The annual Consumer Electronics Show is always a showcase for the most ambitious consumer tech coming in the near future, but one company stood out in terms of the breadth of weirdness on display.
South Korean electronics giant LG brought the heat at CES 2022, with a bunch of ideas that may or may not ever reach people’s homes, but definitely found a place in our hearts. Here are the coolest and strangest things the companies under LG’s corporate umbrella showed off at CES.
DualUp Monitor
We’re stacking monitors vertically now. Credit: LG
Dual-monitor setups have long been coveted in both offices and work-from-home setups. It just streamlines a lot of the work day to be able to have vital information open on one screen while you work on another. Or YouTube videos. That’s fine too.
LG introduced a fascinating new take on this with the DualUp monitor. It’s essentially two regular 21.5-inch monitors stacked on top of each other, producing a single display with a hilarious 16:18 aspect ratio. LG’s justification for this is that it serves the same purpose as two horizontally-aligned monitors while removing the neck strain that accumulates by swiveling your head from left to right constantly.
Whether or not that’s true is irrelevant right now. It’s just a cool and weird thing to look at. Samsung didn’t share price or availability information about the DualUp at CES, sadly.
Virtual Ride
Take that, Peloton. Credit: LG Display
If you own a Peloton or similar exercise bike, have you ever wondered what would happen if it were way bigger and harder to fit in your home? That’s essentially what the Virtual Ride from LG Display (technically a separate company, but under the same parent corporation as LG Electronics) is all about.
Essentially a combination of a regular exercise bike and a floor-to-ceiling vertical screen, Virtual Ride is another concept that hasn’t been confirmed for any kind of home release yet. The idea is to fully immerse the rider in their workout, turning a home bike ride into a stroll through a scenic Italian villa, among other possibilities.
Media Chair
Looks pretty nice, honestly. Credit: LG Display
Virtual Ride isn’t LG Display’s only goofy concept that puts a big screen directly in your field of view. Meet the Media Chair.
This one’s pretty self-explanatory. It’s a chair with a 55-inch OLED TV and speakers built in, essentially creating a single-person home movie theater. Is it at all useful for people who don’t live alone? Probably not. Would it be a pretty baller way to watch a movie if money weren’t an object? Absolutely.
LG Display didn’t have firm release plans on hand at CES, but it did confirm to The Verge that there are plans to sell it…someday.
Omnipod
The mobile home of the future. Credit: LG
LG’s whole deal is making home electronics and appliances. But at CES 2022, one of LG’s concepts is more or less just an electronic home.
Omnipod is another (likely far-off) concept that’s a self-driving vehicle you can live in. Modular and upgradeable appliances are joined by big screens and AI virtual assistants who can help you with things like ordering food. It could theoretically be an office, living room, and home theater all in one. It might also never be available for purchase.
Just enjoy it now.
StanbyME TV
One TV for all rooms. Credit: StanbyME TV
Tale as old as time: You’re watching TV, but you have to go into another room for a few minutes.
Our last LG oddball is the StanbyME TV, a wireless, battery-powered TV-on-wheels you can bring with you around the house so you don’t have to miss a second of whatever you’re watching. It’s a 27-inch screen with an adjustable height and viewing angle, with a phone cradle for turning it into a video call machine. You can stream content directly from a phone to StanbyME, so there aren’t really limits on what you can watch.
Unfortunately, we don’t have western release dates or price details just yet, but LG’s website lists StanbyME as “coming soon.”
