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CeBIT Australia 2003 |
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One of the big things on display was LCD screens. They've been dropping down to almost-sensible prices lately and there were large displays of various products from LG, Samsung and Fujitsu. Here's one of three walls LG used to show off theirs:
One odd thing that caught my eye (literally) was this iris-scanning system from Argus. I thought this kind of technology was years away from production use but Phil from Argus assured me they're using it in 120 locations around Australia, from the Commonwealth Bank to the Immigration Dept. No need for a passport, ATM card or pocket full of keys if you've got an eyeball, that's the goal for these guys.
 
The top lens and the bottom one both do the same thing. The smaller top one would be used to log onto your PC for example, while the larger bottom one is intended for use in more public areas. You didn't have to stick your face right into the lens, just hold still at what seemed a comfortable distance. I'll be keeping an eye out for these systems...
From scanning the iris to scanning the whole face - this system from SeeingMachines can be installed in a car and detect when the driver is becoming drowsy.
Apparently you blink less often, but for longer, when you're tired. There's a few other drowsiness hints and if you do them too much the two dashboard-mounted cameras (sorry, sensors, The Public don't like the idea of cameras in their car) will notice and trigger an action. What this action actually consists of is up to the car manufacturers that SeeingMachines license their technology to - my suggestion of electric shocks through the seats wasn't met with much amusement. Another interesting aspect of this system is that it can track exactly what you're looking at. Imagine the potential for gaming!
There were a few camera crews running around, no doubt filming news clips for the various TV stations. At one point I wandered past a crew interviewing Senator Alston, our beloved Minister for, among other things, Technology. I resisted the urge to do anything stupid - partly because I couldn't think of a witty slogan to shout while I had the eyes of the world on me, but mostly because I thought my currently-broken collarbone wouldn't enjoy being my hurled to the ground and sat upon by the burly, if bored, security guard shadowing Sen. Alston. Therefore, my sole political statement consisted of scowling in the background.
Phrixus had a virtual-reality system on display which seems to be approaching the small and lightweight interface that this technology needs. In the picture below, the guy in the race car is wearing the display - it looks like sunglasses.
There was a less impressive system on the Vodaphone stand. It looks like one we've seen for a few years now, where you sit in a (wooden?) chassis with a bucket seat, steering wheel and PC screen in front of you. Of course, Vodaphone sponsor the Ferrari Formula One team, so presumably people were acting out their Michael Schumacher fantasies via Grand Prix 4 or similar.
I was quite surprised to see Ebay.com.au with a large area for demonstrations. I've used Ebay a fair bit and I didn't really think there was all that much to it - this feeling was confirmed by the demonstration being, when I passed it, about how you can pay slightly extra for your listing to appear in bold on Ebay. Still, I grabbed a leaflet on "How To Sell And Make Money On Ebay" - there was a larger book there about "Ebay Strategies" or similar, but had all the usual "No, this is not a freebie" signs on it.
One thing I noticed much more than in previous years were the various regions trying to attract technology firms. Establishing a region as a centre for technology would have a big effect on a local economy, so there were stands of various sizes showing off the virtues of Western Sydney, the Gold Coast, New South Wales, Tasmania, New Zealand, Germany, the USA, Canada, Korea, Dubai and the British Midlands.
Now that I've sat here and written it all up there does seem to be a fair bit that I looked at. Overall though, I came away with a sense of disappointment. The larger stands seemed well organised, but many of the smaller vendors seem to have put in only a token effort. I imagine that even the small booths have a pretty decent cost associated with them, so why man them with two people who sit around bored, making no effort to attract potential customers? More than once I left a stall I was genuinely interested in because the staff were more interested in talking to each other than to customers. In many cases when I did talk to someone, they apologised that they didn't know anything about the product and were just "helping run the stand". If you don't know the product, how can you be helping run the stand? I'll admit I don't look like a CEO, but why bother exhibiting at a trade show if you're going to ignore the punters, or not make an effort to know the answers to their most basic questions about your product or service?
Next year, we can only hope there's simply more at the annual PC Show. More technology to see and touch, more freebies and booth babes to draw the punters, more interest from the many hardware manufacturers who have abandoned the show over the years. In short, more for the PC enthusiast.
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