2015/1/27 2:00:37
Source: Web
Views:1346
Comments:0
LAS VEGAS The
largest display of consumer electronics on the planet, CES, kicked off here on
Monday (Jan. 6). Among the nearly 20,000 gizmos on display are a huge
assortment of technologies designed with health and wellness in mind.
As expected,
visitors to this year's CES will see an abundance of fitness trackers for
athletes of many different sports, from marathon runners to snowboarders. But
attendees will also see gadgets and devices that monitor your health when you
aren't wearing workout clothes, such as an arm chair said to help you get fit
while you watch TV, and a Bluetooth-enabled pacifier that lets parents know
when baby is running a fever.
Live Science
scoured CES in search of the most novel technology for the health-minded set.
Here are our favorite finds so far:
Mood tracker
Lots of
wristbands at this year's CES track your steps, calories burned or time spent
working out. But one device aims to monitor your emotional health as well.
Called Being and made by Zensorium, the device is
touted as a way for people to track some of their moods throughout the day.
Built like a
smartwatch, the device features sensors that collect heart rate and blood pressure data. This
information is then used to assign the wearer a mood it doesn't register all
moods, but tells you whether you are excited, stressed, normal or calm. If
you're feeling stressed, Being provides tips on how to unwind; for example, it
may encourage you to take deep breaths.
Being also
serves as a more conventional activity tracker, monitoring your steps taken and
calories burned, as well as mapping out your sleep cycles. The device, due out
in April, will retail for $169.15, according to the company.
High-tech yoga mat
You don't need
much equipment to practice yoga, but for yoga enthusiasts who want to go
high-tech, there'sSmartMat, a yoga mat with sensors that can
detect your pose and provide feedback on how to improve your form.
Users first
calibrate the device by providing their heights and weights, and then
performing a series of poses so the mat can determine the length of the user's
limbs and torso. This helps the device provide customized feedback, such as
whether you need to adjust your position to get the perfect pose, the company said.
"The
feedback you get is very specific for your body," Leanne Beesley, a
representative for SmartMat, told Live Science. And the more you use the mat,
the more it learns about your body, Beesley said.
The SmartMat can
detect 62 different poses, and can hold a charge for six hours. The mat also
has different modes, specialized for use at home or during yoga classes. The
device is available now for pre-order at $297, and will begin shipping in July.
Workout armchair
At last year's
CES, fitness company TAO Wellness unveiled its Wellshell, a cellphone-size
fitness tracker that also works as a tiny piece of exercise equipment. The
company says that users can hold the device against their bodies to strengthen their muscles (a
technique known as isometric exercise). The device connects to an app on your
phone, which monitors your progress and teaches you new exercises. The novelty
of this product is that it can be used anywhere, at any time, allowing you to
sneak in a quick workout no matter your schedule.
But this year,
TAO has taken that idea of working out anywhere to another level. The TAO
Chair is a piece of exercise equipment that seconds as an actual chair for
your office or living room. The device lets whoever is sitting in it work out
different muscle groups. That's right, you can tone up those biceps while you
binge-watch your favorite shows or shoot off emails.
The TAO Chair
likely won't be available until the end of 2015, and the company isn't giving
up details on what the device will cost just yet. In fact, the Wellshell of
last year is still in the testing phase, and the company is also releasing no
details yet about how much that item might cost.
Smart pacifier
Any parent who
has ever tried to take a sick baby's temperature will appreciate Pacif-i, a new pacifier
that seconds as a pediatric thermometer. This smart device connects via
Bluetooth to your tablet or smartphone, allowing you to record your kid's
temperature consistently and without any struggle.
The Pacif-i app
graphs baby's temperature throughout the day, which lets parents monitor a
fever and check how well a child is responding to medication. Of course, the
pacifier can also be used when a child is well. Pacif-i features a built-in
proximity sensor that monitors the device's location, so a smartphone alarm
will warn parents if their pacifier-toting kid wanders away.
Blue Maestro,
the company behind the smart pacifier, says the device is due to ship early
this year. The expected retail price for Pacif-i is $40.00.
Never-forget pillbox
Liif is a new
connected device from wellness company Tricella that helps
you remember to take your medication. The device uses Bluetooth to connect with
smartphones and tablets, but it can also sync up with its own external hub
(which looks like a small white speaker), so that even people without the
latest tech can receive alerts at pill time.
Liif was
definitely designed with caretakers in mind, and it might help ease the stress
of adults who care for elderly family members, or parents trying to monitor
their college kids' medications from afar.
The smaller
version of Liif, which has four pill compartments, retails for $59.99. A larger
version with seven compartments goes for $74.99, and the smartphone-replacing
hub is $119.99. You can pre-order all of these products now, but the company's
website doesn't list information about when they're due to ship.
(Credit: Web)