CES is the place to show consumers what's possible with the technology of the near future. It is not a place to show restraint, and often even practicality is nothing more than a nuisance. Fortunately, Volkswagen definitely understood this when creating the concept here and its absolutely pathological need to be free of physical buttons and switches. The car is called the Golf R Touch, but the big news isn't the glut of touchscreens.

The big news is that the car incorporates gesture controls, thanks to a 3D camera mounted in the headliner just behind the windshield. These controls can adjust the power seats, open the sunroof, and handle a fair amount of the infotainment controls. Touchscreens have replaced just about everything else, including the steering wheel buttons (replaced with screens that have pictures of buttons), the power window controls and the door locks. It's a slightly absurd level of touchscreen use, but again, this is CES, and the time for restraint will be on the production model.