More than a thousand companies and startups, including Türkiye’s first domestically produced electric vehicle brand, have gathered to showcase their products and the latest innovations at the world’s biggest tech expo.

The annual CES consumer electronics extravaganza opened its doors in Las Vegas on Thursday, with organizers hoping to recapture the excitement of the pre-pandemic years and companies hoping to get the most out of the show, create some buzz around their gadgets and capture the attention of investors.

The CES stage is where Togg, a manufacturer of Türkiye’s first electric vehicle (EV), made its international debut last year when it showed off its "Transition Concept Smart Device," an all-electric fastback concept car.

Fresh from rolling out the long-anticipated automobile brand, Türkiye has been highlighting not only the fact that Togg will be battery powered but also all the features that will make it more than just a car.

Formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show, the expo has increasingly become a stage for showing off electric cars that are becoming internet-linked computers on wheels. Companies and startups mainly showcase innovations in virtual reality, robotics and consumer tech items.

Calling itself a technology brand that blends digital and physical experiences, Togg, along with many other software and mobility-oriented ventures, returned to CES this year to explore new global partnership and investment opportunities and display its mobility solutions.

The company says it is exhibiting its vision for the personalized mobility experience of the "day after tomorrow."

CES is also hosting one of the largest gatherings of the startup ecosystem at Eureka Park, the main exhibition space for ventures from around the world.

Turkish startups supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBITAK) and the Istanbul Development Agency (ISTKA) are seeking to explore new partnerships and opportunities abroad and meet investors who can help their businesses grow.

Instead of consumer electronics for which it is formerly known, Vestel is, together with Togg, showing off mobility-focused energy solutions. It is displaying charging solutions, including one it developed for Togg’s charging station brand called Trugo and its parent conglomerate Zorlu’s charging network brand Zorlu Energy Solutions (ZES).

Among others, Fark Labs, an innovation and transformation hub, is gathering ventures engaged in mobility and with a focus on global growth under a single roof. More than 40 startups from Türkiye are said to be attending the CES 2023 edition.

Human security theme

CES has a theme for the first time: how technology addresses the world’s biggest challenges.

The momentous event announced it partnered with the World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS) to showcase the critical role of technology in support of the United Nations' efforts to advance human security for all.

"Human Security for All" is a theme throughout the show, from conference programming to keynotes highlighting innovation and products improving the lives of people around the world.

"CES is the world’s most exciting technology event, from startups in Eureka Park to global brands on the main stages," said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA).

"We are thrilled to spotlight thousands of innovative companies at this year’s show. Tech advances are helping to solve the world’s greatest challenges, and CES 2023 will set the agenda for the year ahead," Shapiro noted.

Set to last through Sunday, CES is getting back to normal after the past two shows. It went utterly virtual in 2021 and saw a significant drop in 2022 attendance because of the pandemic. The organizers are hoping to reach more than 100,000 participants this year.

This year’s attendees include big names like Amazon and Facebook parent Meta, as well as Google, Canon, Intel, Hisense, LG Electronics, Nikon, Samsung, TCL and Voxx.

The show changed its name to CES several years ago to better reflect the changing industry and the event, which had expanded beyond audio and video to include automotive, digital health, smartphones, wearables and other technologies.

Unique technology experience

Togg is at CES showcasing a unique technology experience space that appeals to users’ senses of sight, smell, hearing, and touch.

It has designed an experience to bring visitors together with the experience of a sustainable and connected mobility future in a 900-square-meter (9,985-square-foot) area called the "Digital Mobility Garden."

The "Digital Mobility Garden," where concepts such as human and technology, art and science, mind and heart, unity and diversity in the world of duality meet, tells the future of mobility with digital art.

Togg set up what it calls the Beyond X area, designed by Togg Design Studio and developed together with Pininfarina. The area gives hints of the future of mobility and offers a personalized mobility experience to the participants.

Starting their journey in a tunnel, visitors experience mobility accompanied by visual art that challenges the imagination in a sculptural and circular capsule.

Participants can experience one of four possible scenarios such as Saturn, Forest, Futuristic City and Artistic Türkiye in the most suitable music and environment. Beyond X activates the mind, soul, heart and four senses with an extraordinary digital experience.

World’s biggest auto show

The presence of auto companies at CES this year is the biggest ever. Nearly 300 exhibitors are grouped in a dedicated hall, promising to make it one of the largest auto shows in the world.

Global launches and keynote events by Stellantis, BMW and other heavyweights lead into exhibits featuring the latest in self-driving technology, electric vehicles and personalized mobility devices for land, air and sea.

Other big names at CES include Candela Marine Technology, GM, Italdesign Giugiaro, Magna, MobilEye, Waymo, RYSE and Volvo Penta.

Digital health and sustainability

CES is showcasing another rising trend, namely health care innovations, which are also one of the major themes at the gathering.

The past few years have shown that consumers want to take their health into their own hands. CES 2023 is bringing even more digital health innovations and brands to the global stage, seeking to show how rapidly this market is growing.

It seeks to mainly showcase advancements in digital therapeutics, mental wellness, women’s health tech and telemedicine.

CTA’s Digital Health Studio features the latest technology for diagnostic and treatment functions and highlights the importance of remote connectivity for accessible health care.

In addition, global brands like John Deere, LG, Samsung and Siemens are showing how innovation can conserve energy and increase power generation, create more sustainable agricultural systems, power intelligent cities and support access to clean water.

Bright driver monitoring concept

Büyütech, a manufacturer of camera-related advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) solutions, is working on the design and development of a concept integrated into new-generation vehicles consisting of a set of sensors, cameras and radars to make the roads safer and driving more comfortable.

Büyütech, a Fark Labs startup that is attending CES for the second time, is also having its solutions tested by Togg.

ADAS systems are considered an important step in moving toward autonomous driving. The ADAS camera on the front side activates when necessary for greater safety, helping drivers detect and avoid hazards.

Büyütech’s ADAS system consisting of cameras is revolutionizing how a vehicle perceives the world and provides reliable object and environment recognition functions.

Its solution meets the safety function requirements for the General Safety Regulation (GSR) and EU-NCAP 2023/2025 star compliance and supports Level 2 and Level 2-plus autonomous driving.

Electronic door sensors

Saykal, one of the initiatives supported by Fark Labs and headquartered in IT Valley, produces electronic sensors used in car doors and seat belts and conducts research in various fields spreading to chip design.

Its sensors are used in Togg vehicles’ doors and their seat belts.

Saykal has over a decade of experience developing electronic products and embedded software for various industries, particularly automotive. It works on advanced technology detection and imaging systems for strategic and scalable sectors on a global scale.

The company was founded thanks to a capital support program extended by Industry and Technology Ministry in 2010.

As a venture from Türkiye, Saykal Electronics CEO Yücel Saykal says they have been centering efforts on software technology and engineering works over the last 12 years.

Saykal noted that they look to increase their business volume and expand their customer portfolio by strengthening their infrastructure with the support of their investors, stressing an aim to make Saykal a tech player on a global scale.

Route optimization, monitoring

Another venture attending CES 2023 is Optiyol, a startup supported by Fark Labs and a graduate of Türk Telekom TT Ventures’ acceleration program PILOT.

Optiyol is a next-generation approach to route optimization that pledges to transform delivery management and meet the standards in supply chain management processes.

It features a mobile driver application and offers companies smart route-planning software. Optiyol provides multi-stop route planning and dynamic route optimization to take last-mile delivery service to the next level.

Founded by Tuba Gözbaşı and Ozan Gözbaşı, Optiyol provides a unique software as a service (SaaS) routing solution to many sectors carrying out logistics operations, from fast-moving consumer goods and retail to e-commerce and transportation.

It digitalizes both micro-distribution and macro-distribution operations for its customers with specially designed algorithms for the supply chain needs of enterprises.

Providing timely and cost-effective transportation of shipments with dynamic route optimization, Optiyol says it offers a reduction in fuel costs by 15%-25%, the number of trips by 5%-10%, while increasing on-time delivery rates by 20%-30%.

The mobile driver application allows vehicles and orders to be monitored in real-time. It enables the sender, carrier and buyers to be informed instantly about the entire transportation process from end to end.

Optiyol has many big names among its customers such as fashion retailer Beymen, which has launched its distribution center, Horoz Logistics, which is rapidly growing in the cargo and e-export field and Eczacıbaşı Consumer Products, which exports to more than 80 countries.

Others include Tadım, a leading Turkish brand of packaged nuts and dried fruits, Türkiye’s largest soft candy maker Kervan Gıda and Arena, a technology products distributor.

Optiyol is working with Buffalo Market, which provides online grocery services in the Bay Area, Los Angeles and Sacramento in California. The company has also partnered with Texas-based Truckl in recent months.

Truckl is also showcasing its solutions at CES 2023 as a technology company that provides route tracking of vehicles in transporting valuable products thanks to advanced blockchain technology.

AI-backed pattern design tool

Another graduate of PILOT, a startup acceleration program run by Türk Telekom’s affiliate TT Ventures, MYTH is also showcasing its solutions at CES in Los Angeles.

An artificial intelligence-based "state of the art" pattern software technology tool, MYTH says it helps reduce the pattern design process from weeks to seconds, an optimization that provides time and cost savings for companies.

As a tool that constantly inspires designers, MYTH says it accelerates the design processes by 70%. It can be used in all sectors featuring design such as fashion, textile, home textile, game design, packaging design and metaverse.

Özgecan Üstgül, founder and CEO of MYTH, aims to create a valuable product design database with artificial intelligence-based software.

Although the MYTH initiative is a production technology for institutions that bring artificial intelligence, design and technology together, it is also used as a design tool in the individual channel because it offers a personalization feature.

It aims to have a powerful and valuable database with its artificial intelligence platform that will allow people to design without having any information and its model that learns trends and likes within one to three years.