【Watch Bridgette B - Scared Topless (2013)】

Prior to the pandemic,Watch Bridgette B - Scared Topless (2013) CES was a sight to behold.

The annual Las Vegas consumer electronics convention typically draws massive crowds, with journalists jockeying for space and scoops as thousands of exhibitors show off their wares. But with the coronavirus continuing to run rampant across the United States, 2022 is not a typical year — a fact made clear by photos showing the comparatively empty halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Mashable, along with many of the tech companies we cover, chose not to attend the conference this year. On-the-ground photos from those who did go, however, show that decision was hardly a unique one. Pictures taken by Heather Delaney, who runs the brand consulting form Gallium Ventures, and shared on Twitter really bring that point home.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Notably, convention rooms are usually shoulder-to-shoulder packed in the mornings during CES, but photos of the first day of the conference tell a different story. As a point of comparison, CES says it drew 171,268 attendees in 2020. Here's what that looked like.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

The Las Vegas Convention Center was a lot more packed during 2020's CES. Credit: Mario Tama / Getty This photo, also from CES 2020, shows what the typical crowds are like. Credit: David Becker / Getty

CES was, even before the advent of COVID-19, known as a germ soup. It's perhaps no surprise, then, that people now accustomed to remote work might chose to sit out a massive in-person event amidst — as of the time of this writing — a coronavirus surge in the U.S.

SEE ALSO: Another thing one percenters don't have to do: Draw their own baths

Even so, photos and reports from those who did choose to attend demonstrate just how many people decided traveling to Las Vegas wasn't worth it.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Now, it's not like CES is completely dead. People did show, though we'll need to wait until it's all wrapped up to get an official in-person attendance count.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Even so, if early reports are any indication, it looks like 2022 will be shadow of former CES years — a fact that surely won't take event organizers by surprise. On Dec. 31, those very organizers announced that the conference would end on Jan. 7, a full day earlier than previously planned.

Topics CES COVID-19

• Life
• Deals
• Social Good
• Tech
• Science
• Shopping
• Entertainment
• Games

• Trump signs AI education order to train K
• Donald Hall, Foremost God in the Harvard College Pantheon by Louis Begley
• Tommy Orange and the New Native Renaissance by Julian Brave NoiseCat
• Need a Father’s Day Gift? A Novel Proposal by David McGlynn
• Philips now allows customers to 3D print replacement parts
• Hero’s Journey: An Interview with Taylor Mac
• The Harvard Color Detectives
• The Visual Frequency of Black Life by Peter L’Official
• Best Garmin deal: Save over $100 on Garmin Forerunner 955
• Redux: In Dire Straits by The Paris Review

• A colossal asteroid once boiled the oceans. It also did the unexpected.
• miHoYo cracks down on game leaks, holds over 200 individuals accountable · TechNode
• NASA spotted a very young planet. It could become a super
• Mars rover spots strange rock that's got NASA 'excited'
• En route to an asteroid, spacecraft snaps ghostly views of Earth
• Chinese automakers to stay ahead despite Tesla rolling out FSD features, expert says · TechNode
• Vivo announces integration of DeepSeek into its mobile operating system · TechNode
• NYT's The Mini crossword answers for July 11
• Walmart Plus deal: Save $49 on a yearlong Walmart+ membership
• Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 vs. Apple Watch Series 9: What are the differences?

• NYT Connections Sports Edition hints and answers for April 26: Tips to solve Connections #215
• Cooking with Fyodor Dostoyevsky by Valerie Stivers
• The Legend of Joaquín Murieta: A History of Racialized Violence
• Redux: A State of Hyperconsciousness
• Best JBL deal: Save $80 on JBL Xtreme 4 portable speaker
• Staff Picks: Mermaids, Wrestlers, and Gawkers by The Paris Review
• Ode to the Dinkus
• Sketchbook: The First Sex
• Meta continues its submission to Trump with new advisor on its board
• Ode to the Library Museum by Erica X Eisen

• Fritz vs. Ruud 2025 livestream: Watch Madrid Open for free
• Ode to the Dinkus
• The Burning House by Hanya Yanagihara
• On Stanley Kunitz and the Fine Arts Work Center by Geoffrey Hilsabeck
• Every MCU movie villain ranked, from "Iron Man" to "Thunderbolts*"
• Cooking with Fyodor Dostoyevsky by Valerie Stivers
• Staff Picks: Laughing Cows, Lo
• Poetry Rx: Listen I Love You Joy Is Coming
• DDR4 Memory at 4000 MT/s, Does It Make a Difference?
• Three Brief Encounters with Anthony Bourdain