Technology On The Horizon: New Quirky Technologies On Display At CES
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The final part of NY1's five-part series "Technology on the Horizon", which looks at some of the top innovations from the Consumer Electronics Show, finishes off with small, fun, gadgety finds from the show floor. NY1's Adam Balkin filed the following report.A computer screen made of mist. A fitness tracker that doesn't count your steps but rather calculates how much air you get when you jump.
CES isn't just about mainstream products. There are also lots of quirky, new technologies being shown off, technologies that almost create entirely new categories of their own, like the Targus Touch Pen for Windows 8.
Windows 8, again, is Microsoft's latest operating system, which relies heavily on touching the screen. But what if you don't have a touchscreen and don't want to run out and get one? That's what this setup is for.
"You put it on, there's a littler receiver, it connects via USB and immediately syncs with your computer," said Kelly Reeves of Targus. "It will calibrate the pen, and once it's calibrated to your computer screen, it goes up to 17 inches, then you can just write, use it for office docs, anything."
The iMusic Body Rhythm is a wireless device you wear on your shoulders that syncs to your phone or music player so that you can feel your music. It gives you a massage to the rhythm.
"You can put this device in either automatic mode, where it actually will play according to the music that you choose, or you can put it in manual mode, where you can actually play games and you can actually manually massage yourself or shake the device, and according to the rhythm of how you shake, how you play with the device with your thumbs, it will actually massage you," said Uwe Diegel of iCess.
Finally, your kids will be asking you for the ZBoard, a weight-sensing electric skateboard.
"There's an onboard motor and battery pack, and it's controlled by your weight distribution," said Geoff Larson of Intuitive Motion. "So you lean forward to go and lean back on it to slow down and go in reverse."
There are two models. One lasts for about five miles. The other lasts for 10. How hard you press determines how fast you go, which leads to the answer to the most common question: top speed, 17 miles per hour.