5 everyday things that just got smarter
The Mattress: A mattress with biometric sensors will track your heart rate, breathing and movement. Its app will even nudge you to get to bed earlier if, after talking to your digital calendar, it finds out you have an early-morning meeting. The Sleep Number “It” bed goes on sale this summer, starting at $1,000. The Shoe: A plethora of smart shoes, including high heels, greeted CES guests this year. This was also an area where Under Amour, a sports apparel firm, made its fitness tracking debut. The UA SpeedForm Gemini 2 Record Equipped stores all the usual data (date, duration, distance) so you can leave the phone and other gadgets at home. On sale Feb. 29 for $150. The Water Bottle: A water bottle that bugs you to stay hydrated? Yup. LifeFuels’ 18-ounce bottle senses liquid levels and syncs your usage to a mobile app. If you’ve linked it to your FitBit or other wearable, it’ll send a reminder to drink up after exercising. There is a low-tech piece, too. The company is selling K-Cup-like vitamin pods that auto-dispense into water. The Brassiere: It seems strange that a piece of clothing can offer more health stats and biometric data than a fitness wristband. But that’s what to expect from the OMbra by OMsignal, which is made from “re-engineered smart fabric.” Just don’t forget to snap the waterproof “Smart box” to the bra — and clean it off after exercising. Available this spring. The Vent: If certain rooms at home stay empty for days or months, there is a benefit to Smart Vents from Keen Home, which introduced new vent filters at last week’s CES. Open and close the vents via smartphone or set the temperature sensors to auto adjust. What if the power goes out? Go back to the old way of manually adjusting vents yourself.