From self-parking cars to robots washing your windows to devices keeping a tab on your dental hygiene, we’ve seen some really whacky stuff at the Consumer Electronic Show this year. If you are tired of the same old specs and features in big mainstream announcements, see what the weird world of tech has thrown up this year. Here’s out list of the whackiest tech from this year’s CES.
Kolibree toothbrush
How about giving your daily mundane activities some hi-tech fun? Kolibree is here with the Internet-connected toothbrush – with a supported app – that keeps a tab on your dental hygiene. Yes, you heard it right. The connected device (read Bluetooth-brush) provides information about your dental hygiene, thereby getting you to be a little more conscious about your brushing routine. The toothbrush connects to the app using Bluetooth and has a “unique technology” to analyse your brushing technique and even displays your progress on a dashboard. The company is slated to release multiple models in varying price ranges of $100 to $200 in the third quarter of 2014.
An app to keep a tab on dental hygiene
Sensoria Fitness Socks
Sensoria’s fitness socks identify injury-prone running techniques and helps users improve their style in real time. It is capable of tracking cadence, foot landing technique and weight distribution as you walk and run. The sock is paired with a Bluetooth Smart detachable anklet that can deliver superior accuracy in step counting, speed, calories, altitude and distance tracking. The companion app allows you to set goals and achieve them. The bundle that includes four pairs of socks, electric anklet, anklet charger and the app currently sells for $199.
Your sock could be your next coach
A nagging mom
This one is one of our favourites. Sen.se has built a device that imitates a nagging mom, and has named it Mother. Just like your mom, the device has been designed to remind you about completing daily activities/chores. It reminds us of Wall-E’s girlfriend Eva, but only if you ignore those creepy glowing eyes. The device basically connects wirelessly to a set of smaller tracking devices called cookies that are capable of sensing motion and temperature. One needs to place these cookies on things and people and they relay information about what you are eating or drinking, how much you walk and so on. So, what is the purpose of the device? Now’s the weird part – it helps you get answers to questions like “Am I eating right?”, “Has someone opened my cabinet?” and so on. The base model along with four cookies costs $222. So, anyone planning to buy a digital mom?
Here’s Mother and her cookies
MiniDrone and Jumping Sumo
With drones going mainstream, we did expect to see a lot in this category. Some cool flying robots came from the robotic company Parrot in the form of the MiniDrone and Jumping Sumo. The MiniDrone is a smaller version of the company’s popular AR.Drone 2.0 while Jumping Sumo is a tiny two-wheeled robot that can turn on a dime or jump about three feet. These certainly aren’t to deliver goods, but can be used for surveillance and research or just recreation. Both robots can easily fit in one’s palms.
The Jumping Sumo is more of a remote-controlled toy spider. It comes with dual-band 802.11ac and a QVGA camera to record where it’s moving. The MiniDrone has removable wheels but lacks camera. Catch the drones in action in the video below:
TREWGrip
This weird looking device is nothing but an ergonomic keyboard and mouse calledTREWGrip. It’s a QWERTY keypad that has been divided into two halves with space in between where one can dock a device. Both sides are rotated upwards by 90 degrees. On pressing the keys on the backside, a corresponding indicator key on the front illuminates. This helps the user to easily locate the typing keys on the back using hand-eye coordination. It is expected to be available for an estimated price of $250 sometime later this year.
A weird keyboard for the smartphone set
Orbotix Sphero 2B
The robotic section at CES 2014 was in full swing. What caught our attention is theOrbotix’s Sphero 2B, a very swift robot with a rugged, tubular two-wheel design. Interestingly, Sphero B can travel a mile in just over six minutes or 14 feet per second. It can be controlled via your iOS device, and one can connect it to an iOS device using Bluetooth LE. The robot has been designed for multiplayer games with customizable tires and accessories. It includes an array of multiplayer games and is completely programmable. It will be available during fall for $100.
A rugged robot for playing games
3Doodler 3D printing pen
Among all the 3D printers at CES this year, what caught our eye was a 3D printing pen. Making 3D printing even easier, 3Doodler has allows freehand drawing of 3D objects. It “looks” as simple as using a sketch pen or crayon. The 3D pen began as a Kickstarter project, the company has already shipped 20,000 such pens to all those who contributed to the project. It works by heating and melting corn-based plastic that cools off immediately. It’s a bit like sketching in the air
How about freehand 3D drawing?
Clio Glass speaker
ClearView Audio’s Clio Glass speaker shows off a unique design with an ultra-thin, curved acrylic glass transducer. Unlike traditional cone speakers that push out sound from the rear, company’s “Edge Motion” system ensures that the sound is pushed out through the sides. So it emits sound in multiple directions. The Clio is available for pre-order at $349, but will start shipping only by late March.
Invisible speakers
Razer Project Christine
Next up is Razer’s Project Christine, which will allow gamers to build their own mean machine using modular fittings. Dubbed Project Christine PC, it will allow users to keep their rig up-to-date, by making each component a separate module, so you can pick and choose exactly what you want to replace or upgrade. The company plans to offer a subscription model for the PC.
For an up-to-date gaming rig
Dacor’s Android cooking range
This isn’t the first time that Android has tried to get into your kitchen, but it has definitely become a lot smarter at culinary skills. Dacor’s Discovery iQ Dual-Fuel Range comes with an integrated Android tablet. The smart professional cooking range also tags along a Remote iQ Cooking app so that users can control it via any smartphone or tablet. The built-in tablet has a 7-inch display with Android 4.0 that supports all Google apps, so you can quickly look up a recipe’s app before firing up the burner.
Android gets into your kitchen…again
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