Gadget show at las Vegas displays quirky everyday items
Cellphone for directionsIJ
French startup Spinali Design has created jeans that will vibrate on your right or left hip to let you know which direction you should head. A chip embedded into the waist is connected to an app. Just enter your destination ahead of time.
Of course, a smartwatch can do that, too, but why get something that can do moreIJ The technological capabilities of the jeans are limited to directions. However, the company also has bikinis that will buzz when you’re out in the sun too long and need to apply more sunscreen lotion. You enter information on your skin type and SPF level of your sunscreen into an app. The chip then monitors the sun rays. Spinali says the chip should last four years even with constant use and will turn off automatically when wet to avoid damage. The jeans cost about $100, and the bikinis about $140.
Suffering from stress or low self-esteemIJ
A Danish company called HelloMind has a hypnotherapy app that claims to offer the perfect fix just a click away. Just download the HelloMind app and choose the area to work on, whether that’s to get rid of a phobia or strengthen a certain aspect of your personality.
If you need immediate relief, you can get five minutes of complete relaxation. Press play for the soothing sounds of a hypnotherapist.Of course, plenty of people don’t take hypnosis seriously to begin with, so why not do it on an appIJ The treatment consists of 10 half-hour sessions. Each session is about $9, or just pay $13 per month.
Professor Einstein
Professor Einstein, a miniature educational robot, looks eerily like the genius himself — complete with the crazy wiry hair. The company behind it, Hanson Robotics, says it’s the first commercial robot with emotive features.
It’s one of dozens of robots on display at the CES tech show, which runs through Sunday in las Vegas. One can mow your lawn; another folds your clothes. Professor Einstein is expected to come out in March for about $300. The robot stands more than 14 inches tall and has soft skin. The company says it has 50 realistic expressions. It can stick his tongue out and move his eyes around to follow you.
The robot interacts with an Android or Apple tablet — not a smartphone — to teach science, math and other subjects. It recognises your voice and responds to your questions. It also can offer weather updates and recite facts about famous people.
Andy Rifkin, chief technology officer at Hanson, says the company’s focus is to offer complex emotions. For those concerned about privacy, he says the robot’s camera tracks your face but doesn’t take photos.
Drone deliveryIJ
Many companies hope to use robots to deliver food to your hotel room, or packages and sundries to your home. But they still have plenty of issues to work out. like safety, for instance. “Now is the time for drone delivery,” said Helen Greiner, the founder of CyPhy Works, a startup that’s testing the use of drones with UPS to make commercial deliveries. But she noted that companies have to guard against accidents - like, say, drones dropping packages on people’s heads, or falling out of the sky themselves.
The drones weigh 15 pounds, not counting the packages they carry, Greiner said at a robotics session at the CES gadget show Friday.
On the ground, businesses not only face safety concerns but the need to educate consumers who might be shocked by having a robot show up at their front door.
Steve Cousins, CEO and founder of Savioke, is in the midst of deploying 50 robots to various hotels, which rent them for a monthly fee to deliver room service items. Preparing guests for the arrival of their mechanical assistants can be a challenge. Cousins told the story of one surprised hotel guest who slammed the door on a delivery robot— only to reopen it, camera in hand, to take a photo.