1 SK Telecom Co. Ltd.
Design/Fabrication: SM Culture & Contents Co. Ltd.
Last year, SK Telecom Co. Ltd. stunned booth visitors with a dystopian look at the effects of climate change via a darkened theater and projection mapping. This year's exhibit was a far cry from that hellish landscape. Instead, it featured SK Wonderland, a whimsical amusement park that spanned an aisle and landed the company back on top of this year's Best of CES list. The nearly 20,000-square-foot booth brought to life a hopeful future of a world with less pollution, less waste, and more clean air. In a nod to Vegas's Sphere, the center of the booth was dominated by the Wonder Globe, which showed digital scenes of a vibrant earth, alternated with an animated emoji, meant to inspire happiness. Joyful staffers decked in Disney-esque safari outfits directed booth visitors to one of three zones: Fantastic Island, Sweet Island, and Exciting Island. Fantastic Island featured a rollercoaster-like train that took a dozen riders through a 50-foot LED tunnel for a series of adventures, including one that made them feel they were in an underwater tunnel. The zone also featured an AI Fortune Teller that used next-gen tech to analyze human emotion to make predictions. Visitors climbed into the Magic Carpet ride at Exciting Island to float through the air and learn how AI can be used to make flying safer and more efficient. Sweet Island featured a dancing electric car designed to fully recharge in 20 minutes. The only thing missing from this park experience was the funnel cakes.



2 Google
Design/Fabrication: Sparks Marketing LLC, Media.Monks, Pink Sparrow
Google never fails to deliver an incredible experience at CES, and their 2024 iteration was no different. The organization built a veritable city outside the doors of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Designed and fabricated with creative partners Sparks and Media.Monks, with interior fabrication by Pink Sparrow, the environment looked like one of the roadside attractions that spring up along Route 66, complete with a greasy spoon. And like those roadside attractions, the content inside the structure was not only informative, but just weird enough to be interesting. Delightful Easter eggs were subtly and less-subtly hidden throughout the environment, along with analog experiences that served as a juxtaposition to the tech giant's services. Instead of squeezing its offerings into a monolithic box, Google opted to create an open eco-system that aptly communicated accessibility and togetherness to visitors. A towering LED screen flanked by a larger-than- life green bugdroid that begged for selfies served as the welcoming billboard into the mini city made up of a series of free-standing buildings. And the structures were bathed in a clean palette of colors that made the environment feel like a simple and calming oasis in the middle of Vegas. Each of the substructures focused on a different story and the buildings were glass-sided, allowing visitors to peer in and choose their own adventure. This respect for visitors' time continued into the Android auto activation, where they could sign up for a time slot via QR code instead of waiting in line.



3 Walmart
Design/Fabrication: Leo Events
Walmart Inc. returned to CES with a massive 10,000-square-foot outdoor pavilion that provided an unexpected interactive thrill for attendees that showcased how the company is offering a glimpse into the future of retail with technology at the core. When guests entered the pavilion, they found a timeline showing how the retail titan has embraced cutting-edge technologies along the way. Around each corner, guests got hands-on with games and digital commerce. In one activation, guests raced against the clock to load up a pallet with boxes. Thankfully, it was a digital experience, so nobody threw out their back. Elsewhere, guests received clothing and furniture recommendations using AI and AR platforms, and learned how they could share them with friends. At the end of the experience, 20 guests at a time took seats inside a theater. The two-minute 4-D adventure they experienced was a flyover showing how Walmart uses technology to move products (in this case strawberries) by making a drone delivery to a family birthday party. Throughout the film, the seats tilted and vibrated and tickled senses with sprays of scent and mist. It was the sort of experience that Google used to be known for, but has recently shied away from. We're excited to see if Walmart continues to fill that void.



4 Kia Motors Corp.
It's easy to get a little turned around in some of the behemoth booths at CES. But Kia Motors Corp. delivered a highly structured four-quadrant layout that not only attracted a multitude of visitors, but also ensured they could effortlessly navigate the space without a built-in GPS. Designers cleverly dissected the booth via a show aisle and an in-booth “road” to create four sections, each of which was organized on a dynamic diagonal. Crafted to highlight Kia's modular electric vehicle concepts — dubbed Platform Beyond Vehicles (PVBs) — the sections featured similar components (e.g., a concept car and an eye-catching screen backdrop offering ongoing content and a QR code to access additional info). However, each segment was bathed in a unique pastel color palette (green, pink, yellow, or blue) and assigned a use-related theme (park, city, home, or factory). Pastel 3-D sculptures, which represented trees, urban landscapes, and more, subtly signified the cars' modularity and added a sense of whimsy. Kia purposely opted for minimal hands-on engagements, relying on an utterly on-point design that steered visitors into the stand, immersed them in Kia's vision for the future, and helped them navigate their journey with ease.



5 Automobile Joint Venture Group Inc. (dba Togg Inc.)
Design/Fabrication: Capital Events Türkiye, Komponent Exhibitions, Think 360
Turkey's Automobile Joint Venture Group Inc. (dba Togg Inc.) dazzled attendees who visited its 9,800-square-foot exhibit. The booth was an immersive digital garden, complete with a kinetic tree sporting blue LED rods that raised and lowered as if moved by an electric breeze. Much like last year's exhibit, visitors queued up for a chance to enter a tunnel that featured a mesmerizing display of dynamic computer-generated art. But Togg bested last year's iteration inside a mysterious cave that housed its T10X, an electric SUV that features an out-of-this-world onboard digital experience platform. Guests climbed inside the vehicle and began a personalized digital art experience based on the driver's health data, including heart rate and blood pressure, captured by sensors hidden in the vehicle. The dashboard became a digital wonderland of art accompanied by a custom soundscape. A reflective coating inside the cave and a large LED screen viewable through both the windshield and sunroof extended the onboard experience for an unforgettable activation. Elsewhere in the booth, guests were invited to get hands-on with Togg's other clean-energy solutions. With hospitality a key component of the experience, Togg brought flourishes of Turkish culture to the show floor with a living olive tree and a chef who delighted VIP guests with Turkish tea and delectable treats from the homeland.



6 HD Hyundai Co. Ltd.
Design/Fabrication: Cheil Worldwide Inc., MC²
A map inspires boldness, endowing would-be explorers with a superpower of knowing how to navigate any terrain. “Bold” would be one of many adjectives that could be applied to HD Hyundai Co. Ltd.'s booth, which was inspired by a topographic map to showcase its “Zero Xite” theme of improving the global energy supply chain through its infrastructure and machinery. Designed by Cheil Worldwide and fabricated by MC2, an MCH company, the exhibit measured 110-by-100 feet with sloping walls that towered 20 feet above the show floor. HD Hyundai relied on 3D elements, such as geometric flooring and wall angles, and 2D components, including triangular fabric panels, to draw attention to its various elements, similar to the way a topographical map does hills and rivers. The striking booth also emulated the look and feel of a quarry pit with red-toned lighting suggesting the brick-colored hues of sand and soil that would be found on a real-world site. An 18-foot-high custom-milled concept model of HD Hyundai's AI-powered excavator stood on a stage and offered a physical view of the future of mining while a series of transparent LED screens rose and fell in front of the model to provide an inside view of the machine's mechanics. A VR experience presented yet another view: attendees could don a VR helmet and strap into a rig where they experienced mining from a drone's point of view. A gyroscope tilted the ride's seats and even flipped them over a full 360 degrees while visuals, which were synced to its movements, swept from the soaring heights of outer space to the murky depths of the ocean.



7 Hyundai Mobis
Design/Fabrication: Innocean, Viodot, 5 Points Exhibits
The South Korean car parts company Hyundai Mobis undoubtedly took home top honor for having the coolest car demo at CES — no mean feat considering how cars have come to dominate the show. The area surrounding the large driving zone was constantly packed with attendees wanting to get a glimpse of the Mobion, the company's concept car that aims to redefine movement with its e-Corner System, and throughout the show, a professional presenter delivered a 10-minute demo accompanied by techno music and theatrical lighting. All four wheels of the Mobion turn allowing drivers to move diagonally, pivot like a compass, and even roll sideways — imagine never having to worry about parallel parking again. The bumper features LED screens that send messages to other drivers, such as “Stopping for pedestrians.” Lights even project graphics onto the ground to warn other cars about potential hazards. While Hyundai Mobis catered to the masses in the front, it reserved one-third of its exhibit for a private exhibition of 20 products and tech laid out in well-appointed vignettes for customers invited to dive into the company's cutting edge tech that's ready for mass production. No other exhibitor nailed the reverse mullet — party-in-the-front, business-in- the-back — quite like Hyundai Mobis.



8 LG Electronics Inc.
Design/Fabrication: Czarnowski Display Service Inc.
If there's one must-see booth at CES that attendees clamor to see year after year, it's the LG Corp. display. And this year was no exception, with fabrication expertly handled by Czarnowski Display Service Inc. The exhibit's entrance featured a wall of 20 kinetically moving wireless 77-inch transparent OLED TVs, which allow viewers to see through the monitors to whatever is behind the devices, turning the television screens into a foot-stopping art piece. It's arguable that no other exhibitor displays as much tech so beautifully as LG does. The booth was largely open in the middle, allowing vignettes around the edge to show off the company's current and future tech. For example, a camping corner featured the LG Bon Voyage, a 12-by-6-foot glamping trailer that's 7 feet tall. This impressive vehicle could be considered the Cadillac of trailers with a full shower, a toilet and a slide-out kitchen — think of it like a 4-star hotel on wheels. The zone highlighted other portable tech, such as the Cinebeam Cube, a compact projector that's just the size of a lantern, and a television that folds into a briefcase. A different corner housed an immersive tunnel featuring 145 curved OLEDs that provided visitors the chance to watch stunning scenes from favorite films such as “The Little Mermaid.” One of our team's favorite devices in the Smart Home zone was a thoughtfully designed washer-dryer combo that both cleaned and dried laundry in one device. How has no one thought of this before? LG's booth was a master class in showcasing scores of products without the booth becoming a hopelessly cluttered mess.



9 Honda Motor Co. Ltd.
Amid the technological tempest that is CES, Honda Motor Co. Ltd. offered its visitors a quiet, cavernous respite from the bustling and often loud show floor. Void of traditional bells and whistles, Honda's stand featured a single focus: two electric concept cars, Space-Hub and Saloon, which rested on rotating stages at the front of the booth. In place of vibrant colors, booming sound, and plenty of interactive wizardry, the company opted for a dark design that featured little more than a couple of subtle interactives, a backwall LED screen, and a series of towering, three-sided frames that delineated the space around and above the stand's footprint. Providing an impressive backdrop to the vehicles, the LED screen delivered the booth's only branding: the two car names and new Honda logo. To further focus visitors' attention on the vehicles, designers opted for a matte-black color palette and sound-dampening techniques, the latter of which included a thick rubber floor that afforded attendees a soft, soothing welcome both for their ears and for their aching feet. Stealth-mode staffers dressed in black — including one whose sole job seemed to be cleaning fingerprints from the cars' surfaces — along with dramatic theatrical lighting completed the serene scene. Clearly, Honda didn't need to shout to create a draw on the show floor. Rather, its hushed gallery space allowed the cars' curves, contours, and cutting-edge technology to speak for themselves.



10 Mercedes-Benz Group AG
Design/Fabrication: Jangled Nerves GmbH
Mercedes-Benz Group AG's exhibit offered what some might call a two-part harmony. While the suspended Plexiglas canopy lured visitors in with its sleek feel and glowing amber hue, internal features, such as the bright-red concept car and driver “pod” showcasing the new Mercedes-Benz Operating System (MB.OS), captivated visitors in the exhibit's interior. The designers from Jangled Nerves GmbH opted for an angled footprint that led visitors off the aisle and propelled them into the stand with a sense of movement. Here, they ogled a camouflage electric concept vehicle and peered inside a candy-red model that housed the new MBUX AI-based virtual assistant. Most attendees, however, beelined for the back of the space to learn about the MB.OS via ongoing presentations. Stand content also highlighted the brand's partnership with Will.i.am to introduce MBUX Sound Drive, which provides a type of musical driving soundtrack, as its music adapts to the way the car is being driven. Shiny, beautiful, and elegant, Mercedes-Benz' two-part harmony was utterly in tune with this historical, luxury brand.



11 Sony Group Corporation
Sony Group Corporation's stand gave visitors room to breathe. They left the tight show floor aisles, packed elbow to elbow with excited attendees, passed under the Sony logo — actually two logos sandwiched together and reversed so that it could be easily read by visitors both entering and leaving the booth — and were greeted with an expansive space that invited lungs to expand. The booth's center aisle was largely empty, providing a runway of sorts that led visitors to a wall-sized LED screen that showcased some of Sony's most popular characters from the silver screen. This sparse design was intended to reduce Sony's environmental impact, not only by reusing materials from last year's show, but by decreasing the number of large-scale structures that needed to be built, shipped, and placed. Circles were a common theme in the environment. LED-lit circles hung from the ceiling to provide gentle lighting. Gaming consoles were circular in shape. Circles of translucent cloth hung from the ceiling, draping elements of the booth in mystery. The center aisle was flanked by Sony's offerings that showcased the way technology can support and encourage human creativity. In one example, lifesized statues of characters in a video game watched as visitors moved their electronic versions around a screen. In another, a green screen display showed how Sony's technology impacts filmmaking. The area that drew the biggest crowd, however, was an immersive Ghostbusters experience. Sony invited visitors into a darkened room where they were able to play with Sony's unique haptics technology by stomping on trash, jumping on sewer covers, and at the end of the experience, encountering the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.



12 Kohler Co.
Design/Fabrication: 3D Exhibits
Sometimes the best way to break through a cacophony is with near silence, which is the approach Kohler Co. took with its 50-by-40 foot exhibit, designed by Kohler with fabrication by 3D Exhibits. The booth footprint was transformed into a susurrant oasis, driven by dozens of showerheads and wall-mounted jets that continuously streamed water into a shallow pool. Walking into the booth was like walking into a relaxing spa that offered temporary reprieve from the busy show floor. Visitors who walked beyond the environment's sturdy plaster walls encountered Kohler's Stillness bath, which was blanketed by a layer of steam. A neutral color palette put a spotlight on Kohler's new Formation faucet, a saturated orange piece that offered some of the only color in the exhibit. It was on display as if it were more sculpture than hardware. Although the offerings on display certainly were tech-forward, including LED-lit toilets and a voice-activated bidet, the sound of flowing water took center stage, providing a soothing and welcoming respite.



13 Samsung
Design/Fabrication: Cheil Worldwide Inc., MC²
Samsung's booth at CES invited attendees to imagine a fully AI-integrated future, and thanks to the booth's impressive entrance, visitors were eager for their imaginations to get a workout. With creative and fabrication handled by Cheil Worldwide Inc. and MC², an MCH company, attendees were welcomed by a larger-than-life LED screen and a miniature futuristic cityscape that put people into the right frame of mind to look toward what's ahead. Beyond the entrance was an open-concept booth showcasing Samsung's products, flanked by themed rooms that highlighted the company's unique capabilities. The most impressive and unique was the gaming room, bathed in neon light and full of enough tech to please even the most hard-core gamer. This display was a complete departure from the rest of the environment and was packed with attendees every minute the show floor was open. Another huge draw, and a favorite of our team, was a 114-inch see-through micro LED television that dazzled multitudes of onlookers with a spectacular fireworks display. Equally impressive was the display of AI-powered home appliances, complete with cooking demonstrations. It was a display that not even Martha Stewart could resist — we heard she took a turn at the stove during the show's opening day.



14 Siemens AG
Design/Fabrication: The Freeman Co. LLC
“Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make,” said author and marketer Seth Godin, “but about the stories you tell.” The stories that Siemens AG told in its exhibit described how its technology transforms the everyday into the extraordinary. Just as a flashy cover can drive a reader's curiosity to check out a book, the maker of industrial automation and software for other companies topped its 3,500-square-foot booth with half a dozen 20-by-20-foot semi-transparent LED headers on the front corners whose bold brand messaging piqued attendees' interest. Once they entered the space, which was designed and fabricated by The Freeman Co. LLC, guests could wander to any section where the company presented its innovations for its partners through storytelling. In “Work,” visitors watched demonstrations of Sony's mixed-reality headset that allows engineers to collaborate in the metaverse in order to craft the custom steering wheel and trailing fin for Red Bull Racing's Formula One cars. Over in “Make,” BlendHub SL tackled the challenge of 800 million people struggling with hunger with self-contained mobile “factories” assembling highly nutritious powders that can be mixed with water, milk, or another available liquid in order to target a region's specific nutritional deficiencies. Meanwhile “Play” showcased the work of Unlimited Tomorrow Inc., an innovator that uses the Siemens Xcelerator platform to create customizable prosthetics that can reduce the cost of artificial limbs by almost 90 percent. With the help of nine plastic acoustic domes deployed to focus sounds so no one would miss a word of the wonders in the BlendHub and Unlimited Tomorrow vignettes, Siemens' stories were as powerful as any tale ever told around a campfire.



15 Swarovski-Optik AG & Co KG
You may not associate CES with birdwatching, but then you may not have visited Swarovski-Optik AG & Co KG's 20-by-30-foot booth. The Austrian manufacturer of premium rifle scopes, binoculars, and spotting scopes zeroed in on thematic storytelling in its display. So much of CES is dominated by massive LED screens and loud music, but Swarovski's booth was a veritable escape into a secluded glen that focused on only one product launch: the AX Visio. The AX Visio are the world's first smart binocular capable of identifying more than 9,000 birds and mammals. The campsite-inspired booth was fabricated out of plywood with a picnic table, campfire, and several stands of birch trees. Hidden among the branches were silhouettes of about a dozen species of birds. Visitors wandered into the booth, snatched up any one of the available binoculars, and began birding — with the help of eager staffers. After focusing on a bird, visitors pressed the onboard shutter to snap a picture, and nearly immediately a graphic popped up identifying the species, whether it was a rufous hummingbird or a Lincoln's sparrow. The simple, themed exhibit proved that you don't need to spend millions to have an impactful booth. Sometimes one product and a focus on good storytelling is all takes to help an exhibit soar.



16 Abbott Laboratories
Design/Fabrication: Catalyst Exhibits Inc.
Abbott Laboratories chose not to be square at CES 2024, opting for a circular booth that featured a transparent blue header and cool purple lighting. This year's stand, designed and fabricated by Catalyst Exhibits Inc., focused on showing the healthy uses of technology — which goes far beyond limiting your children's screen time. The booth was probably the easiest to navigate at the show thanks to interactive dots on the plush carpet. Those who entered the circular booth found themselves next to one of three curved LED walls devoted to Biowearables, Connected Health, and Next-Gen Diagnostics. When a guest stood on a dot, the wall launched a short video introducing the topics. As guests moved from left to right to the next dot, the story would continue. For example, the Connected Health wall explained how Abbott is helping people manage chronic diseases such as cardiovascular issues or diabetes by remotely connecting patients and physicians. After learning how Abbott is reshaping health care, attendees entered a smaller circular room in the center of the exhibit where they posed in front of a monitor that snapped a series of photos, added fun backgrounds, and stitched together a TikTok-like video that could be downloaded and shared. The gorgeous design, simple wayfinding, and use of storytelling landed Abbott back on the Best of CES list for the third year in a row.



17 Nikon Corp.
Design/Fabrication: George P. Johnson and Gilbert Displays Inc.
Nikon Corp. used its time at CES to show how its technology and humans could work together. But more like R2-D2 and less like Skynet. Its design concept, planned and directed by Nikon's Design Center, collaborating with George P. Johnson, a Project Worldwide agency, and Gilbert Displays Inc., created a 6,000-square-foot booth that blazed like a flashbulb. Ultra-bright overhead elements — eight 15-by-15-foot LED panels — cycled animated content on the booth's theme of “Co-Create Seamlessly” while aesthetically unifying the booth's varied sections. One example, the “Unreal Ride” section, let attendees hop into a Rivian pickup truck where a robotic BOLT arm gripping a Nikon Z 9 camera moved around the truck in a pre-programmed sequence. With the cybernetic limb shifting about nonstop, the Z 9 captured visuals on an LCD-screen backdrop that created a hyper-realistic illusion of the truck tearing through the woods. Once the passengers exited the ride, they received a short video of the experience they could share on social media. The booth also contained a section dedicated to Robot Vision. Here attendees challenged robotic arms to not only identify a shape, but place it into a similar-shaped hole, proving how the company's imaging technologies system enables robots to recognize intricate details, which allows them to perform tasks with the precision of surgeons. As they walked past the product wall, visitors could opt to sit for a professional headshot, a popular activation at this year's CES. And to drive home the big picture of Nikon's capabilities even more, guests were invited to savor the winners of Nikon Small World photo competition, with entries from microscopic caffeine crystals to minute cuckoo wasps that looked like still lifes from a planet in a galaxy far, far away.



18 Hyundai Motor Company
Design/Fabrication: Astound Group
High walls can feel intimidating. They're imposing and protective, holding the world at bay. But to the right audience, they sometimes incite the opposite feeling. They might create a sense of intrigue, making those left outside yearning to know what's just inches away. The line of waiting people that snaked around the glossy white walls that framed Hyundai Motor Company's 21,600-square-foot booth seemed to fall into the latter category and proved that the organization pushed all the right buttons with the audience it found at CES. And those patient attendees were well rewarded when they finally broke through the walls that surrounded Hyundai's environment. The booth, designed to showcase Hyundai's future technologies that are intended to center and support humans to make life easier for them, was cleverly divided into sections. These sections allowed attendees to explore the different technologies on display, from recycling solutions to shipping and transportation. Spanning the central aisle was a grid of nine knee-height, horizontally oriented television screens that invited visitors to approach and peer down to learn about one of Hyundai Motor Company's technologies. This orientation not only let visitors choose what type of content they wanted to take in, but cut down on the visual clutter within the booth. The subtle design choice left the center aisle clear, leaving a towering LED screen at the back wall, which educated people on Hyundai's offerings, to take center stage.



19 Canon USA Inc.
Design/Fabrication: Astound Group
Design/Fabrication: Publicis Media Anyone who spent any time in an airport to get to Vegas for CES would have felt right at home in the Canon USA Inc. booth. The entrance was designed to look like a ticket counter at an airline, complete with bright red carpet that matched the company logo and greeters who welcomed attendees to take flight with Canon. In this year's display, Canon used photos and the booth theme itself to lean into its partnership with 101 Studios, with whom it's developing a pilot for a show called “Now Boarding: Argentina.” Visitors were invited through a gallery of photography so they could learn how Canon cameras can be used cinematically, professionally, and personally. Then they had a little fun by competing in games using Canon's virtual reality technology and engaging with the company's myriad content creation tools. To complete the travel experience, attendees could design their dream suitcase and were gifted a personalized luggage tag as a thank-you gift for participating.



20 EssilorLuxottica
Design/Fabrication: Simmetrico, MC²
As impressive as the EssilorLuxottica space was, even more impressive was the speed with which its creative teams, Simmetrico and MC², an MCH company, pulled together a space that landed the first-time CES exhibitor a spot on our Best of CES list. We've heard rumors that the creative teams designed and fabricated the environment in mere weeks. EssilorLuxottica is a designer, manufacturer, and distributor of eyewear products. For CES, the company presented frames that incorporate hearing technology to help wearers combat hearing loss. The booth's curved LED walls displaying images of models wearing frames, curved LED light strips built into the vinyl flooring, and curved blue overhead lights were designed to illustrate sound waves. A traffic-heavy highlight of the booth was the Ray-Ban Meta display, which featured a pair of larger-than- life frames. Samples of the frames, which include built-in cameras, open-ear audio, and the ability to livestream and take hands-free calls, were available to eager showgoers who waited in lengthy queues during show hours for the opportunity to test them out.