Technology on the Horizon: Gadget finds at CES
In the final part of our five part series Technology on the Horizon, looking at some of the top innovations from the Consumer Electronics Show, Adam Balkin finishes off with small, fun, gadget-y finds from the show floor.
To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.
Then come back here and refresh the page.
A computer screen made of mist, water vapor...a fitness tracker that doesn't count your steps but rather calculates how much air you get when you jump. CES isn't just about mainstream products, there are also lots of quirky, new technologies being shown off...technologies that almost create entirely new categories of their own.
Like the Targus Touch Pen for Windows 8. Windows 8, again, is Microsoft's latest operating system that relies heavily on touching the screen. But what if you don't have a touchscreen and don't want to run out and get one, that's what this setup is for.
“You put it on, there's a littler receiver it connects via USB immediately syncs with your computer and then will calibrate the pen and once it's calibrated to your computer screen, goes up to 17 inches, then you can just write, use it for office docs, anything,” said Kelly Reeves, Targus.
The iMusic Body Rhythm is a wireless device you wear on your shoulders that syncs to your phone or music player so that you can feel your music, get a massage to the rhythm.
“You can put this device either in automatic mode so it'll play the music you choose or you can put it in manual mode where you can play games and massage yourself, or shake the device and according to the rhythm of how you shake or how you play with the device will determine how it massages you,” said Uwe Diegel, iCess.
And finally the product here your kids will almost guaranteed be asking you for is the ZBoard, weight sensing, electric skateboard.
“There's an onboard motor and battery pack and it's controlled by your weight distribution so you lean forward to go and lean back on it to slow down or go in reverse,” said Geoff Larson, Intuitive Motion.
There are two models one lasts for about five miles the other for ten. How hard you press determines how fast you go, which leads to the answer to the most common question - top speed : 17mph.