The race to create the next must-have never ends, but it does reach an annual fever pitch when the who’s who of the tech work converge in sin city Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show. For nearly 50 years, the cavernous ballrooms of the Las VegasConvention Center have played host to a supersized gala of shiny gadgety goodness that not only shines a light on major trends in tech but also creates the big trends for the year ahead. Now, with over 3,000 exhibitors launching over 20,000 new products at this year’s offering, it can be hard to keep up! So here’s our pick of the crazy genius products that made the cut from the CES Class of 2016…and some downright crazy ones to boot!
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The Best of the lot
Segway Advanced Personal Robot
Fancy a smart showerhead which alerts you about how much water you’re using (and wasting)? Or a fridge that can monitor its contents via integrated cameras and send it to your smartphone? CES had both. But the smart home gadget that impressed the most was the Advanced Personal Robot, collaboration between Segway, Intel and Xiaomi. You can ride this friendly looking robot around the house or down to the shop like a regular Segway and when you’re done, you can attach arms or other appendages to have it do regular household stuff like carry in the groceries or just answer the door!
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Withings Thermo
Withings is known for bringing smart design thinking into weighing scales and activity trackers, but this time, they’ve gone and revolutionised the humble thermometer. Designed to be much less invasive, the Thermo works by placing it on the side of the head and infrared sensors take your temperature. The companion app can track your family’s temperature readings over time, particularly useful if you’ve got a kid with a nagging fever.
LG rollable display
Of all the prototypes at the show, what impressed most was the rollable display by LG - an 18-inch, 1-mm thick OLED display that can play live video as it rolls up! I personally can’t wait to be rolling up a future digital version of Outlook Money for my morning commute
Consumer Physics SCiO hand held molecular sensor
Wow, that’s a mouthful. But if you’re extremely conscious about what goes into every mouthful, the SCiO is for you. You can scan your food, pills, drinks and other objects and get a detailed breakdown of the chemical makeup and nutritional value – a pocket molecular sensor, if you will. While this may sound like a dream tool for dieters, the SCiO is primarily aimed at helping those with conditions such as diabetes or cardiovascular diseases keep a close eye on their diet.
Ili Wearable Translator
No, this isn’t a small remote tied with a string passing off a fashion accessory. The Ili device is a mobile translator – you speak into one side, press the button, and the speaker on the other end delivers your message in the desired language… all without any Wi-Fi or Internet data connection. It takes that unwieldy phrase book you need to lug around when you’re heading to strange new locales and packs it into this tiny gadget.
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Parrot Disco
Drones were big at CES this year, with many getting the much-needed upgrade: the ability to sense obstacles and avoid them automatically, making the process of actually flying one of these (and not crashing!) much easier for the average person. Parrot’s Disco was the best of the batch – to fly it, you just toss it up in the air, and its autopilot and artificial intelligence handle the flying from there, including landing without crashing! Its winged design is more efficient than regular quadcopters and allow it stay flying for up to 45 minutes on a single charge (and a top speed of 80 km per hour)!
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The Quirkiest of the lot
Ehang 184
Like I said, drones were big at CES, but none got as big (quite literally!) as the Ehang 184. The all-electric quadcopter is large enough to carry a single passenger for up to 16 kilometers or about 23 minutes of flight. You won’t find any controls inside – all you have to do is input the destination and the Ehang 184 will autonomously take off, fly a route, avoid obstacles and land. And if anything goes wrong, a human pilot is supposed to step in and take over the controls from a remote command station. Hmm… a great concept, but no thanks!
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OMsignal OMbra
A smart bra? It may sound absurd, but it isn’t. The OMbra may look like a regular sports bra but it’s packed to the gills with sensors, all of which report live data via the little clip-on black box. After each workout it syncs up with a smartphone app to give a detailed output of things like distance covered, heart rate, calories burned, breathing rhythm, and more.
CleverPet Hub
Why should humans have all the fun? The CleverPet Hub is a gaming console for the canine in your life – it uses lights, sounds and touch pads to challenge your pooch to complete a series of light based puzzles! If they do it right, they get a pet treat as a reward… though I fear larger breeds may just wreck the device to get at the food minus the puzzles. Stupid humans!
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Digitsole Smartshoe 01
Take one portion humble everyday shoe, and add a dash of future and you have the Smartshoe 01. The intelligent shoes can warm your feet with a tap in a smartphone app, and track your movement and your calorie burn like any fitness tracker. Here’s the piece right out of Back to the Future: the shoes can automatically tighten around your ankle, giving you just the right fit. And no, not all pairs look like these lunar boots – Digitsole has a bunch of saner looking options on offer as well!
Sensorwake Alarm Clock
Some alarm clocks wake you up with jarring sounds, others gradually brighten your room. The Sensorwake rouses you with the smell of fresh-brewed coffee and right-out-ofthe- oven croissants! Or, if you prefer, peppermint, or hot chocolate. All you have to do is insert a cartridge into the device, much like you would for a room freshener…and the next morning, the clock with flood your room with the scent of your choosing!
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