With the latest Covid-19 outbreak caused by an omicron variant, CES 2022 is beginning to look more like CES 2021; the Consumer Technology Association, the organization that runs CES, had already predicted that the audience was already anticipating a smaller crowd, but in the days leading up to the opening of CES 2022, a number of companies, from Amazon to Google to Microsoft, have begun to show a virtual presence, rather than a physical presence, at the show.

However, as of December 25, CTA CEO Gary Shapiro stated in a guest column in the Las Vegas Review Journal that "CES will continue and must continue."

Nevertheless, whether or not anyone actually makes it to the show, we spoke to several analysts and asked them what they expect to see at CES and if they plan to go to the show. Here are some of the trends to watch as CES 2022 kicks off.

Innovation around home office and teleconferencing technology is gaining momentum as many companies seem to be shifting to a hybrid work model where employees are only in the office two or three days a week.

Although there was not enough development time between the initial Covid outbreak and the 2021 CES, tech companies are now able to design products for this new work environment. Expect those to be the focus of attention at this year's CES.

"This CES is the first big show where products designed after the pandemic will be brought to market," says Avi Greengart, founder of Techsponential. 'That means a much greater focus on webcam quality, audio, AI noise cancellation, and productivity that allows people to work anywhere.'

One of the driving forces of innovation in the automotive category on display at CES will be autonomous vehicles and systems.

"We received several pitches for demos of fully autonomous cars and trucks. After all, that is the nirvana they are trying to sell."

Greengart agrees. 'A lot of the pitches are about electrification and advanced driver assistance technology,' he says."

Advances in batteries will allow the best electric cars to travel farther on a single charge.

"Autonomous driving and electric cars go hand in hand," he says, "because they need to improve range.

Augmented and virtual reality devices are getting a lot of attention toward the end of the year, not thanks to Facebook's rebranding as Meta or rumors of Apple's VR and mixed reality headsets in 2022, but the technology we will see at CES, won't be much different from what is already out there.

"I recommend avoiding the press conference drinking game associated with the word 'metaverse. Because you will die of liver disease before the week is out," says Avi Greengart.

"At the same time, don't expect to see more than a handful of new smart glasses and headsets at the show.

"The technology needed for mainstream consumer AR is still being developed, and the biggest companies investing in the field, like Apple, Meta, Google, and Microsoft, are all showcasing their products at their respective events."

As in the past, as discussed in the TV trends to watch in 2022, larger TVs are expected. At the same time, some of the technologies introduced last year, such as Samsung's mini-LED and LG's OLED evo, will begin to make their way into more affordable sets.

Sets with QD-OLEDs, which promise to combine the brightness of LEDs with the color accuracy of OLEDs, may also become available.

Televisions are becoming more than just a device for looking good and watching movies. Says Milanesi, "These days, the TV is the hub of the home, not just in terms of the smart home, but also in terms of home life." So there will be more emphasis on other uses, such as fitness and school."

Smart home devices will get smarter, says Blake Kozak, senior principal analyst for smart homes at Omdia. For example, he expects to hear more about AI systems that allow security cameras to detect things like people and packages.

Kozak expects to see more brands announcing that they will work with Matter, a new (supposedly) smart home standard supported by Amazon, Apple, Google, and others.

Adoption of Matter will allow companies to create a more seamless smart home experience, like Apple's HomeKit, and offer more services that are enabled by existing hardware, like Alexa Guard. Says Kozak, "There will be more emphasis on bringing together use cases and services into one app." As services expand as a pillar of the smart home, "brands will start to focus on going beyond hardware.