The wackiest (and a few not so wacky) gadgets from CES 2021

Whether you actually need them or not, gaze upon the strange!

Rather than taking over Las Vegas for several days, the CES 2021 became an all-digital experience for the first time. Companies from around the world have been sharing their greatest technologies and gadgets via some impressive interactive exhibitions on the CES platform. The cool tech gadgets we saw at CES 2021 span categories like pet care, beauty, home, personal care and even movie production. As per tradition, here are 10 wacky gadgets from this year’s CES event. Pictured above: The Hydropower shower speaker, also featured on slide 10!

Also:

Talking shower heads and toilet paper delivery bots, it’s the wackiest gadgets of CES 2020

Crew In a Box for remote video production

Crew in a Box made its CES debut with a plug and play, remote video production solution. With this technology, on-camera talent simply opens the box and plugs it in, automatically connecting the system to a remote team of world-class filmmakers who control every aspect of the shoot, including the integrated 6k cinema camera, flattering LED light, microphones, and teleprompter/Interrotron. Invented by filmmakers Ira Rosensweig, a director of Super Bowl spots, Dallas Sterling, a cinematographer, and Jeremy Fernsler, a VFX supervisor, during the first days of lockdown, this innovation enables agency and clients to join a video conference where they can view a high-resolution feed from the camera and participate as if they were on set. 

Nobi smart Lamp for fall detection

This AI-powered lamp is smart enough to notice when someone nearby falls and will even ask them if everything is okay. If no answer is given, it can call a family member or a trusted contact.  If necessary, Nobi will even open the front door. What’s more? When the inhabitant sits up in bed, Nobi lets the lights burn gently. When the inhabitant gets up, the lighting goes on fully. This way, he or she immediately sees where they are. Nobi also prevents dehydration, recognizes patterns in the behaviour of the inhabitant, measures the air quality, detects intrusion and reports fires. Of course, what does this mean for privacy? All of Nobi’s collected info is processed locally and only prompts and alerts reach the cloud. It has a built-in 4G sim card as well in case Wi-Fi goes down.

Samsung SmartThings Cooking 

A one-stop-shop that curates every step of your cooking journey, SmartThings Cooking recommends recipes that fit your tastes and dietary restrictions, then builds weekly meal plans to match. As you’re cooking, it sends recipe instructions directly to synced Samsung cooking devices—so Family Hub can order groceries and the Front Control Slide-in Range can automatically preheat, while SmartThings Cooking guides you through every step of the meal prep. Although SmartThings Cooking is a standalone service accessible via the SmartThings app, Samsung’s Family Hub owners can also enjoy meal planning conveniently from their fridge. The smart fridge offers a full-screen dedicated board optimized for SmartThings Cooking, which works with Family Hub to understand what’s inside the fridge and add missing ingredients directly to your online grocery cart for at-home delivery.

Samsung JetBot 90 AI+ 

Samsung made a host of announcements related to AI and robotics for consumers at this year’s show. Among other products, the company gave the JetBot 90 AI+ home cleaning bot some stage time. It features smart technologies that optimize its cleaning route and respond to its environment. Using a combination of sensors and AI-enhanced object recognition technology, the JetBot 90 AI+ navigates your home with the same efficiency and care you do, says the company. JetBot 90 AI+ then uses this information to clean closely around items on the floor, while being sure to maintain a safe distance from fragile or delicate objects, and to lower itself under furniture when needed. If anything is classified as dangerous or likely to cause secondary contamination, it will simply avoid the object. It will arrive in the U.S. in the first half of 2021. No plans yet for Canada.

AI-powered perfume

Imagine being able to tailor your perfume to match every occasion and mood with a lot less effort. Now, this is what we call perfume automation! If Apple would present perfume on CES 2021 it would look like this, says Marko Matijevic, the founder and inventor of Ninu – the first smart perfume in the world. The product is a simple, smart patent-pending innovation in the form of a connected device – with an AI-powered app – that is capable of fusing ingredients of the perfume so you can change scent with every spray. Imagine having hundreds of scents in the palm of your hand.

Connected personal smart mirror

You’ve seen plenty of sci-movies the standard mirror also serves as some kind of heads up display. Healthtech company Baracoda unveiled CareOS Themesis,  the privacy-first, IoT mirror that acts as a personal wellness assistant. It supports the full spectrum of home health and wellness including mental health, hygiene, and preventive healthcare. Themis is capable of providing everything from skin analysis to daily temperature checks, smart alerts, and more—all in a compact form factor with a 10-inch screen. Its articulated arm and optimized lightning enable the best tracking conditions for your skin and physical condition. The mirror collects data from more sensors than ever before such as a high-quality RGB camera, an IR temperature sensor, and a UV light for a skin analysis to improve users’ care routines. To safeguard user information, data is stored locally, encrypted using software and hardware security modules, and shared only if requested with double consent.

TCL wearable display

A movie theatre experience in your glasses. That’s the pitch from TCL, which announced its Wearable Display that provides a cinematic experience equivalent to a 140-inch screen four metres away. It lets you watch movies and play games no matter where you are. The TCL Wearable Display is a pair of light and portable glasses that come with two 1080p Full HD Micro OLED displays built-in, capable of supporting a wide range of devices. Sleek, wireless and portable. We like the sound of that. Hopefully, the price tag doesn’t slash our dreams (but who are we kidding, of course it will).

myQ Pet Portal 

The hottest tech for dogs at this year’s CES is a dog door by Chamberlain, allowing pet parents to safely let their pet out to potty and play when they are not home. Uniquely assigned myQ Pet Portal Sensor worn on the dog’s collar ensures that the cat won’t try to escape or critters won’t try to enter. The experience is managed via the myQ Pet Portal app, where pet parents can customize alerts, set preferences for how Fido can enter/exit the portal and get daily reports on a pet’s comings and goings. In addition, the solution provides live video streaming and two-way communication through the myQ. The portal comes integrated into a select offering of Kolbe doors with material and colour options. 

Hydropower shower speaker 

Launched by the tech products designer and manufacturer Ampere, Shower Power is a hydro-powered, Bluetooth shower speaker. Made from recycled ocean plastic and leveraging a hydroelectric generator, it generates 100 per cent of its power from water, thus providing endless hours of listening and fun in the shower. An internal battery of 2,500 mAh stores more than 20 hours of power so you can continue to listen to music even when the shower stops.

Smart cannabis

The world’s first smart cannabis device, Mode keeps you informed on the amount you smoke, how long you should inhale, what’s in the strain and a lot more. Designed by an engineering team composed of product (electrical and mechanical) and biomedical engineers along with experts in data science and artificial intelligence, Mode comes with an app companion that provides you with access to detailed dosage plans, product information, feedback loop, personalized recommendations and consumption analytics.


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Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

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Pragya Sehgal
Pragya Sehgal
Born and raised in the capital city of India - Delhi - bounded by the river Yamuna on the west, Pragya has climbed the Himalayas, and survived medical professional stream in high school without becoming a patient or a doctor. Pragya now makes her home in Canada with her husband - a digital/online marketing fanatic who also loves to prepare beautiful, healthy and delicious meals for her. When she isn’t working or writing around tech, she’s probably watching art films on Netflix, or wondering whether she should cut her hair short or not. Can be contacted at [email protected] or 647.695.3494.

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