Panasonic brings celebs to talk tech, mobility ahead of CES 2020
Panasonic Corp. brought star power to its Monday CES press conference.
Olympic swimming medalist Michael Phelps took the stage with Michael Moscowitz, chairman and CEO of Panasonic Corp. of North America, to announce the company’s partnership with the Michael Phelps Foundation.
The foundation, through the Boys and Girls Club of America, already has assisted 30,000 children with its “Dream. Plan. Reach.” life skills curriculum.
The partnership, connected with the 2020 Olympic Games that begin in Tokyo on July 24, includes a collaboration by Phelps with three other American Olympians — swimmer Katie Ledacky, track and field Paralympian Lex Gillette and karate athlete Sakura Kotumai.
Panasonic also is upgrading video boards at National Stadium for the Tokyo Olympics.
And once the 28-medal winner left the stage, “Star Wars” stormtroopers took over as Panasonic shared its partnership with Walt Disney Imagineering at Disneyland and Walt Disney World for the “Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge” attractions.
Paul Bailey, principal technologist with Walt Disney Imagineering, explained that Panasonic designed some of the laser effects for the “Rise of the Resistance” dark ride that opens at Disneyland Jan. 17. Laser projection entertainment from Panasonic also is used by the Princess Cruise Line.
Most of the rest of the company’s presentation was to introduce other Panasonic partnerships and initiatives.
The company is working with Klipsch to develop premium audio components for cars and with Karma Automotive and Spydr for mobile infotainment systems using Panasonic’s award-winning Cirrus platform.
As the state of Utah prepares for the arrival of smart cars on its roads, Carlos Braceras of the Utah Department of Transportation discussed the company’s collaboration on Panasonic’s smart mobility technology.
Executives also mentioned the company’s eBike safety standard certification from UL and the availability of a series of Technics wireless headphones, the company’s Lumix S1H camera — designated as the official camera of the 2020 Olympics — and its HZ 2000 organic light-emitting diode televisions.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.
A previous version of this story had the wrong number of Olympians taking part in Panasonic Corp.’s press conference at CES.
