Tech show features new health devices
Top five picks of trends seen at CES 2019
THE world’s biggest consumer tech show had some pretty impressive devices to help the world be healthier. These are our top five picks of the tech trends in health and beauty seen at CES 2019.
1. MASSAGE CHAIRS
The questionable massage chairs seen at shopping centres are on their way out, ready to be replaced by machines capable of a decent massage. Highend chairs were on show all across CES but the best of the best was the Lamborghini massage chair.
Equipped with surroundsound speakers, customised massage and ambient lighting, Lamborghini’s version even promises a brain massage for anyone with the coin to spend on one.
2. BOT CARE
Samsung’s wide-eyed health care robot Bot Care was a key attraction at their enormous CES 2019 booth. It’s one in a series of bots that each have specific purposes.
Bot Care has plenty of potential to help older people living away from their families. It can remind people about their medication, lead them in stretching and yoga routines (with added robot dancing) and measure blood pressure and heart rate.
If sensors are installed, it can also detect when someone has fallen or if they’ve suddenly changed their routine. And it can remotely send this information back to family members or care givers.
It could be seriously useful for older people who want to stay in their own homes who need a little help.
3. AI EXERCISE
Can’t meet up with your gym buddy? You won’t need to if these machines filter down to Aussie fitness facilities. Artificial intelligence was everywhere at CES this year, and exercise was no different.
Our favourite was the Bot Boxer, an AI boxing device that learns about its human opponent and helps them train.
You could pair it up with Imec’s ingestible health sensors to take fitness monitoring to a new level
4. BRAIN MONITORING
Amid the noise of CES, the Muse brain monitoring headband was a welcome five minutes of meditation.
The band goes across your forehead and uses brain monitoring to measure whether your mind is active or calm. The smartphone app it pairs with will guide you through meditation and help keep your brain focused.
Even if it’s just a few minutes of rainforest noises, people interested in taking meditation seriously probably wouldn’t mind wearing the obnoxious band.
5. PREGNANCY AND BABY TRACKING
Parenting is going high tech. CES innovators showed everything from smart lamps for cots to tracking bands for pregnant women. The Owlet tracking band won a CES innovation award and will likely be a big hit with expectant parents who don’t want more information during the last trimester.
The blue fabric band comes equipped with an inbuilt monitor that tracks the baby’s heart rate and a way to track kicks and sleeping positions
The writer travelled to Las Vegas as a guest of Samsung Australia.