The ‘wow’ moment at CES 2025: Big tech companies need to take notice

I’ve been involved in more tech events and launches than I can count in my decade as a tech journalist, but Delta Consumer Electronics Show 2025 The keyword is the one that blew my mind, both literally and figuratively. That’s because the airline combined technology with storytelling to elicit an emotional response that felt surprisingly personal and deeply moving — and in doing so, it made a clever connection to one of the biggest possibilities of the year ahead.

Delta has harnessed technology at the world’s largest football venue, the… las vegas areaa giant celestial body covered with gauze from the inside out, on the occasion of its centenary. In honor of 100 years of history, the airline also pulled Viola Davis, Tom Brady and Lenny Kravitz onto the stage to turn it into a proper party. But what was especially impressive was how Delta used every bit of the Sphere’s immersive power to bring the wow factor to a CES that was sorely lacking in standout moments to inspire some real excitement about how technology is transforming our lives.

In fact, by taking full advantage of the power of Sphere technology, it was as if Delta was showing the world how serious it was about technology in a way that many companies, including established technology brands, could learn from. Sphere’s wraparound LED display served as a canvas to tell epic stories about the airline’s past, present and future.

Often, technology companies promise us that their innovations will make us feel more connected and bring us more meaningful experiences. They rarely deliver on these promises in a way that satisfies us, the people who end up using this technology. From social media, to virtual reality, to conversational AI, there is a gap between what we are told we will feel and how we feel about it.

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On the other hand, The Sphere is full of technology that delivers on its promise. It creates a sense of shared wonder which in this case helped me feel emotionally invested in the brand. Even as someone who had never flown with Delta before (and it’s not a major airline where I live in the UK), I came away with a comprehensive understanding of the airline’s priorities, staff and advertising, Which included an AI-powered concierge service and partnerships with Uber and YouTube.

Before Delta CEO Ed Bastian took the stage, the audience was treated to a slow sunrise that stretched across the massive 160,000-square-foot Sphere screen before Delta’s jumbo jet headed straight toward us. My seat shook and I felt a gust of wind that made me feel like I had truly been blown off the tarmac.

It was one of many moments during the keynote in which Delta used the haptic technology built into each of the Sphere’s 10,000 seats, combined with the visual and audio capabilities of the space, to create a full-body, multi-sensory experience. At one point, when the screen turned into a giant cockpit and we seemed to be moving away from Earth, I felt my eyes cross and my stomach churn — a feeling similar to the kind of motion sickness I’ve felt before in VR and such. Rollercoaster.

The 3D effect of the globe gave the impression of filling the field, while the closing fireworks display filled the sky with buzzes, pops and explosions that echoed across the seats. In more intimate moments, cameras focused on longtime Delta employees spread out in the audience, with Bastian praising their contributions over many years of flying.

Even before the keynote, which took Delta nearly a full year to design and prepare for, the event was the hot ticket to CES — and as it turned out, that was right. Regular Delta flyers might prefer it if the airline invested that money in expanding legroom, but this often sarcastic journalist was impressed by the spectacle, which left me feeling more hopeful about technology than I did at this rather lackluster tech expo. .

There was a stark contrast between the annoying, repetitive ads and the honest presentations given by actual Delta flight attendants, which combined with the multi-sensory nature of the event made me feel enveloped in the world of a bold, creative brand that’s not afraid to steal. the offer.