I've already said it, but it bears repeating. The Consumer Electronics Show held last week in Las Vegas was an overwhelming experience. A towering monument to man's innovative spirit, it is a cacophonous display of unbridled creativity. We saw the best and brightest ideas on display in Las Vegas last week; yet as the 165,000 plus attendees wandered endless aisles displaying the hopes and dreams of a multitude of entrepreneurs, we could not help but recognize one undeniable fact:

While many of the concepts and products we saw were useful or even brilliant in their creation, some of the ideas presented were less than inspired. Plainly stated, a few of the things I saw were just plain stupid.

In the Good department, we have amazing applications in 3D printing. Additionally, mobile and wearable technologies have terrific promise for the future, as does the field of robotics and automation (more on these in future articles).

Most of this motorcycle was created using a 3D printer

Advancements in Virtual Presence Devices has been significant in recent years.

Both of the devices above have the ability to provide real time two way communications while allowing the “driver” mobility to travel wherever they need to within any facility. Interestingly, the device on the left, by DoubleTalk, operates on a gyroscope enabled “barrel” that gives it tremendous agility and mobility. For our industry, this would be ideal for a doctor making virtual rounds or consultations in remote and underserved areas.

There was the world's first “Autonomous Aerial Vehicle”, designed to fly a person to their destination by simply using Google Maps – no pilot's license required (pending FAA approval). Parachute optional.

In televisions there were some incredible things to see, and something for everybody. Large, curved screens with 8K resolution provided unbelievable resolution. There were even TV's for husbands and wives that apparently no longer speak to each other. One of them had a large screen displaying two programs, each with directed audio that could only be heard in a limited area. Two people sitting on the same couch could watch two different shows and not hear the other one. Skyworth featured a ½ inch thick double sided OLED TV, capable of playing different channels on each side.

In the Bad department this year, unfortunately, was the much ballyhooed Virtual Reality Device. While it is an interesting technology essentially in its infancy, many (not all) of the systems simply do not yet live up to the hype.

Plus, it is a technology that simply makes us look goofy.

“Minion Bob”

In the Colossally Stupid Category, we can easily start off with headphones designed to resemble a cat's head.

I also saw “smart footwear” designed to allow the user to enable smartphone commands with their foot. There was the Samsung refrigerator with an internal camera, allowing owners to log in to their fridge while at the store to see what they need to buy (shopping lists are soooooo yesterday). There was a “Smart Belt”, also by Samsung, which tracks similar metrics of a typical smart watch, with the addition of being able to alert you via your smart phone when your waist size starts expanding. I hate to break this to them, but we've had that technology for years. They are called loops. The less sophisticated among us would call them “holes”. The closer you get to the ones at the end of your belt, the bigger your waist has been getting. And of course, the fail safe on the low tech method is the ripped pants seam (usually when headed to a critical meeting or appointment).

We really shouldn't need our smart phones to alert us when our asses are getting too big.

Ultimately CES represents an incredible array of imagination, as well as the hopes, dreams and ambitions of creative minds across the world. I plan to write some more about the “Good” in coming days – even a bit about the “Bad', but alas, for the Colossally Stupid this will be the final stop. Not all ideas can be winners.

Lord knows I've proven that myself a multitude of times.