CES 2016: From holograms to animatronic tails

Bartesian

It’s all about convenience these days, from coffee that comes in pods to 10 Vins D-vine smart wine machine. So the idea of a machine that will prepare cocktails for you from pods is either one that will appeal because it’s easy and you quite fancy a fuss-free cocktail every now and again, or make you recoil in horror at the thought of stripping the art out of cocktail making. Even if it’s the latter, you can’t deny that the Bartesian system looks very easy. Insert your cocktail pod of choice, set the strength, and you are good to go. The pods contain ingredients such a fruit concentrate, bitters and non-alcoholic liqueurs; you still have to add the spirits yourself.

In-tail

Did you know that wagging your fake tail is a good workout? Neither did I. But apparently, that’s one of the reasons for the creation of In-Tail’s animatronic tails: a good tail wagging session works wonders for the core. Aimed at festival goers, cos-play fans and people who really, really want to see what it’s like to have a tail, the device is customisable, with a number of different covers to choose from.

There are plans to make a smaller one for children, but the big news of CES was the company’s digital tail, which will be programmable to have different movements - dog, cat and so on -, will connect to your smartphone via bluetooth, and will move as you do.

You may ask why, but In-Tail’s founders would ask: why not?

Owlet

Parents, we’ve all been there. Watching the baby monitor like a hawk trying to make sure your infant is still breathing, and having at least one panic attack per night because for a few seconds, you’re not entirely sure. And as we all know by now, babies love to hold their breathing pattern just enough to make you think that there’s a problem, panic and start off up the stairs, only to start breathing normally again, noisily.

With Owlet, there’s no guessing or monitor watching. The smart monitor uses pulse oximetry to watch oxygen levels and heart rate in infants, and it’s been created in sock form. The sensors inside the sock are communicated to a smartphone app via a base station in the baby’s room. If there is a problem, such as a dip in heart rate out of normal range or a drop in blood oxygen level that could indicate a problem, the monitor will alert you.

No more guess work, and it will only costs $50 when it starts selling at retail.

Kino-mo holographic displays

If you stopped by Kino-mo’s booth, you were lucky to get anywhere near it. The company’s 3D displays are an eye-catching crowd puller, and it’s not hard to see why. Kino-mo displays are holographic in appearance, and are being pitched as a hologram for the mass-market. It’s based on what looks like propellers and LED lights; the effect when the unit starts up is very much like a hologram. The idea is to use it as an advertising prop, but my favourite display at the booth involved Ghostbuster’s Slimer.

Bedphones

Headphones you can sleep in. That’s Bedphones’ unique selling point. They’re thinner than regular on-ear headphones, comes with a thicker cable, and they pair up with an app to help you fall asleep. The app can be set to shut off after a certain time, or use motion detection to recognise when you’ve fallen asleep. At $60 though, they’re not cheap.