People are starting to arrive in Las Vegas for CES 2022. Members of the media are getting ready for press-only sessions on Monday and Tuesday. International attendees are settling in as well to staff booths and to cover the event.

Writer David Danto shared his experience in picking up his badge and showing his proof of vaccination in a video on Twitter. He said the event organizers are being thorough about checking for vaccination verification at the Mandalay Bay check-in. “The people who don’t have the CLEAR app are being sent over to a place to inspect their vaccination status. They won’t let you get in the line unless you’ve done that or have your CLEAR app.”

Danto said he had to ask for the self-test kit and go to a different registration station to get it. Another CES attendee Hakki Alkan said he got the kit but didn’t know what to do with it (at least according to Google’s translation of the tweet).

People traveling to Las Vegas for the event have to pick up their own badges; there’s no sending an admin to pick up your badge this year. Also, attendees have to pick up badges before entering the show. There are badge pick-up locations at McCarran Airport at terminals 1 and 3, according to the latest press release from CES.

Event organizers also ask that attendees use one of the COVID-19 self-tests provided with event badges less than 24 hours before entering all show venues. Nevada requires masks for everyone at large indoor events, which includes CES 2022. CTA announced on Dec. 31 that the show would formally end at 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 7, instead of the previously scheduled closing on Saturday, Jan. 8.

CES 2022 tech: Luxury EVs, NFTs and heads-up displays

This annual consumer tech event is always a mix of interesting, innovative and silly technology with new products for both the general tech buyer and IT professionals running Internet of Things installations. Electric vehicles of all kinds, augmented reality and virtual reality hardware and software, smart home technology and digital health products are some of the big trends this year.

With many large companies changing their in-person attendance plans to virtual ones, there are several ways to track news from the show from the CES live stream to newsrooms of individual companies. Here’s a sample of what there is to see in-person or through a screen at this year’s show.

Samsung President Jong-Hee Han will open the show on Tuesday and is expected to discuss sustainability and climate change. The company announced Monday, Jan. 3, that it will plant 2 million mangrove trees on the island of Madagascar over the next three months. As far as products at the show, Samsung is showing off an eco-friendly remote that draws power from the sun and radio waves as well as a TV you can use to buy NFTs. The company is planning a “TV screen-based NFT explorer and marketplace aggregator … browse, purchase and display your favorite art all in one place.”

Metaverse is one of the top buzzwords for this year’s show. Iconic Engine is showing off augmented reality and virtual reality tech. At Eureka Park, Actronika has a kinetic vest to enhance the VR experience. InWith Corporation has built an electronic soft contact lens “enabling easy transition from the real world to Metaverse, at will.”

Lenovo posted a “spot the difference” photo to highlight its sustainability efforts and promising a surprise for anyone who plays along. The company will make its #CES2022 announcements on Tuesday.

Ceres Holographics will demo its transparent displays for windshields and passenger windows, a collaboration between the company, Covestro and Texas Instruments.

BMW has a new option for selecting a car color: hit a button. The carmaker won’t have an in-person presence at CES 2022. Instead executives will show up via live stream Wednesday, Jan. 5, at 2 p.m. Eastern/ 1 a.m. Pacific to show off this new capability. The press conference will include the electric BMW iX M60, collaborations with world-renowned artists, technology that changes a vehicle’s exterior color and in-car entertainment features.

CES 2022 attendee Eric Savitz posted his travel plans on Twitter as he joins the other enterpreneurs and IT professionals heading to Las Vegas to attend in person.
Image: Twitter/Eric Savitz
CES 2022 attendees get a COVID-19 self-test kit when they show proof of vaccination and pick up badges for the event.
Image: Twitter/ucomsgeek Jonathan McKinney