This year’s CES, Jan. 9–12, was always going to be dominated by AI. As a snapshot of what the year will have in store for consumer tech, the five-day Consumer Electronics Show held every year in Las Vegas is hard to beat, and it became obvious that, for 2024, manufacturers are falling over each other to try and keep up with what AI is bringing to the game. Of all the categories under which manufacturers could classify their exhibits — and they could classify more than one — “AI” dominated the list ahead of “Smart Home & Appliances,” “IoT/Sensors,” and “Vehicle Tech.”
AI was also one of the event’s central themes, along with human security, mobility and sustainability.
Within those themes, the organizers identified a raft of products worthy of induction as innovation award honorees. One that caught our eye was inDJ, a South Korean AI-based customized emotional music recommendation service company. This hyper-niched offering integrates AI technology with a vehicle’s audio system to analyze the emotions of vehicle occupants and their situations to recommend suitable audio.
That sounds a little creepy, but inDJ’s tech boasts some merit. The company’s platform employs a network of strategically placed sensors—nine in total—within the vehicle to comprehensively assess the driver and the surrounding driving environment. It then conducts a detailed evaluation of the entire driving ecosystem, considering various factors such as weather conditions, destination details, passenger presence, the driver’s physical and mental state and real-time traffic conditions. The service then offers personalized music recommendations, creating “a secure and enjoyable driving environment.”
It gives new meaning to the term “road trip soundtrack.”
According to inDJ, several vehicle companies, including BMW and Tesla, are considering adopting its technology.
Until then, we’ll have to use our fingers to select the audio we want in the car.
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