Procter & Gamble Showcase Everyday Smart Objects with 2020 LifeLab

Need to Know

• Procter & Gamble returned to CES with more innovation and tech-based products than ever before, reimagining its 2019 CES LifeLab project.
• LifeLab focuses on the intersection of innovation, technology, and practical applications for P&G brands like Oral-B, Pampers, and Charmin by overlaying sensors, AI, and mobile apps.
• New announcements include an AI-guided toothbrushing app, technology that senses when a baby is awake, and even a sensor that knows when a bathroom is odorous.
• The company also unveiled a CES companion website, PGLifeLab.com, where consumers can virtually visit the P&G LifeLab exhibit, view product demonstrations and live events, and purchase products displayed during the show.

Analysis

Alongside other top global innovators at this year’s CES showcase, Procter & Gamble harnessed the power of digital connectivity and reinvented what consumers expect of their everyday products with multiple product reveals. 

“We strive to make life easier and more enjoyable with the superior products and services our brands offer,” said Chairman and CEO David Taylor. “CES gives us the chance to show how we are constructively disrupting our business to deliver irresistibly superior experiences.” 

P&G first exhibited their LifeLab exhibit and product portfolio during last year’s CES showcase, bringing it back this year with additional features and AI overlays. 

A first of its kind, P&G unveiled Lumi by Pampers, an-all-in-one connected baby care system that blends real-time data with intuition, to help parents better anticipate their baby’s needs. Lumi combines a smart HD video monitor with activity sensors and brings the information together in a mobile app giving parents have a real-time view and analytics on baby’s sleeping and feeding habits. 

The video monitor is built by Logitech and powered in part by Verily, Alphabet’s life sciences division.

“Our strategic collaboration combines Verily’s robust capabilities in technology and focus on the user experience with Pampers’ extensive knowledge of the needs of new parents in the development of a high-value product that supports the holistic development of babies on a daily basis,” reads Verily’s website.

In the health and wellness category, P&G introduced Oral-B iO, a product of over six years of R&D and user data. On the surface, Oral-B iO may look like a regular electric toothbrush, but in addition to its design features, it comes equipped with AI tracking via an app. The app guides users through a two-minute brushing session with 3D, real-time, individual teeth tracking and coaching—a huge leap in innovative oral care tech. The information regarding ideal brush times has been gathered from hundreds of thousands of data points.

Proving that tech can be fun, the brand also unveiled a few seemly far-fetched conceptual bathroom products by Charmain; RollBot, a smartphone-controlled, scent detecting robot that delivers a fresh roll of Charmin; SmellSense, an electronic sensor that monitors bathroom smells to ensure the room isn’t too odorous before entering; and V.I.Pee, a porta-potty equipped with VR gear to keep people distracted while sitting on the toilet. 

The now-annual showings at CES showcase P&G’s new vision for the future of normal household products. The path forward involves embracing digital connectivity and ensuring consumers still have access to brand-name products they know and love while also being able to embrace a smart home and IOT-friendly ecosystem.