The market for wearable bands has pretty much shaken out for the moment. Left standing, in a big way, is Apple.

The market for robots is growing exponentially and undergoing a major transition. Robotic categories now include autonomous cars, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), customer service robots and personal assistant robots, making up a new world order of robots.

In addition to more screens and in-car streaming entertainment, one of the promises of connected cars is the ability to tell when a traffic light will change to red or green. Audi recently introduced a feature called Traffic Light Information, so its cars could communicate with the traffic infrastructure in certain cities, which has been tested in Las Vegas for some time.

There can be somewhat of a generation gap relating to the mass adoption of virtual reality, but one global brand is doing its part to tackle that issue head on. Legoland Discovery Center in Boston just added 'The Great Race VR Experience,' the first and so far the only one of the 11 Discovery Centers in North America to launch a virtual reality indoor program.

One thing about the Internet of Things is that there's a lot going on behind the scenes. To get a flavor of some of the behind-the-scenes IoT activities, I spent some time at two different conferences held in Boston this week, one dealing with robotics and the other with artificial intelligence.

The 2018 Robotics Summit and Showcase in Boston this week featured exhibits involving all things robotic, from the hardware that comprises various forms of working machinery to the AI and software that helps robots learn as they go.

Coca-Cola plans to take vending machines into the future with a unit featuring Bluetooth connectivity that will allow consumers to connect via mobile app and order a custom drink before they even get to the machine.

From coming pretty much out of nowhere not that long ago, smart speakers are flooding consumers' homes. Back in early 2016, only 3% of U.S. broadband households owned a smart speaker. Fast forward: today more than a quarter (27%) of homes now have one.

New cars can come with sensors that detect when the car drifts into another lane or cause the car to brake if a person or object unexpectedly crosses its path, or in-car connectivity allowing hands-free phone calls through the car's sound system.

Consumers are more comfortable using AI in healthcare situations than in situations related to retail or banking.