Las Vegas, United States - January 05, 2025 Storyline: The Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the world's largest personal electronics event, is set to kick off on Tuesday in Las Vegas, bringing together tech entrepreneurs from around the globe to unveil an array of groundbreaking tech products, including several exciting innovations from Chinese firms. Ahead of the event's official opening, reporters were given a sneak peek at some of the cutting-edge products making their international debut. Among them was Miroka, a companion robot not only capable of moving around and speaking in response to questions, but using its arms to gesture, wave, or even pick up small objects. According to the engineers behind the technology, the adorable companion is designed to assist in everyday tasks and add an extra touch of happiness to users' lives. New innovations at the show come in all different shapes, sizes, and sounds. Singer Susie Cruz isn't proficient with a guitar, but quickly managed to pick up playing the first ever string-less smart guitar, called Liberlive. Inventors in China's Hong Kong designed the instrument, which uses sampling and frequency simulation tech with the goal of making guitar playing effortless. A number of other Chinese startups also made their mark at the preview show. Linyo, a company from the Chinese city Shenzhen, was introducing the Hydrin 1, which can wash a car with just two liters of water and recover the wastewater. While Lin is excited to be at the show, she's the only one from her nine-person company that managed to secure a visa to get here. In fact, the high number of visa rejections for Chinese companies was acknowledged by the organizers of CES, who in December sent Chinese attendees a statement saying they "encourage the U.S. government to expedite and approve visas for individuals who are traveling to the U.S. for legitimate business reasons." CES Show Director John Kelley said he wasn't sure of how this year's Chinese presence will compare to years past, but still hopes the show can serve as a bridge between the two countries. The show officially opens to the public on Tuesday and runs through Friday. Shotlist: Las Vegas, USA - Jan 5, 2025: 1. Attendees entering Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Unveiled exhibition hall; 2. Exhibitor introducing product; 3. Companion robot; 4. Various of companion robot interacting with reporter; UPSOUND (English) Mark Niu, CGTN reporter: "What can you use your arms for?" UPSOUND (English) Miroka, companion robot: "I can use my arms to grasp handles, carry items up to 3 kilograms, wave hello and perform tasks like thumbs up or down." UPSOUND (English) Mark Niu, CGTN reporter: "Can you move round and spin around and dance?" 5. Miroka spinning around; 6. SOUNDBITE (English) Richard Malterre, Head of Communications, Enchanted Tools (starting with shot 5): "We can create something really useful, but also bring magic, bring storytelling, bring smiles everywhere. So we want to show that a robot can be something that's more just than the machine." 7. Various of singer Susie Cruz playing string-less smart guitar, singing; 8. SOUNDBITE (English) Susie Cruz, singer (starting with shot 7): "It is really so that you can back yourself up vocally and have that sound of the guitar without having to learn guitar." 9. Various of string-less smart guitar spokesperson Yuan Zhuang playing guitar; 10. SOUNDBITE (English) Yuan Zhuang, spokesperson for string-less smart guitar, Liberlive (ending with shot 11): "So basically when you're listening to the guitar sounds here, it's very similar and close to the original sound of the guitar. So everyone can enjoy the music at ease with just playing with one finger or two fingers." 11. Yuan playing guitar; 12. Various of exhibitor introducing smart car washing machine; 13. SOUNDBITE (English) Lin Xiran, chief marketing officer, Hydrin 1: "We have the algorithm for washing all the cars, so we can calculate that." 14. Various of attendees at CES Unveiled; 15. Screenshot of CES organizers' statement; 16. Attendees at CES Unveiled; 17. SOUNDBITE (English) Lin Xiran, chief marketing officer, Hydrin 1(starting with shot 16/ending with shot 18): "We want the U.S. and China to find common ground, our governments to find common ground wherever that may be. The success of this industry, it's not one country that's going to lead this industry. Look around CES. Every country has a role in this industry, and it's important for every country to be reflected here at CES." 18. Various of attendees at CES Unveiled. [Restrictions : No access Chinese mainland]