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CES 2020: The weirdest gadgets from the world’s biggest tech show

Some of the weird gadgets shown at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES)
Some of the weird gadgets shown at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES)

While the headliners at the world’s largest technology expo tend to be mobile phones, smart home gadgetry and improbably huge televisions it wouldn’t be CES without the bewildering parade of weird and wonderful gadgets.

2020 is already off to a strong start for the bizarre, with wacky robots, spinning tellies and even more things unnecessarily connected to the internet.

Many of these may never see the public light of day, but here are our picks of the weirdest gadgets at CES 2020.

Some of the weird gadgets shown at this year's CES
Some of the weird gadgets shown at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES)

Voice-activated taps

The trend of making every device voice-activated showed no signs of letting up at this year's CES and now, it seems, even our taps are listening to us.

US company Moen was this week showcasing new, tech-savvy taps which were able to dispense exact amounts of water, at a specific temperature, on request. "Moen is revolutionising how consumers think about the water in their homes,” said company spokesman Mark-Hans Richer. Revolutionising may be a stretch – but an obedient tap is certainly something different.

The Bellabot food-delivery cat

Say hello to the meowing, moody BellaBot, a food-delivery robot able to carry up to 10kg of food to hungry restaurant diners.

Give it a scratch behind the ears upon receiving your order and it will purr with pleasure. But not for too long, with developers PuduTech saying that it “gets mad to remind you not to interrupt its job” in a mood swing worthy of a real moggy.

Bellabot
The BellaBot

‘Smart’ litter trays

Who knew that the trendiest place for artificial intelligence was where your cat does its business. But following last year’s "LavvieBot", "smart" litter trays are all the rage. These pricey tabby toilets – such as iKuddle’s self-cleaning Auto-Pack – can even help gather and analyse your pet’s stools to ensure they are in top cat condition.

LuluPet’s AI Smart Cat Litter Box, which is an honouree in CES 2020’s innovation award, is touted to have built-in stool and urine image recognition and "excretory behavioral algorithms". Which is not a phrase you might have ever expected to read.

The headless kitten

And it seems, this year, CES just can't get enough of kittens. Yukai Engineering unveiled the prototype for its headless robotic kitten at the event, something which may sound unbelievably creepy but, oddly enough, will be marketed to seniors in nursing homes. It comes a few years after a larger version was released, but, according to the company, people wanted to be able to take their devices out and about. The Petit Qoobo is small enough to fit in a bag.

What's the appeal, you may ask? Apparently its "comforting communication warms your heart the way animals do".

Samsung rotating TV

Televisions are not usually the strangest thing to see on the CES floor, but how about one that can automatically spin around to display vertically?

Samsung’s Sero TV is already available in Korea, designed to allow viewers to cast vertical video such as Instagram and TikTok from their phones to the biggest screen in the house. In theory, a telly that’s moving with the times… but hopefully one that isn’t going to fall off.

Samsung Sero
The Samsung Sero rotating TV

Lipstick mixer

Whether L’Oreal’s Perso lipstick mixer is deserving of a place on the weird list or on one of grand innovations will doubtlessly depend on your proclivities.

It is a gadget that, when connected to a smartphone app, can mix up lipstick, foundation and skin-care products to your liking.

It can also connect to your social media accounts, allowing you to mix lipstick to match your favourite YouTube "influencer". The future of make-up or social media obsessed hellscape? The choice is yours.

Wearable subwoofer

Well, someone at BassMe took the idea of "feeling the bass" a little too literally. This is a gadget that you strap to your sternum as it delivers low-frequency sound, essentially using your own ribcage as a subwoofer.

It’s unlikely many people will be strapping it on to properly feel the doofs on an episode of Eastenders of an evening, but the advertised use for virtual reality gaming does make sense. Already being used in some cinemas in France, while CES bestowed it with an innovation award. Turning yourself into a speaker? Maybe not as mad as it sounds.

Samsung’s ‘SelfieType’ invisible keyboard

If you are on a train and see a fellow commuter looking like they are playing the Moonlight Sonata on the seat-table, don’t panic, they may just be using Samsung’s "SelfieType" invisible keyboard to bash out a withering Twitter post.

The app uses the front-facing camera and an AI algorithm to offer up a virtual keyboard based on your finger tapping. A smart idea, if it works, though you rather suspect it will lead to more typo-riddled WhatsApp messages, not fewer.

Smart bins

It may sound rubbish, but Knectek Labs will be hoping its smart bin is a hit at this year’s CES – bringing an end to the horror that is a leaky bin bag. The company’s Townew smart tech bin is self-sealing, overload-detecting and odour eliminating.

When a bin is full, all someone has to do is tap the front of the can, and a sealed bag comes out. Townew even takes away the hassle of having to put in a new bag, with a “refill” function meaning bags are automatically replaced.

Townew's smart bins
Townew's smart bins

Alexa-equipped showerhead

They say the best ideas come to you in the shower – and now you can log them down as soon as they do using an Alexa-enabled showerhead.

The Kohler Moxie Showerhead is the latest in a long line of bizarrely-integrated Alexa devices, from bikes to smoke alarms and mirrors, making it easier to listen to your favourite tunes wherever you are.

The device, which should be on sale next year, holds around five hours worth of charge when linked with Alexa.

“Showering has never been so much fun,” the company says. Quite.

Talking about teeth

It wasn’t too long ago that the idea of smart toothbrushes would have raised a few eyebrows but, now, the market is full of them. From Bluetooth-linked brushes which talk to your phone, to ones featuring “tooth protection modes”, it seems everyone is offering the best in oral care. 

At CES this year, it is no different. Colgate has unveiled its plaque-busting toothbrush, which uses in-build sensors to spot plaque, and will glow blue until it is cleared, while Oral-B has released a 3D-mapping toothbrush, which shows where exactly someone hasn’t brushed.

Making moving wheely easy

Ever had the urge to feng shui your room, but struggled with shifting heavy furniture? Then autonomous, voice-controlled wheels from Norwegian company Wheel.me are right up your street.

With one word, or a tap on the app, you can move your tables, beds and, according to the company, “quite a lot of things you have never even thought of moving opening endless opportunities to all”.

Anti-snore pillow

Over half the population snores at some point in their life, so there's a pretty high chance that you might share a snooze with a snorter. Tenminds wants to put an end to such uncivilised solutions as a dig in the ribs or gently rolling someone over without waking them up.

The Korean company's Motion Pillow supposedly put an end to all that. Once snoring is detected, four airbags within the pillow gently inflate and deflate to adjust the user's head position to stop it. Because nothing says a restful night's sleep more than having your head jostled about by a robot pillow, right?

Motion pillow - Credit: Motion Pillow
Credit: Motion Pillow

Making friends with a tennis ball

If Lovot sounds a bit pricey (and a bit needy), why not make friends with a tennis ball instead. Samsung's Ballie is another robot companion coming out of CES 2020 and rolling into your homes. Quite literally in this one's case.

Its simple ball shape is equipped with an in-bult camera, its voice-activated and Ballie can roll around to help you with daily tasks and interact with your other smart home devices. Samsung are also pitching Ballie as a useful tech companion for pets, under the impression that the little yellow fellow wouldn't be eaten or buried in the garden the moment it rolled in.