The race to create tomorrow’s must-have gadget never ends, but it does reach an annual crescendo in the Mojave Desert when the Consumer Electronics Show blows into Vegas. The class of CES 2016 shows plenty of promise, but there’s a lot of weird in amongst the wonderful. Sometimes it can be tricky to tell the difference. Take a look at these brave new devices and decide for yourself — are they crazy, or are they genius?
OMsignal OMbra
Is the world’s first smart bra really something women have been eagerly awaiting? The OMbra isn’t quite as daft as it sounds. It’s a sports bra with adjustable straps and removable padding for a comfortable fit, but there’s also a little black box that tracks your performance. 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. It hits the market this spring and will cost $150.
Immersit 4D motion device
Whether it be 3D, smell-o-vision, or virtual reality, we’re always looking for ways to make entertainment more immersive. You may have visited a cinema at some point where the seats moved in sync with the onscreen action. What if your favorite armchair at home could do the same? That’s the idea behind Immersit. It’s a set of hydraulic feet you can fit onto your couch with clever tech inside that can read the content you’re watching, be it a game or a movie, and trigger appropriate motions.
Ehang 184 autonomous aerial vehicle
Drones are taking off in a big way, but Chinese company Ehang is taking the trend to new heights with the world’s first autonomous flying taxi. It’s a giant quadcopter with a seat for one, but you won’t find any controls inside. You pick your destination using a mobile app and the 184 flies you there all by itself. It’s designed for short journeys, around the 20-minute mark, and it has an average cruising speed of 62 miles per hour.
Cheero Sleepion three-in-one sleep solution
This peculiar, crescent-shaped gadget is designed to help you get a good night’s sleep. It employs a triple-pronged assault on your senses with a speaker system that plays soothing sounds, a ceramic aromatherapy diffuser that emits relaxing smells, and a light that can flicker like a candle. You can get one by pledging $190 on Kickstarter right now.
Smarter Fridge Cam
Wondering what’s in the fridge? You could always stick a camera in there that snaps a photo every time the door is opened and then take a look on your phone. That’s the idea behind Smarter’s Fridge Cam which will cost $100. There’s also a Smarter Mat ($80) that could have made this list, which is Wi-Fi connected and measures things like how much peanut butter is left in the jar sitting atop it.
ZeroUI Ziro hand-controlled robotics kits
We’ve seen a lot of build-your-own-robot kits, but this is the first one we’ve seen that comes with a wireless smart glove to control it. Build your car, droid, or whatever and then use the smartphone app to link specific movements with the glove to the motors within your creation. Now you can command your own robot with a wave of your palm or a clenched fist. It’s still being developed, but it should pop up on Indiegogo later this month.
Consumer Physics SCiO hand held molecular sensor
If you like the idea of being able to scan your food, pills, drinks, plants, and other objects to get a detailed breakdown of the chemical makeup, then SCiO will excite you. It’s a pocket molecular sensor that employs near-IR spectroscopy. It raised more than $2.7 million on Kickstarter back in 2014 and we saw it at CES 2015, but it has been taking its sweet time to hit the market. It’s on show again this year and you can now pre-order it for $250. Delivery is slated for May.
Slow Control Yum & Done interactive meal buddies
This smart spoon for kids works via Bluetooth with an app to animate a cute animal buddy using a smartphone or tablet, and convince your wee ones that eating vegetables is a good idea. It’s actually weirder than it sounds, because the buddy for the smartphone looks like an oven glove with holes cut in it, and the smartphone screen inside animates the mouth and eyes. What kid could resist when every successful bite is accompanied by encouragement from a weird–looking rabbit?
Logbar iLi wearable translator
The iLi pendant is a wearable translator that hangs around your neck and translates between Japanese, English, and Chinese in real-time, speaking the translation aloud to enable you to have conversations unencumbered by linguistic ignorance. It’s not a babelfish, but it’s clearly an appealing idea, if it works. Unfortunately, the fact that Logbar’s website misspells the word goodbye as “goodbay” does not fill us with confidence.
Davek Alert smart umbrella
Are you constantly leaving your umbrella behind in cafes? Maybe it’s time you got yourself a Bluetooth umbrella that connects to your smartphone and alerts you if you move more than 30 feet away from it. The Davek is a compact telescopic umbrella with a solid steel shaft, constructed of a mix of aluminum and fiberglass that’s built to last. It had better, because it costs an eyebrow-raising $125, which is enough to buy a lot of low tech umbrellas.
B.Sensory Little Bird erotic reading application
This is a smart vibrator that hooks up to your smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth and syncs its action with a series of erotic short stories. Shaking, caressing, or even blowing on your device will reveal text in the app and trigger different vibrations that fit with the story. You can also use the app as a remote control for the 10 vibration settings. It costs $100.
NXT-ID Wocket smart wallet
A wocket in your pocket might sound a bit Dr. Seuss, but this is actually a standalone smart wallet device that enables you to scan all of your credit, debit, loyalty, and gift cards, so you can leave your physical wallet at home. It has a touchscreen e-ink display, no smartphone required, and it can recognize your voice for biometric approval, or you can just use a PIN. It costs $180.
Acton Blink Board electric skateboard
What could possibly go wrong with a motorized skateboard that you control with your iPhone? The Blink Board can cover 6.5 miles, runs for about 45 minutes on a full battery, and takes 2 hours to charge. It has a top speed of 12 miles per hour and it connects to your phone or a remote via Bluetooth. It also has two modes — forward and reverse. If you’re tempted you’ll need $500 to buy one and it should be on sale this month.
Find out more here.
Those are all the crazy or genius gadgets we have for you from CES 2016. Weigh in below on which ones you think are winners and which are best forgotten.
