In early January every year, the consumer technology industry descends on the desert boomtown of Las Vegas, Nevada, for CES. The trade show is the largest technology industry event in the world, with more than 138,000 attendees and 2.5 million square feet of floor space. It is primarily a venue for businesses—startups, multinationals, retailers, distributors, and financiers—to connect. But the event was also open to the press and the general public, so everyone was vying for attention, eyeballs, and wallets. The level of glitz and spectacle, especially in big-budget booths for the biggest companies, astronomical. Photographer Tristan deBrauwere has been on the ground in Las Vegas all week taking pictures for WIRED; see three photo galleries for highlights of the work. Today, Tristan takes us behind the scenes to show us that even at the robotic, vibrating, internet-connected center, CES is still a show where humans are king.
