Last month, we witnessed one of the worlds biggest technology events, in which many new products and about-to-be-released ones were showcased. I am talking about the CES 2018, that happened in Las Vegas and some of you may be tired of reading for it again and again, but the topic of this discussion about the event is slightly different from others.
We pointed out the best things that were seen there, but we have not pointed out the weird parts about it, right? There were sure lots of candidates about the top 3 spots, so it was a bit hard to pick the weirdest ones but we managed to do it. I hope you have fun reading on…
SmartBed that rocks you to sleep…?
The Rocking Bed does exactly what its name implies: it swings gently back and forth to help its occupants fall asleep, just like parents rock babies when they want to get them to fall dreming. The creator, whose name is Mark Russell, came up with the “brilliant” idea after finding that he was able to fall asleep more easily while on a cruise ship during a vacation. As such, he wanted to create a bed that did a similar swaying motion, so this is the result…
The Rocking Bed will have a timer so that owners can set the rocking motion to stop once they fall asleep, and it will retail for $3,000. I wonder what’ll happen if you forget to set a timer and when you wake up you think that an earthquake’s happening, or you may get sea-sick.
Dancing and singing robots
At one of the booths at the event, there was a display of several iPal robots, all singing and moving their arms to the sound of the music. These robots, with their brightly colored accents and friendly faces, are meant to function as teaching assistants in the classroom or as companions that can help with elder care. In one demo, an iPal robot sang the famous children’s song, “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” while moving its arms and head accordingly.
The robot is currently available for developers in the U.S. and a consumer product will be coming later this year, so if you happen to be interested you’ll have to wait. Until then, you can go to a dance class and learn how to dance instead of waiting for a robot with limited movements to teach you…
A robotic suitcase that follows you
Robotics company ForwardX wants to make sure you never lose your luggage again — or have to lug it around the airport. The company showcased a robotic suitcase called the CX-1 that uses a 170-degree wide-angle camera and laser radars to detect and avoid obstacles. It even has four-wheel drive so that it doesn’t lose its balance when driving uphill or across unusual terrain like a dirt road.
Should anything go wrong, the suitcase includes a built-in alarm system that communicates with a wristband to alert owners when they’re too far from the CX-1 or if its battery is running low. I don’t actually know how will it work on rough/bumpy terrains, but I suppose that it will not perform that well…
