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CES 2015

Shoes

Digitsole Keeps Your Feet Toasty No Matter The Weather

January 22, 2015

GlaGla Digitsole

French footwear company GlaGla recently showed off their crowdfunded Digitsole. Simply place the insole into your shoe and experience toasty 120 degree Fahrenheit warmth for 6 to 9 hours. They are rechargeable via Micro USB. The shoe insert slides into your footwear like something from Dr. Scholls and incorporates the heating elements, rechargeable battery, and circuitry. You control the temperature via an iOS or Android app that connects through Bluetooth 4.0. Since it would be a waste to have something under your feet not collecting information, Digitsole also tracks steps taken and calories burnt. Everything sounds perfect about the product until you get to the price. At $200 for a pair, most people will not be picking up Digitsole to stay warm while running weekend errands. Clearly with that price the company is targeting people who spend a lot of time outside during the winter or live in extreme winter weather. Digitsole is currently available for preorder and will ship in February. Video after the break: 

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by Doug Parker
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Watches

LG Is Working With Audi On WebOS Smartwatch

January 20, 2015

LG Audi webOS Smartwatch

In October we reported that LG briefly posted reference to webOS making its way onto the company’s wearable devices. While nothing was announced at CES, several astute reporters spotted a special Audi smartwatch from LG. The watch was on the show floor to demo interconnectivity between the device and a car and was likely not intended to be outed quite yet. The most intriguing aspect of the device is not the Audi tie-in, but that the unannounced device was discovered to be running webOS. We are likely to find out more at Mobile World Congress in February.

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by Doug Parker
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Retail

Lowe’s Robotic Store Clerk Aims To Make Shopping Easier

January 20, 2015

Lowe's Innovation Labs OSHBotLowe’s, yes that Lowe’s, Innovation Labs are currently testing a new concept in retail assistance. The OSHBot serves as a virtual store clerk. Simply tell the robot what you are looking for and it will lead you through the store to the item. You can communicate with the machine via voice recognition or touch screen. As the robot leads you to the product you are looking for, it displays ads and special offers on its back side. While the concept makes perfect since within the hardware giant’s labyrinth-like stores, it also would be very suitable inside department stores, where patience is quickly tested as you search for one particular item.

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by Doug Parker
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Retail

Toshiba Demos Virtual “Fitting Room” Technology

January 20, 2015

Toshiba Virtual Fitting RoomToshiba recently demoed its vision of what a fitting room of the future could be. Simply stand in front of the video screen “mirror”, select the outfit you want to see, and then it will appear on you. The fitting room uses a Kinect sensor to accurately place you in the space and apply the computer generated clothing on your image. The technology seems a bit reminiscent of early webcam days, when software would let you virtually apply an eye patch or have birds circle your head. Ray-ban has a lower tech version of a virtual “fitting room” concept on their website (no connection to Toshiba’s tech), allowing you to virtually try on different sunglasses using the video from your webcam. It is far from perfect, and hopefully utilizing the technology in the Kinect helps Toshiba realize better results. As it currently exists, this type of technology doesn’t provide any feedback regarding fit, its use case seems to be limited to understanding what a certain style would look like on you.

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by Doug Parker
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Purse

Leoht Launching “Tech” Handbag

January 20, 2015

Leoht Tote

If the $5,000 Ricky Bag With Light is a little steep for you, but you are looking for a leather purse to charge your devices, Leoht’s “tech” handbag might be what you are looking for. While it is definitely lacking the iconic style of Ralph Lauren’s Ricky Bag, it makes up for it with a couple of key features. First, price. Loeht’s bag should cost between $300 and $650 (depending on style and battery size) when it hits Kickstarter in the coming months. Second, one of the biggest shortcomings we noted about the Ricky Bag is that there was no wireless / inductive charging ability. You had to connect a USB cord to the purse. Leoht’s bags will come with a special charging plate so all you need to do is set the bag down on it to refill the battery. This is all great news! Unfortunately there are a few downsides though. The tote version of the handbag weighs almost 3 pounds with nothing in it. Depending on how much you have to haul your bag around during the day, that could end up being very unpleasant, especially once you add your laptop, papers, and a lunch. Also, the elegance of the automatic light on the Ricky is abandoned for a switched light that you have to turn on and off whenever you use it. Leoht expects to release a tote and hobo version of their bag when sales start on Kickstarter.

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by Doug Parker
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Eyewear

JINS’s New Glasses Can Track Eye Movement

January 14, 2015

JINS Meme Smart Eyeglasses

While Japanese company JINS calls their new eyewear smart-glasses, they don’t have a screen or present you with information from your phone. Instead the brains behind the Meme eyewear are designed to utilize discrete sensors to track the movement of your eyes. In each nosepad there is a three-point electrooculography (EOG) sensor. Built into the frames are a gyroscope and accelerometer. Combined these sensors can estimate energy levels, gauge fatigue, estimate calories burnt, judge posture, and count blinks (?). While the overall utility of Meme probably still needs to be sorted out, JINS is working with health tech company Omron to develop applications. Perhaps the most exciting aspect of Meme is that the frames are almost indistinguishable from something you might pick up at Warby Parker.

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by Doug Parker
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Emotia Belty Smart Belt
Fashion, Wearable Technology

Belty, the Auto Adjusting Smart-Belt

January 14, 2015

Emotia Belty Smart Belt

We didn’t know we needed a smart-belt until we saw it but now it is on our list. Sure Emiota’s Belty is able to track your daily activity, vibrate when it is time to move, and monitor changes in your waist line. It also connects to your phone via Bluetooth 4.0. These are all great things to have built into a belt, which you would need to be wearing anyways. But the attention grabbing feature is straight out of Back To The Future 2; the belt will auto adjust when you sit, stand up, or eat too much, maintaining a consistent tightness. Simply put Belty on, tighten it so that it is a comfortable tightness, and double tap the buckle to let it know that is how tight you like it. Belty will then work all day to maintain the same tightness in the belt. The device on display at CES was an early prototype but Emiota is hopeful is can bring a more polished (and miniaturized) version of Belty to market by the end of the year.

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by Doug Parker
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