20 Strange Scenes From CES 2014

The Unusual Suspects

CES 2014 is over, but, as usual, there were plenty of weird inventions, odd gadgets and curious signage in Las Vegas. Here's a look back at 20 of the strangest scenes from the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show.

U.S. Postal Skeeball

Ladies and gentlemen, your tax dollars at work. Yes, the U.S. Postal Service had a booth at CES. And, yes, the booth had skeeball.

D-Link's Wheel of Fortune

It's Wheel of Fortune time! D-Link was encouraging CES attendees to "Spin It 2 Win IT" inside the Las Vegas Convention Center (in the hallway, not the show floor).

A 'Massive' Robot

It's a Dalek invasion! Massive Audio recreated the sinister cyborg villains of the popular sci-fi series "Doctor Who" using 40 of its own DX-series speakers.

Boy Meets Girl ... With Robots

Why buy one novelty robot when you can get two? Murata Manufacturing showed off its Boy & Girl robots (he rides a bicycle, she rides a unicycle), which come equipped with gyroscopes, impact sensors and obstacle detection technology so you can set them down and not worry about them crashing.

Let's Go (Troll) Clubbing

The Las Vegas Convention Center was full of these kinds of banners, which were part of a Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) campaign to end patent trolling in the technology industry.

Right Sport, Wrong Country

As part of its Samsung Galaxy Tab and Galaxy Note blitz at CES, the company showed off this enormous banner at the convention center featuring an assortment of famous soccer stars -- well, famous in other countries. But don't they know this is the U.S.?

The Dog Days Of CES

Wearable computing devices were everywhere this year, and Sony even had something to offer for the family pet with this doggy cam (stuffed animal not included, of course).

'Me Time'?

Samsung introduced its new 9000 series washer and dryer, which is Wi-Fi-enabled and lets users control the appliances via their mobile devices. So why would a user want to spend more "me time" sitting next to the washer that he or she can remotely control?

Covering Up

Valor Communications, which makes an assortment of mobile phone cases, is hoping to appeal to your patriotic side -- or your exhibitionist side, we're not sure which -- with its CES booth advertisement. The phrase is actually trademarked, too.

Set Phasers To Stun!

Pinball machines aren't exactly cutting-edge technology, but that didn't stop Stern Pinball from showing off its new Star Trek cabinet at CES.

Panasonic Shoots For The Sky

Inside Panasonic's booth this year, show-goers could find tablets, home appliances and hundreds of other gadgets they'd expect to see from the electronics giant. But, perhaps, what they didn't expect to find was this -- a fully functional replica of Panasonic's new in-flight entertainment systems.

Designed for American Airlines, Panasonic was showing off its new first-class suites, which come equipped with what Panasonic said is the world's only global broadband connectivity solution for airplanes. In addition to having access to high-fidelity weather maps and other goodies, passengers also can choose from 250 movies, 183 TV channels and Wi-Fi. Oh, and the seats can recline to 180 degrees, meaning those red eyes just got a whole lot easier to bear.

Party Time

Headphone maker DTS Listen caused CES-ers to stop in their tracks with this hard-to-miss setup. Go-go dancers showed off their moves while a DJ cranked out some tunes.

A Tree Grows In Vegas

Last year, Intel's big booth attraction was an "Ultrabook Tree," but that plant isn't exactly growing. This year, the chip maker kept the tree theme going (sort of), but showed off instead a new line of convertible PCs.

While the structure was more of a square than a tree, the concept was the same: to prove how lightweight these Intel-powered PCs really are. Each convertible was also was twisted or turned in some unique fashion or another, giving attendees a feel for the full range of form factors these hybrid PCs can achieve.

Supersized Washer

Chances are, laundry isn't the first thing that comes to mind when you think about CES. But this massive LG TurboWash prototype on the showfloor made it almost impossible to not think about throwing in a load of whites.

LG was showcasing its new eco-friendly TurboWash washer-dryer models (no, they aren't as big as the one shown here) in the CES Smart Home Zone. Features include LG HomeChat, or a messaging system that sends alerts to a users' smartphone when a load is finished, and Allergiene Cycle, which uses steam to gently remove all allergens from clothing.

Flower Power

Given the sea of robots, drones and other high-tech gizmos that dominated this year's CES show floor, you can imagine a plot of flowers might stick out. And it did -- but in a nice, breath-of-fresh-air kind of way. Parrot was displaying its Flower Power plant monitor, a smart sensor you place in your garden that sends alerts to your smartphone if your plant needs more water or sun. In other words, it's a dream come true for those of us not lucky enough to have been born with a green thumb.

Real-Life Robots

Of all the robots CES 2014 had to offer, this guy -- created by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers -- was by far one of the most sophisticated. Not only could he respond, verbally and physically, to newcomers as they entered the IEEE booth, but he loved to sing and dance. When CRN caught him, he was belting out "The Sound Of Music."

Colossal Routers, Anyone?

To most techies, routers don't seem all that interesting when there are singing robots around. That's why Linksys knew it had to make itself, and its booth, stand out -- with this massive, impossible-to-miss router. Sure, it couldn't carry a tune, but it was still worth a photo or two.

'Who' Is Albert?

Once you get over this little guy's slight resemblance to a Gremlin or an owl, "Albert" the Smart Robot is actually pretty cool. He works by using an Android smartphone as an interactive display, and is programmed to play a number of educational games with children. Here, Albert is working on some reading comprehension.

Fun And Games

At first glance, Playworld Systems' Neos 360 looks more like a spaceship than it does a child's plaything. But when you get a closer look at all those bells and whistles, it's clear Neos was built for kids (or, in the case pictured here, at least for the young at heart). According to its maker, the Neos system is "360 degrees of head-spinning, body-twisting, heart-pounding competitive fun." It offers eight different games, including "Marathon," in which players have to touch 40 blinking lights as quickly as possible, and "Surround Sound," which lets players create music with the touch of different buttons.

Bright Bunnies

3-D print vendor MakerBot showed off its wide range of filament colors in an eye-catching way with this row of neon bunnies. Not sure what's cooler: the brightly colored bunnies themselves, or the fact that they were made with a printer. (For more on 3-D printers, stay tuned for our CES slideshow of crazy 3-D printing creations.)