Future Schlock: 7 Weird, Must-Have Home Tech Gadgets From CES
Future Schlock: 7 Weird, Must-Have Home Tech Gadgets From CES
The future has arrived, and it’s strange. No, we’re not talking about the prospect of yet another “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie. We’re talking about technology!
The next wave of home products is on ample display at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the country’s largest and glitziest annual technology expo.
We rounded up the top seven must-have home gadgets and appliances featured this week at CES, and we can almost guarantee you’ll be fantasizing about a home robot you can call your own by the time you reach the end of this list. Almost.
1. Speakers that levitate
Provided by LG Electronics
Nope, this isn’t a low-budget sci-fi movie. It’s reality. LG’s PJ9 Levitating Speaker does just that, hovering above its charging station while playing your favorite party, cardio, or chill-out music mix. The small, 360-degree speaker stays afloat using electromagnets. When it runs low on battery charge (it lasts about 10 hours), it reattaches itself to its charging station so the music keeps on playing.
Why levitate? Because it can!
So let’s get this party started—just as soon as LG announces when it’ll be released and how much it will cost.
2. The snore-destroying, toe-warming smart bed
Sleep Number
Does your partner snore loud enough to keep the shar-pei next door awake? Or move around restlessly and endlessly throughout the night? Instead of gorging on Ambien to catch some much-needed sleep, you can turn to this smart mattress to warm your feet, wake you up at just the right moment during your lightest stage of morning sleep, and automatically adjust to contour to your body and your partner’s.
It can even detect if someone’s snoring and automatically raise the head of their side of the bed a bit to discourage it. The bed is slated to hit the market in the first half of 2017. Relationship saved (maybe).
3. A home robot that really knows you
Provided by Emotech
The Olly is similar to the Amazon Echo: It’s able to connect and control your home lighting, heating, and security systems. But this nifty little robot, which looks like a futuristic speaker that sits on a table, has a twist. It’s equipped with artificial intelligence allowing it to recognize individual faces, voices, and even moods of everyone living in the home—and then adapt its personality accordingly.
The device was created by London-based startup Emotech and developed by a group of neuroscience and machine learning scientists. It’s expected to be released this spring.
4. A go-anywhere ‘screenless TV’
Provided by XGIMI
Chinese-based company XGIMI has created what it’s billing as the “entertainment center of the future,” which will beam movies, TV shows, and even video games onto nearly any surface imaginable. So why not ditch the TV and binge-watch all of your favorite episodes of “The Walking Dead,” “Game of Thrones,” or even “Kevin Can Wait” on the walls, window shades, or the refrigerator? The Z4 Aurora Screenless TV, which raised $100,000 from the crowdfunding site Indiegogo.com, features an up-to-300-inch screen, top-notch speakers, and an Android-powered computer.
The box is available on Amazon.com starting at $699.
5. A refrigerator that’s a cook’s best friend
LG Electronics
If you’re looking only for a place to keep your groceries cold, this probably isn’t the fridge for you. If, however, you’d like an appliance that can search for recipes, play music, place Amazon.com orders, and even talk to you, this one’s for you.
The InstaView Refrigerator comes with a 29-inch LCD screen that can allow folks to peer inside without opening the door and send screenshots of what’s inside to its owners while they’re food shopping. And yes, it can remind you when the eggs are about to go bad.
The only downside? LG hasn’t yet said when it will become available. We’re waiting.
6. Device charging that comes from above
Provided by Ossia
It’s time to throw away the nightmare tangle of power plugs and charging wires. The Cota Tile can be installed like a ceiling tile and remotely charge most home devices such as phones and laptops.
And here’s the bonus: You don’t even need to tell it to do so. The tile uses receivers to detect when a device is low on juice and then automatically repowers it. (The devices must be Cota-enabled for it to work.) Its maker, Ossia, is licensing the technology to other companies to build it, so a production and release date is still on the horizon.
7. Clean composting right in your kitchen
Whirlpool Corporation
The Zera Food Recycler may be a lifesaver for those who vigilantly separate their papers, plastics, and metals each week. The device, which looks like a sleek trash can, turns food scraps into fertilizer for the garden without the mess—or the smell! You just load it up with about a week’s worth of orange peels, leftover pasta, and chicken bones (as well as the moldy contents of that Tupperware container tucked in the back of your fridge), and it’ll all be ready to go in 24 hours.
The recycler will retail for $1,199. But a limited number of backers can snatch it up for $699 if they preorder on Indiegogo.com.
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