On the second day of the opening of the world's largest IT trade show, "CES 2026," on the 7th (local time), homegrown startups showed off idea products and technologies. They came to Las Vegas to achieve various goals, including global expansion, securing business portfolios, and meetings with domestic and overseas client companies.
Startups from Korea that won the "Innovation Award," which recognizes products showcasing "technology to change the world," drew attention from visitors on site. The Consumer Technology Association (CTA), which hosts CES, confers Innovation Awards each year after a separate evaluation of entries. Among the Innovation Awards, products with particularly outstanding technology receive the "Best of Innovation Award." About 4,500 corporations took part in this year's CES to unveil new products and technologies. This year, 452 products were selected for Innovation Awards and 43 products for Best of Innovation. The number of award-winning corporations was 416.
◇ "Photographer robot" wins best of innovation
Studio Lab introduced a "photographer robot" (Zency PB) that incorporates physical AI technology at this year's CES. It is a solution in which, after taking a product photo, a generative artificial intelligence (AI) creates an online sales page (Zency) in about 30 seconds. The product won the Best of Innovation Award in the Spatial Computing category.
Studio Lab was founded less than five years ago but has already made the CES Innovation Awards list for a third time this year. Last year, it won an Innovation Award in Robotics, and at CES 2024 it also won a Best of Innovation in AI.
Studio Lab offers the end-to-end solution connecting Zency PB and Zency to client companies under the name "Zency Studio." At its booth, it showcased the full process from product shooting to the actual construction of an online sales page, drawing visitors' attention. A Studio Lab representative said, "The strength of our solution is its speed and simplicity," adding, "We are corporations that use AI technology to solve the issue that the process of bringing a product to online sales is done manually, incurring a lot of expense and time."
◇ Innovation Award for AI that aids sleep
WELT prominently featured ZolipZ, the world's first sleep aid with an "AI-converged pharmaceutical." The product won an Innovation Award in the AI category at CES 2026. AI-converged pharmaceuticals refer to a treatment concept that does not alter the drug itself but fine-tunes the timing and method of use for each patient.
WELT developed ZolipZ by combining a sleep AI agent (AgentZ) with a sleep aid used to alleviate insomnia symptoms. WELT allowed visitors to the exhibition to scan a QR code and try ZolipZ themselves. When connected to the app, the AI comprehensively analyzes sleep logs and biosignals and activity data collected from wearable devices to recommend dosing times and more.
WELT used AI technology to address unnecessary dosing of sleep aids and the risks of tolerance and dependence. WELT CEO Kang Seong-ji said, "AI predicts the likelihood of insomnia in advance and guides each individual on when ZolipZ should actually be taken and the most effective timing for medication," adding, "It is a solution that encourages the use of sleep aids only when needed and at the moment when the efficacy works best."
◇ High-performance current sensor tackles environmental issues
EZ Korea, a startup for electronic current sensors and electronic power protection devices, focused on environmental issues. It showcased the current sensor "ES TotalScan," which won an Innovation Award in the sustainability and energy transition category at CES 2026. The product is the world's first printed circuit board (PCB)-based current sensor with non-saturation characteristics. By integrating its proprietary surface-mount current measurement technology, a single sensor can measure from low current (0.1A) to high current (over 5,000A).
Despite its high performance, it has low environmental pollution. EZ Korea applied its patented technology (MFCS, Magnetic Field Current Sensing) to reduce copper usage by 97% compared with existing sensors. In particular, it can cut the use of plastic—one of the most problematic pollutants due to its resistance to natural decomposition—by 91%. Its size and weight were also reduced to about one-fortieth of conventional products. The product has either signed supply contracts with or is in trial application with KORAIL, HD Hyundai Electric, and LS ELECTRIC.