Cove
Doom scrolling, pandemic stress, general anxiety: All of this takes a massive toll on sleep. Cove is designed to counteract this, promising less anxiety and a better night’s sleep thanks to a lightweight headset that delivers patented (and gentle) vibrations to your skin behind your ear, which has a calming effect—specifically to the inner cortex of the brain, which is the part that manages sensations from your body. The result is less stress, more sleep and early reviews are positive. Many have reported improved focus and less fatigue simply by using it for 20 minutes each night. Some even pop it on while watching Netflix as a better way to decompress. I like the idea of a more targeted meditation and one that taps into our body’s physiological response. And if it helps you drift off to la la land faster, even better. #ces2022
Infinity Game Table
It’s the ultimate upgrade on family game night. The Infinity Game Table from Arcade1Up means you don’t have to dig through the closet to find your favorite board game. Instead, up to six players can gather around the touch screen table—or play with friends and family worldwide—and choose from dozens of long-adored favorites. (Monopoly, Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit, even Candy Land are just a few of the board games available.) I love that this virtual experience solves one of the biggest game night pain points: Each player gets their own personalized perspective, based on their position around the table. There are also haptic feedback sensors that add to the thrill of something as simple as rolling the dice. Am I partial to the tactile experience of pulling a board game out of the box? Yes, but bringing the arcade experience to at-home game night is fun and engaging and I love the ability to challenge friends near and far. (Note: Everyone has to have their own table to participate.)
Motion Pillow 3
The search for the perfect pillow always feels a bit elusive, but Motion Pillow 3 has a solve that’s intriguing. By sensing head position and keeping an ear out for snoring, it triggers airbags inside the pillow that inflate to make adjustments and optimize the way your head lies on the pillow without interrupting your sleep. Whoa. The goal of course is to keep the upper respiratory tract secure since snoring can lead to health risks like sleep apnea, dementia and more. It’s supposed to be comfortable, too.
Wave
Art ownership in NFT form is all the rage, but once you invest, how do you display it? The Wave by Atomic Form makes it a breeze with its 4K LCD IPS display that not only showcases what you bought, it verifies ownership and makes it possible for you to lend out your NFT to other Atomic Form users. I love that the design of this product mimics the look of a fine art frame, but also that it provides an answer that definitely comes up as we explore the increasing use of blockchain technology.
Cradlewise Smart Crib
Smart baby monitors are one thing, but a smart crib? This design from Cradlewise promises “predictive rocking” meaning that, for babies between the ages of 0 and 2, it will detect early signs of wakeup and start to rock and play music to help your baby go back to sleep. Kind of creepy, no? The smart crib even learns your baby’s sleep patterns, much like mom and dad—except this kind of makes it sound like, as a parent, you can log off and let this self-learning crib do the work? Especially in the early days, responding to sleep cues feels like something we’re not ready to outsource.
Josh AI Nano
As anyone with a smart speaker can attest, it’s a frustrating experience when they struggle to understand your voice. Josh.Ai fixes this problem thanks to its powerful microphone, now available in nano form. (Seriously, it’s so tiny, it’s practically invisible on your wall.) What’s different about Josh is that it was designed specifically to control smart home systems, which means it’s tech is top-notch. It knows what room you’re commanding it from and also can pivot between commands without constant name-calling. (Meaning there’s no, “OK, Josh, play Britney Spears” followed by another “OK, Josh” just to adjust the volume.) My favorite part is the privacy control. You can physically disconnect the microphone of the Josh Nano using a built-in switch.
Head Office
Zoom 2.0? Native Union has reimagined the virtual workforce with its Head Office headset, designed to usher AR and VR into our workday to boost productivity and interactivity with our colleagues. The visor is sleek and ergonomic. Flip it up and you’ll see an AR interface, designed to showcase your workspace and your to-do’s while tuning distractions out. Flip it down and VR is what you’ll experience via a custom environment for you and your colleagues to brainstorm and collaborate. Will it replace in-person work? I doubt it, but it’s definitely a potential improvement upon the 2D digital office experience via our screens, not to mention the many distractions we face while working from home.
Luminate
We all worry about aging and the impact of our daily habits in the sun. The scary part: The actual extent of UV damage can be tough for even a dermatologist to detect. That’s why I love DermTech’s new at-home skin test. It uses a smart sticker to detect UV damage at the DNA level, so you can find abnormalities and react long before the impact is visible on your skin. (The sticker is the first of its kind to extract nucleic acid from non-invasive skin samples that then get analyzed to look for key genes that indicate UV damage.) Within 3 to 5 days, you’ll get your results including a road map for what to do next. Things like changing your diet, wearing more sunscreen or scheduling a treatment designed to restore damaged skin are all options. Think about it: UV damage is the number one cause of premature aging and DNA damage, which can cause skin cancer. A test like this could be a game-changer.
Movano
Another year, another smart ring—but what stood out to me about this one from Movano is that its target audience is women, a rarity in the world of wearable tech. The ring is optimized to help you make connections between how you feel and your health measuring everything from heart rate, heart rate variability, sleep, respiration, temperature, blood oxygen, steps, calories and more. It syncs with an app that delivers continuous health data to caregivers, too, but also takes it a step further to translate that into productive insights and recommendations for lifestyle changes. Bottom line: It’s chic, but it also supplies an intuitive plan of action that’s actually useful.
LG Tiiun
Directly translated, Tiiun means “to sprout” in Korean—the perfect name for this freestanding indoor gardening appliance from LG. With it, you can cultivate vegetables, herbs, even flowers year-round from the comfort of your own home and minus the worry of unfavorable weather, pests and more. I love how pretty it is, but also the speed at which it works. (Users can grow a variety of greens simultaneously and expect results in just four to eight weeks, thanks to LG’s proprietary tech.) It’s never seemed easier to have a green thumb.
Moen Smart Faucet
A smart faucet at the kitchen sink is life-changing. (Anyone who’s experienced one can attest.) But the latest Smart Faucet advancement from Moen delivers big thanks to gesture control. Basically, the hands-free wave sensor makes it possible to select hot, cold or warm water—you can even adjust water flow—with a quick motion of the hand, no touch required. (In an increasingly contactless world, thanks to COVID, this is huge.) There’s more: Voice activations make it possible to set the exact water temp and request exact measurements of water. TBH, my mind is blown. But I also can’t wait for the day when you can step up the sink and simply request a half cup of water.
Samsung Eco Remote
A shout-out to Samsung for their efforts to become more sustainable via their brand-new eco remote, made from 28 percent recycled plastic and featuring a solar panel that allow you to recharge the internal battery. (It’s designed for use with their 4K and 8K QLED TV lineup.) The battery life is two years before it needs a full recharge, but the life span should last you up to seven years in total, the typical life span of a TV. (There’s also a USB-C port should you need it to juice up faster.) This comes as the company plans to reduce TV packaging waste as well. Big change starts small!
