Tech enthusiasts are no doubt aware that the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is taking place this week in Las Vegas. The annual event serves as a preview of our high-tech future, and as always, includes many technological innovations that promise to better and/or simplify our home life.
Below are 10 gadgets being demo’d at this year’s expo that are sure to usher your home into the new digital age (as if it wasn’t there already)…
Goji Smart Lock
Did your spouse lock themselves out of the house again? No problem. You can let them in remotely via your smartphone with the Goji Smart Lock. The device can also give time-controlled access to others via text message, while a built-in camera takes a picture of anyone at the door and sends it to the homeowner’s smartphone. It’s like a CCTV peephole.
DoorBot
To go along with your smartphone-connected door lock, you’re going to need a smartphone-connected doorbell. Enter: DoorBot, a sleek, Wi-Fi enabled doorbell that feeds a live video of any visitor directly to your smartphone.
Porcelain LED mug
Intel’s concept LED coffee mug lights up via a companion app to display numbers, letters and crude smiley faces in various colors. As Engadget explains, Intel is demoing the product at this year’s CES alongside its internet-connected baby onesie, in which the mug’s pulsing lights will match a child’s breathing patterns. You know, so you can monitor your kid by staring at a coffee cup instead of having a baby monitor on the table.
$499 3D Printer
Sure, any tech company worth its salt has a line of 3D printers in the works, but Taiwan-based XYZprinting’s model stands out for its affordable, sub-$500 price tag. Just think of all the money you’ll save printing your own iPhone cases and plastic firearms.
Simplicam
Simplicam is a home surveillance system that uses facial recognition software to tell you who’s lurking in or around your house. The Wi-Fi-connected cameras will recognize your family members and tell you via your phone or computer when someone is not supposed to be there. George Orwell was right, in the future Big Brother will always be watching.
World’s most comfortable chair
Known as The Gesture, this office chair is touted as the first ever to “support posture changes specifically influenced by technology devices we use today.” Steelcase, the development company behind the design, conducted a study in 11 countries, observing 2,000 people in a wide range of postures and uncovered nine new sitting positions as a result of the way we use new technology like tablets and smartphones.
Canary home security system
We first told you about Canary, the home security system you control from your phone, back in July. Since then, the developers easily surpassed their fundraising target of $2 million and are now moving ahead with full-scale production. They are using this year’s CES to update consumers on improvements to the system and its accompanying mobile app, which, according to Engadget, takes many design cues from Apple’s latest mobile OS.
Ultra HD TVs
A number of manufactures are working on their own line of Ultra HD TVs, or 4K TVs, which have four times the pixels of a regular HD screen. This will become increasingly important to consumers as the average TV screen size hits the 100-inch milestone.
Bendable TV
Do you wish your TV could bend? No? Well, Samsung went ahead and designed one that can anyway. Why, you ask? According to the technology company, a curved screen will enhance the viewing experience, creating a 3D-like effect without the need to wear 3D glasses. And yes, these TVs will employ the aforementioned 4K technology.
Panasonic Nanoe blowdryer
Panasonic’s Nanoe blowdryer dries your hair without drying it out. How? By taking the moisture from your hair and in the air, and using it to create “tiny, moisture-rich particles that are small enough to penetrate the shafts of your hair, helping to strengthen and protect it against damage from heat and brushing.” It’s like a blowdryer-humidifier combo.
