Arlington, VA—The Consumer Technology Association (CTA), producer of CES, announced the Innovation Awards’ honorees for CES 2017 as well as the Best of Innovation winner in the digital imaging category. The annual CES Innovation Awards recognize outstanding product design and engineering across 28 product categories.
The program distinguishes two levels of recipients for each product category. Honorees are products or technologies that score above the threshold set for a specific category. Best of Innovation status is given to only the highest rated product or technology in each category.
Best of Innovation: KanDao Obsidian
This year, in the digital imaging category, the Obsidian 3D panoramic camera from KanDao Technology Co. received top honors as the Best of Innovations.
The virtual reality (VR) camera combines a collection of hardware and also software to produce its “exquisite virtual reality contents,” the judging panel noted. “As an advanced VR production tool, Obsidian aims at making high standard VR works in an economical and also convenient way.” kandaovr.com
Innovation Award Honorees
The CES 2017 Innovation Awards honorees in the digital imaging category follow, as well as what the judging panel had to say about each one.
360fly 4K | H: 360fly
Offering a full 360° horizontal x 240° vertical field of view, the 360fly 4K | H camera is unlike any other. It’s one easy-to-use device for capturing everything all around you in stunning clarity, harmonizing into demanding environments and providing more intelligence and safety features. Furthermore, users can go from recording in 360° video to standard 16:9 format and back with ease. With its 4K first-person mode activated, users just orient or mount the camera with its lens facing forward and OnePush button centered/facing up, and they can use the 360fly like a traditional point-and-shoot action camera. 360fly.com
BlazeSpark: eMagin Corp.
BlazeSpark is a handheld digital night vision system that utilizes a cell phone for processing as well as display. The device allows users to see detailed, high-resolution video and still images by inserting their phones into a case that displays what the night vision sensor sees. A companion app on the cell phone allows for live streaming, social networking and also chatting in real time. blazethenight.com
HP Sprocket: HP
With the HP Sprocket photo printer, which fits in the palm of a hand, consumers can print photos from smartphones or tablets. Consumers can print instantly shareable 2×3-inch, sticky-back snapshots. The full-color, smudge-proof, water-resistant and tear-resistant photos are printed on ZINK (zero ink) photo paper. hp.com
InMotion Albums: InMotion Albums
The first print plus digital memory book, InMotion Albums lets users experience a better way to display, organize and store print as well as digital photo and video memories in a tangible book. Skillfully engineered with page detection technology, InMotion Albums gives users a new way to tell their stories. inmotionalbums.com
Samsung Gear 360: Samsung Electronics America
The high-resolution 360º camera lets users capture immersive 360º videos and images in a format that until now was out of reach for many consumers. Its front and rear lenses capture 180º horizontally and vertically to create a seamless 360º field of view. The camera records 3,840×1,920 video and 25.9MP photos. It also pairs with a smartphone. samsung.com
Stargazer Webcam: Razer USA
The Razer Stargazer is “the world’s most advanced webcam and is designed for streamers with industry-leading frame rate capture [60 fps], dynamic background removal, 3D scanning, facial and gesture recognition.” It provides automatic noise cancelling and HD as well as Full HD 1080p capture. razerzone.com
SteadXP: SteadXP SAS
Touted as “the future of video stabilization, for everyone,” this motion-recording device plugs into a camera in one second. Combined with post-treatment software, SteadXP is designed to turn any handheld video into a fully stabilized, professional-grade, cinematic shot. Furthermore, the lightweight device delivers 3-axis stabilization with a built-in accelerometer and gyroscope. It is also compatible with nearly all digital cameras, including GoPro action cams, DSLRs and cinema cameras. steadxp.com
Vitrima Lens: Fantem
The Vitrima Lens is claimed to be the world’s first 3D GoPro camera lens. Users can place their GoPro camera into the attached standard housing and start recording in 3D, no software needed. In addition, videos can be viewed through a companion 3D headset. vitrima.com
YesItIs Revive: YesItIs
This is the first connected vinyl record. The device works with a smartphone to allow users to once again enjoy the music of their old vinyl records. The French company YesItIs specializes in smart RIFD tags and also creating a new label technology for vinyl LPs. As a result of the label, the album listener can learn all the music that’s playing via the turntable on a mobile screen. yesitis.fr
“The honorees stand as the best of ingenuity and design in the consumer tech industry,” said Karen Chupka, senior vice president of CES and corporate business strategy, CTA. “These outstanding products exemplify the power and also promise of the global consumer tech industry to produce breakthrough products and services that improve our lives and better our world.”
Each category has a three-member judging team that evaluates the products. Judging is based on their engineering, design, functionality, consumer appeal and also how they compare to competitors in the marketplace. Furthermore the judges include highly respected consumer tech designers, engineers and members of the media.
Best of Innovation as well as Honoree designated products will be featured in the Innovation Awards Showcase at CES 2017. The showcase will be located at the Venetian, level 2, Venetian Ballroom. ces.tech
