzzi Felix Froede Kris Ramanathan Werner Haan Patricia Steele Bradley Glenn Simon Schatzmann Jonathan French David Hoga Agnes Chung Christoph Huning Peter Vesterbacka Laurent Martin Vamsi Palukuru Jussi Autio Chris Thur Jussi Harvela Antti Keranen Jari Mieskonen Sami Hyrylainen Jarno Eerola Projjol Banerjea Arkady Fridman Are Traasdahl Helge Hoibraaten Karl Kathuria Miguel Silva Jonathan French Paul Finster Lindsay Stewart Christina Castellano Brian Kline Juraj Siska Oliver Lietz Jason Porath Tom Link Cheng Wu Jon Vlassopulos Seth Schachner Christian Egeler T.J. Vitolo Mohammad Raheel Khalid Brian Johnson Kanwaldeep Kalsi Jan Ameri Eero Kaikkonen Janet Greco Fred Pfaff Margus Uudam Andrew Knight Rob Rosenberg Suren Pai Sanjay Macwan Patricia Steele Bradley Glenn Simon Schatzmann Jonathan French David Hoga Agnes Chung

Jerimiah Hamon, chief scientist of Firstlight Media, one of the leading data science figures in the OTT industry, conducted a one-on-one fireside chat with Chris Pfaff – ‘Your Data or Your Gut?’ – at the TVOT Live! Spring 2021 edition on April 27, 2021. Hamon discussed his views on what data science brings to the business of building an effective and engaging OTT offering. How predictive analytics can deliver a superior experience.

You can watch the full panel at: https://youtu.be/STpbnjxNsVE

Chris Pfaff (left) and Jerimiah Hamon (right)

ABOUT ‘YOUR DATA OR YOUR GUT?’

Media and entertainment executives have a long history of “knowing” what sells, but nowadays are gut feelings enough of a foundation for a winning business strategy? As more and more choices vie for consumers’ attention and loyalty, can the content industry really leave subscribers’ viewing choices to chance?  Jerimiah Hamon, Chief Scientist at Firstlight Media, is a computational mathematician with a background in military intelligence, healthcare and medical research, and now consumer behavior and entertainment. He is expert at correlating and automating the links between stimuli and viewer responses to enable more precise targeting of video content. In this wide ranging conversation with  Chris Pfaff, CEO of Chris Pfaff Tech Media, Jerimiah will lift the veil that surrounds data science, explaining: the top misconceptions executives have about data; the pillars of a successful data strategy; and the advanced psychographics that are making data more accurate than ever.

The virtual theatre universe was rocked on Saturday, February 6, 2021, when AliBi, Technodramatist’s “reality-bending livestream theater experience,” brought together an audience of more than 90 people on Zoom, while streaming live from the Gene Frankel Theatre in downtown Manhattan. The adaption of Tristen Tzara’s Dadaist play ‘Handkerchief of Clouds’ immersed the audience in a love triangle. A private investigator uses augmented reality, motion capture and voice recognition software to solve the homicide of one of the lovers, while suspects attept to dance their way out of trouble. The performance mixed live effects with live music and dance in a brilliant, original production. Created by Lorne Svarc, artistic director for Technodramatists, and directed by Brian Rardin, the show feature Grammy Award-winning experimental musician Johnny Butler with choregrapher duo AnA Collaborations. Butler stars with Alex Jenkins and Nick Anselmo and features Anne Bates as Alison Bi. Lead technologist Yashwanth Irragatappu, virtual and physical set designer Yichan Wang, lead designer Min Kawk and technical director Hy Braverman delivered a seamless live and virtual production. Long before any theatre productions returned to New York stages, Technodramatists made a mark on 2021 with ‘AliBi.’

When Karl Capek, the famed Czech playwright, wrote the play ‘R.U.R’ (Rossum’s Universal Robots) in 1920, introducing the word “robot” to the English language, the idea of a synthetic human was dystopian. And, frankly, most fictional depictions of robots since then have not been kind; C3PO and R2D2 being notable exceptions. But, robots are more likely to be mechanical or software-controlled agents today – helpers that are reliable and functional, not diabolical. Even with the threat of technological displacement or unemployment, humans still marvel at how our lives are enhanced and even saved by technology. We have lived with robots, digital assistants, and avatars for years, and the more we outsource our brains and our memories to the likes of Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon, we gain greater facility to personalize and even interact with our technology. This has been part of a growing shift that places greater technological emphasis on interfaces that rely on machine learning, AI (artificial, or augmented, intelligence), natural language processing, and other advances that pass the Turing test.

CES 2017 put robots at center stage in ways that we can now accept, and Chris Pfaff Tech Media was there to take it all in over an intense 6-day period. These virtual, and even mechanical, assistants are baked into experiences that can develop habits for humanity. While many pundits were touting this year’s show as “the Alexa show,” intelligent systems were predominant in ways well beyond ASR (atomatic speech recognition). Intel’s RealSense was on display again this year, with a drone camera demo that was part of the latest “hero demo” in which a single human had powered a 500-drone flight. The drone-camera demo was part of Intel’s attempt to show how RealSense can automate the process of shooting/plotting information via drone. Intel also showed off its Curie processors, and the new Quark SoC (system-on-a-chip) with high-flying dunkateers from Dunk Elite, a London-based team of acrobatic dunk artists, which captured a myriad of body measurements and sports data. Intel also showed off its latest acquisition, Voke VR, which conducted a live VR streaming demo over an AT&T 5G demo network, with Ericsson. For some, this was a bit of a thin demo: Intel and Ericsson’s booths were seprated by a mere 10 meters.

Dunk Elite shows off the Curie processor technology at the Intel booth

AMD provided some competition in the chip space, showing off its new Ryzen processor, which rivals the Intel Core i5 7600K. This is impressive, particularly in the gaming space, which should heat up this year. Some estimates show the eSports market rising to a cool $9 billion.

AMD shows off its Ryzen processor – a rival to Intel’s Core i5 7600K – at CES Unveiled, at CES 2017

Qualcomm, as always, had a huge presence at the show. They featured three booths, with the largest in the central hall touting IoT concepts, and VR/AR. Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 835 processor was featured. This new chip is all about VR; Qualcomm is touting greater depth and lower power (it boasts that the 835 is part of the first commercial 10 nanometer chip fab process). Qualcomm also had a booth in the North Hall touting its car platform; the company’s 2016 acquisition of NXP has vaulted it into the front ranks of connected car chip companies.

But, of all the chip giants, the biggest spotlight shone on Nvidia. Jen-Hsun Huang, founder/CEO of Nvidia, gave the opening keynote of CES, and it rocked the show. Nvidia showed off its Nvidia AI Car Platform, with announcements that Nvidia and Audi will build an AI car. Nvidia also introduced the Nvidia AI Car Supercomputer, named Xavier. Nvidia also announced AI car-related deals with ZF, Tom Tom, Here, and Bosch. Nvidia’s booth was tucked into a corner area of the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, next to Volkswagen (which, in a face-saving move, took Delphi’s old space on the show floor). This was a huge statement: that the company that made its name with the GPU is now bidding to be the next big innovator in intelligent cars. Jen-Hsun Huang’s keynote speech is worth watching. One line alone almost made me tear up: “Let’s make sure our kids never have to drive again.”

Nvidia’s booth featured the Nvidia AI Car Platform

Other intelligent systems and products came from the likes of DISH Networks, which probably won most heroic demo on the show floor: a voice-activated Hopper that controls your EPG and records shows for you. The fact that the demo was done in a suite that was not sound-proofed, and took in lots of ambient show floor noise, made the Alexa integration all the more impressive. Samsung showed off its SmartThings hub, with voice-activated technology from its Viv acquisition.

The big boys, Samsung and LG, went at it again this year in stunning one-upmanship. For the record, Samsung won the product battle. Its QLED displays were introduced at a pretty spectacular event at the Keep Memory Alive Center in downtown Las Vegas. The Frank Gehry-designed building, part-temple/part ocean-going vessel design, provided the ideal backdrop for Samsung’s roll-out of its latest OLED displays, which have a wider viewing angle, greater contrast/brightness (1500-2000 nits), and a wide color gamut (WCG) that actually encompasses the full range of the human eye. It has a flush mounting system with a single fiber connection to an external input box (smart idea). It was an amazing event, and it was a total display geek-out for someone like me. My old Sharp LCD client, Joe Stinziano, was there doing God’s work, as were dozens of other Samsung technical and sales/marketing execs. Samsung’s branding of QLED (a play on its quantum dot crystal structure) extended the “Q” prefix to other products. This was a huge play for Samsung, which is rebounding from its spectacular Galaxy Note 7 disaster. The QLED products go on sale next month.

Samsung QLED intro at the Keep Memory Alive Center in downtown Las Vegas, 01.03.17

Samsung is ready for its OLED close-up, in this technical demo at the QLED intro event

LG, meanwhile, won the battle of the display content. This is not news to anyone who has been to these booths the past few years, but LG upped the ante this year, with a full, immersive content “room” that made one feel as if they were in an aquarium or a planetarium. LG Display gave us a private demo of its latest products, which included the world’s thinnest (1 millimeter) display, and introduced its Crystal OLED Sound technology (clever integration of speakers in the actual display), which has already been used by Sony in its latest TV.

LG Display’s Hanbits Oh demonstrates the LG Crystal OLED Sound technology

Hanbits Oh shows off the LG Display kiosk

LG wins the OLED display content war, against Samsung, again at CES 2017

Other impressive products and/or displays included EyeLock’s retina detection system (tucked away in a prominent corner of the palatial Voxx booth), and Bosch’s APAS system, the first assistance system certified for use with human operators. Bosch used APAS robots to serve coffee, among other tasks, in its massive booth, just in front of the Samsung booth.

Bosch shows off its APAS platform        EyeLock’s retinal detection system

The North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, though, was the real show this year. For the second time, a car was introduced at CES. This year, it was Faraday Future’s FF91. This impressive vehicle, the progeny of much-questioned Faraday Future, owned by Chinese conglomerate Le Eco, showed off a 1000 horsepower all-electric powertrain which can travel more than 370 miles per electric charge. The built-in LiDAR and more than 30 cameras, radars, and ultrasonic sensors are augmented by a smart app that parks the car for you and can bring it to you from parking, as well as facial recognition for unlocking the car. All of this can be had for a mere $5,0000 reservation fee. Le Eco has some new funding, apparently, so we may yet see these beauties on the road this year. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, the real car companies showed off quite a lot. Mercedes-Benz showed off its mouthful of a corporate mantra, CASE (Connected, Autonomous, Shared, Electric), with the Mercedes Electric Intelligence platform, which was represented by a concept car, EQ, which uses solar energy stored at home, and wireless charging. The hippest car at the show, though, was the Mercedes Vision Van, a new delivery/sprinter van that has two drones on top, and is driverless. Mercedes also announced that it would launch its driverless freight truck, the Daimler Freightliner, by 2025.

The Mercedes Vision Van, an example of what the company calls the “cognitive car”

Honda was back at CES for the first time in years, showing off its ‘Cooperative Mobility Ecosystem.’ This included a motorcycle that has riding assist, self-balancing features, and autonomous operation (i.e., it can be called by the river). Honda showed off the way-cool NueV concept car – an electric vehicle for ride sharing that has an “emotion engine” and charges itself at the lowest rate times. The Honda Uni-Cub (best known for their use in the latest OKGO music video), a seated Segway-type transport vehicle, was a bit hit. it moves via body control/leaning.

Honda’s NuEV electric concept car

Honda’s Uni-Cub personal transport robots

Fiat Chrysler was one of many companies that showcased its work with Google’s Waymo spin-out, a driverless car ride sharing service, which will heavily feature the Chrysler Pacifica cars.

Toyota, again, showed off the coolest concept car at the show, which featured an excellent emotion detection platform.

Toyota’s ‘Tron’-like concept car

While 5G was a big technology looming over the show, not much was shown. AT&T, which holds its annual developers forum just prior to the start of CES, claimed that 2017 would be the year of video on its network. It has already planned major 5G trials this year, with video a major feature, and preliminary speeds of 1 Gb/s in initial trials.

International delegations were quite prominent this year, but mostly for the massive Chinese presence, with ZTE, Huawei, DJI, TCL, Hi-Sense and Honor as major sponsors and exhibitors. The French delegation outdid itself, again, and Eureka Park was practically a French tech zone.

The Normandy delegation – with marinier shirts – at the La French Tech pitch event, at the Paris Hotel’s French village, 01.06.17

The Swedish delegation was stronger than ever, and several Swedish start-ups, notably Manomotion, made their presence felt.

Tobias Berneth, of Stockholm-based Things to Be, with the Honor phone that he helped design, at the Sweden@CES breakfast at CES 2017

I caught up with members of the “Estonian Mafia” at the show, including the only Estonian company exhibiting at the show, Starship Technologies, which has some pretty cool delivery robots (I got a demo when I was in Tallinn last September). Starship just announced, post-CES, a major funding round of $17.2million, with Daimler AG as the lead investor.

Estonian Mafia at CES (l to r): Andrus Viirg, Enterprise Estonia; two members of the Starship Technologies team; Andres Mellik, Cognuse, and Rain Rannu, Fortumo

Eureka Park was bigger than ever this year – 600 exhibitors, up from 500 at CES 2016. Kino-mo had another way-cool display, with Pokemon Go figures, and there were more funded companies, it seemed, than in previous years.

Kino-Mo’s display was mobbed at Eureka Park

The robots could have helped the ride-sharing queues that created Lyft and Uber traffic jams outside the convention center. This was unfortunate, but will require more than robots to solve the crisis: political leadership (Las Vegas not known for its progressive thinking where non-gamblers are concerned).

Until next year, go out and buy an Amazon Echo, or the many equivalents, and find new ways to integrate AI into your life. In other words, help a robot brutha out.

Me at CES 2017, outside the Sands/Venetian halls