CES has always carried the maker spirit, but this year it felt more baked than ever. We didn’t see rows of 3D printers running as in the recent past. Instead, we saw their output (printed parts, custom enclosures, snapped-together modules) embedded in products. Same with Raspberry Pis and dev boards. They’re not being demoed. They’re doing the work.
Looking back in the eighteen years I’ve attended the show, CES didn’t turn into a maker show so much as it absorbed the maker movement once hardware stopped being something only mega-brands could ship.
Two things changed that trajectory. First, “consumer electronics” stopped being a product category and became an ingredient. Everything with a chip became CES-worthy. Yes, even the eye-rolling stuff.
Second, prototyping got democratized. The maker movement helped normalize that one person, or a small team, could build real hardware, fast. This is partly why it’s not the Consumer Electronics Show anymore. CES now encapsulates healthcare, mobility, auto, travel, and so many other sectors.
So here we are in 2026, and the tools aren’t on display anymore. Instead, they’re infrastructure. Finally!
With that said, here are five maker-flavored signals that stood out this year.
1. Startups are still the best part of CES
Eureka Park is where you find the real builders. Small booths, one-person startups, weird sensors duct-taped to dev boards. Some of it will never ship. But some of it was already funded on Indiegogo. That’s what makes it interesting. You can trace entire product categories back to booths like these, years before the tech goes mainstream. If you ever make it to CES, this is where you start.
2. E-ink displays are showing up on more walls (and fewer cords)
Move over Kindle! For years we’ve seen E-ink show up at CES on purses and belt buckles. But this year I discovered framed, generative prints that offered a more realistic, tangible use of low-power E-ink for in-home display. Fraimic is chat-prompt-to-art for your wall. InkPoster is like a Samsung Frame TV without the TV. These displays aren’t flashy, and that’s the point. They’re calm. Hackable. And getting easier to build with.
3. Wearable GIFs are now a $40 impulse buy
BeamBox’s E-Badge is a programmable screen you wear like a name tag. Load it up with custom GIFs, simple animations, or messages and wear it around a con, meetup, or even your office. It’s small, fun, and just open enough to invite customization. I already had one and had created custom GIFs to show off during my time in Vegas.
4. Smart nails are a fun way into electrochromic materials
iPolish press-on nails change color with a handheld wand and an app. Under the hood, it’s all electrochemistry and microcontrollers. It’s also a reminder that wearable tech doesn’t need to look like gear. Sometimes it looks like fashion.
5. LEGO is building the no-screen version of ‘smart’
LEGO didn’t even need a booth to win the Best of Maker Tech award from me. In a CES keynote, they introduced LEGO SMART Play, centered on a normal-looking 2×4 “SMART Brick” with a tiny custom chip, sensors, and a built-in speaker. The brick works with SMART Tags and SMART Minifigures so builds react with lights and sound based on how you move them and what’s nearby, and it stays screen-free in the way that matters. They’re launching it first in Star Wars sets, with wireless charging so the “brain” can disappear deep inside a build. The bricks still feel like bricks. They’re just more responsive. This is giving me flashbacks to my LEGO Basic Set 740 Tank Truck from 1985, and I can’t wait to test these out!
What stood out most this year wasn’t a specific device or demo. It was how much of the future is being quietly prototyped by small teams solving real problems. Whether it’s a screenless LEGO system, a $40 wearable screen, or AI that lives on your lapel, the signal is the same. We’re not just building new gadgets. We’re rethinking how things work, who gets to build them, and what they’re for. For makers, that’s the real show.
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