CES, the world’s largest consumer electronics fair, is where the planet’s most innovative inventions are showcased at the beginning of each year: from giant monitors to helmets that test visual health to heated beds or rotating televisions. The CTA, the organizing association of the event, has awarded its innovation awards since 1976 to those products that stand out for their design and engineering. These are some of the most original devices recognized in this edition, which takes place this week in Las Vegas.
A pillow with ‘airbags’
Motion Pillow 3 is a pillow that detects the position of the user’s head and the sound of snoring. Inside it has air bags that inflate “to optimize the position of the head of the sleeper without disturbing sleep, reducing or stopping snoring.” So explains Sophie Lee, from the company that developed this device, 10Minds: “People snore because their airways are closed and this pillow tries to open them by turning its head.”
This is one of the award-winning devices in the health and well-being category, in which a smart helmet to prevent work accidents, a system to detect from a photo if a pet has an eye or eye disease, has also been awarded. the skin, a bottle that monitors the feeding of a baby or a company that prints glasses in 3D optimized for the face of each user.
An application to identify lost dogs
In 2020, 162,000 dogs and 124,000 cats were lost or abandoned in Spain, according to the Affinity Foundation. In the category of software and mobile applications, an award-winning application that uses artificial intelligence to identify a dog by its nose. “Like people’s fingerprints, each dog’s nose is unique,” say its creators. This has not been the only recognized animal innovation in this category. Bird Buddy is a smart bird feeder that records every time a bird stops at it. In addition, it uses artificial intelligence to recognize more than 1,000 species, which is why its creators compare it to Pokemon Go.
A camera on the neck and a jewel to send alerts
Linklet is a neckband that has a wide-angle camera at one end and five microphones. Yusuke Takano, from the creative company, Fairy Devices, explains that when the user puts it on, other people can view the same thing as him in real time through a video call. All while keeping your hands free. This can be useful, for example, for cooking classes online, show someone how to fix a device or make recordings while sightseeing.
This device has been awarded in the category of wearable technology (wearables). In it, they have also been awarded a patch that adheres to the chest and monitors body temperature, a device to measure the heart rate, respiration and activity of dogs or a bracelet called Myeli that allows sending an alert and the location to emergency contacts if you are in danger. “You only have to press a button for your five security contacts to receive a message that says, for example, ‘I need you,” says Coralice García, from Myeli. It is also possible to press the button twice to warn that “you have arrived home or you are safe”.
Windows that turn into screens
VideowindoW turns entire glass facades into huge transparent screens that can play back recordings. These windows, designed to be installed for example in airports, can also control glare. “We can control the light in an intelligent way,” says Francisco Ayala, an employee of VideoWindoW. When playing a video, it is possible to change the color “to let in only a certain amount of light”: “For example, if vegetation appears in the video, you can make the plants grow to block more light and make them smaller or die to block less light ”.
Its creators assure that with these facades up to 30% of the total energy consumption of the building systems can be saved by reducing the need for air conditioning by 20% and the use of interior lighting by 10%. In addition to these windows, in the category of smart cities a sensor that allows calling the elevator without having to touch the button, a system that monitors the water supply of cities or a glass that repels drops from the lens of cameras to be able to record clear images even when it rains.
A tractor to reduce herbicide use
A gigantic robot that uses machine learning to differentiate plants from weeds and spray the latter with herbicide. This award-winning machine, called See & Spray in the robotics category, promises to reduce herbicide use by up to 80%. A robot dedicated to the vineyards and a fully electric smart tractor that can perform certain operations without a driver have also been honored. Its creators emphasize that, in this way, “the labor shortage is alleviated and performance is maximized.”
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