Technologies

The Future of Work on Display at CES 2023

A metaverse-based hybrid could replace the office.

CES 2023 feels the same and also quite different. Fancy, new, and outright weird tech fills the Las Vegas showroom halls I’ve visited many times before. But in the three years since I was last here in person, the world has changed quite a bit. Especially the way we work.

It may take a little digging under the surface, but this year’s CES show has a lot to say about the great shift toward hybrid and remote work, in everything from better video conference tools to attempts at building a metaverse-infused, mixed-reality workspace.

Meetings in the metaverse

The metaverse office concept, at least according to one definition, is a shared collaborative space where one can participate via several means: virtual or augmented reality, 3D displays, standard laptop, tablet and phone screens; or in-person through things like smart whiteboards that work across all these different experiences.

Dell has become a leader in showing off concept pieces and prototypes during CES, and this year, its Concept Nyx (the same name Dell uses for gaming prototypes) tackles that version of the metaverse head on. At a pre-CES preview, I was able to participate in a faux meeting by creating a 3D avatar for others to see, and also by sitting in front of an autostereoscopic display (allowing you to see in 3D without special glasses) that gave me a 3D view of a project. After that, I donned a VR headset to feel like I (or my avatar) was actually in that shared space and writing on a whiteboard with my VR controller. And after that, I was able to use a slate-style tablet to interact with the real-world version of that same whiteboard, but without wearing a headset.

None of this is close to being a shipping product anytime soon, and like many things at and around CES, the hardware is carefully labeled as «conceptual.» Of that batch of products and experiences, the oversize, glasses-free 3D display, using eye-tracking hardware to make the 3D image actually look decent, seemed like the part with the most workplace potential.

Gamers go first

Much new PC technology is driven first by the gaming audience, which has a tolerance for gear that can be both expensive and experimental. That’s why ideas like VR and autostereoscopic 3D often show up in gaming hardware first, before moving into more practical products for your nongaming hours.

For example, this CES saw several new 18-inch gaming laptops, a screen size that’s been virtually extinct since the early 2010s. The first of these bigger screens are in gaming laptops from Dell, Razer, Asus and Acer, but there’s obvious crossover appeal for hybrid and remote workers who want the flexibility of a laptop but with a larger screen that feels more desktop-like. Razer laptops, with their minimalist styling, are especially popular with gamers and creative pros alike. I would not be surprised to see more professionally pitched laptops eventually grow into that new 18-inch size.

Asus also leaned into glasses-free 3D with its new ProArt Studiobook and Vivobook Pro laptops. Both, similar to Dell’s display prototype, use eye tracking to make 3D viable. And those devices are aimed at artists and designers, not gamers. Acer also has a similar eye-tracking 3D laptop aimed at gamers, called the Predator Helios 300, as well as a professional display from 2022 called the Acer SpatialLabs View with that same technology.

Laptops with glasses-free 3D were first tried back in 2012 and never made it to a second generation. The eye tracking in these new versions, however, makes the experience miles better.

More, and different, screens

Other experiments, like Lenovo’s twin-OLED-screen Yoga Book 9i and color E Ink/OLED combo, the ThinkBook Plus Twist, might eventually offer some new features that will bleed into more staid work laptops, but it’s far from a sure thing. That said, new E Ink devices like the 10.3-inch Yoga Paper could have more practical work applications, and I only say that because I’ve been using a similar-feeling new Amazon Kindle Scribe while walking the floor at CES 2023 to great effect.

The most welcome trend in both consumer and commercial laptops from the past two years continues unabated, I’m pleased to say. Nearly every new laptop we saw defaulted to a full-HD 1,080-resolution webcam, rather than the wimpy low-res versions that were common prepandemic.

Even better, it’s considered such a standard feature that PC makers hardly feel the need to call it out anymore. It was way too long in coming, and low-res webcams made that first year of remote work in 2020 more difficult than it needed to be for many. But now that we’ve normalized the hybrid workplace and accept video meetings as equal to in-person ones, I’d call it one of those subtle but important changes to how we work that’s making life just a little bit easier.

Technologies

Southwest Airlines Says You Can’t Use Portable Chargers Inside Your Bags

There’s a new airline safety rule for everyone’s favorite travel tech because of the risk of fire.

Southwest Airlines is implementing a new safety policy, effective May 28, requiring passengers to keep portable phone chargers and power banks visible during flights when you’re charging a device. The airline will prohibit the use of these devices while they’re stored in carry-on bags or overhead bins, aiming to mitigate the risk of lithium-ion battery fires.

This policy change comes in response to a series of incidents involving overheating lithium-ion batteries. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, there have been 22 battery-related incidents on flights in 2025 alone, following a record 89 such events in 2024. Notably, a fire aboard an Air Busan flight in South Korea in January — suspected to have been caused by a power bank with deteriorated insulation — led to the evacuation of 176 people, including passengers and crew.

Read more: The Best Way to Pack Your Carry-On Bag to Breeze Through TSA Lines

While the FAA and the Transportation Security Administration currently allow lithium-powered devices, like e-cigarettes and power banks, in carry-on luggage but prohibit them in checked bags, they do not mandate that portable chargers be kept in plain sight. Southwest’s new policy goes a step further, aligning with practices already adopted by some Asia-based carriers, including Singapore Airlines, AirAsia and all South Korean airlines, according to Reuters.

This move by Southwest Airlines reflects a growing concern in the aviation industry regarding the safe transport and use of lithium-ion batteries on aircraft. Passengers are encouraged to stay informed about airline policies and to handle electronic devices with care to ensure a safe travel experience.

«Southwest will introduce a first-in-industry safety policy on May 28 requiring customers to keep portable charging devices visible while in use during flight,» Southwest Airlines confirmed in a statement to CNET via email. «Using portable charging devices while stored in a bag or overhead bin will no longer be permitted. Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of its customers and employees.»

For more travel-related articles, explore these travel essentials you need for every vacation and then take a look at this travel checklist. You should also read about the new Real ID requirement for getting through airport security.

Technologies

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Technologies

Sega’s Re-Released Games for Switch 2 Include Yakuza 0 and Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S

The first of Sega’s third-party games to hit the console are re-releases from consoles past.

As the Nintendo Switch 2 prepares to launch, its list of third-party games grows, including a trio of Sega and Atlus games that include classics and deep cuts. I got to play all three ahead of the Switch 2 release on June 5.

The three games — Yakuza 0: Director’s Cut, Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S and RAIDOU Remastered — are odd bedfellows that represent distinct eras and genres among Sega’s oeuvre. All three play well on the Switch 2, which is unsurprising given the console’s rumored PS4-equivalent performance but still reassuring given the original Switch’s limited capability.

Yakuza 0 is the marquee title of the trio for its role in the series — a prequel to the original Yakuza and de facto entry point for new players that details the origins of fan favorites Kazuma Kiryu and Daigo Dojima. In addition to the story, Yakuza 0: Director’s Cut includes a new mode, Red Light Raid, that lets you pick a character from a roster of Yakuza heroes and nobodies to brawl with successively harder rounds of enemy groups.

While dated compared with the sharp combat and graphics of the latest in the series, February’s Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, Yakuza 0 is still a fantastic game and great to have on the new console. I only played it in docked mode, so I can’t say how the game plays in handheld with a 1080p and 120 frames per second display graphics cap.

Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is a deeper cut, the third game in the Devil Summoner series within the Megami Tensei franchise, which was originally released for the PS2 in 2006. Though the game has been refreshed for modern consoles (the game will also be out on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC and last-gen systems), it preserves the charm of the era’s games — one where very little is explained and players have to figure it out for themselves. (I had to have a certain solution to a puzzle spelled out for me.)

Starring the eponymous Raidou as a detective assisted by demons he captures and can use to investigate denizens of his town or summon for battle in real-time combat, the game is a little slower and less dense than today’s graphically-intense titles.

Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S is the opposite — a contemporary puzzle game first released in 2020 for current and last-gen consoles, the re-release preserves the bright colors and frantic gameplay with a few new multiplayer modes. In our preview, Sega paired up gamers for 2-vs-2 puzzler matches where we tried to stay out of each other’s way while clearing lines. For Switch 2, players can switch from Joy-Con mode to Mouse mode, which is precise enough but adds to the frenetic tension.