CES 2022 is over and done with, and we’ve already taken a look at some of our favorite announcements from the event. However, some of the products announced at the show had us scratching our tilted heads while others convinced us that Black Mirror might actually be onto something. So we decided to take a look back at some of the CES products that we found particularly… interesting.
Smart contact lenses
Smart glasses are so 2021. CES 2022 shows us that the future of wearables could be in the ones you can’t even see. Two companies showed off their take on smart contacts, Mojo Vision and InWith. The former is partnering with companies like Adidas to tailor its hard electronic lens for sports enthusiasts. InWith, on the other hand, will apparently be the first to use a soft electronic lens (pictured above). Its contacts will also be more general-purpose to help improve eyesight in certain scenarios while also having AR and VR applications.
It sounds pretty crazy for such a small thing and almost like something straight out of Black Mirror, but they’re allegedly pretty close to reality. Both Moro Vision and InWith are waiting for FDA approval, although there’s no saying when the contacts will make it to market.
A circular phone, because sure
We first saw Cyrcle Phone back at CES 2020 as a concept device with an interesting circular display. Now the company behind Cyrcle Phone is back with the second-gen model. The phone features a rather interesting circular display (hence the name), but it’s pretty unremarkable beyond that. It’s a low 800×800 resolution, runs Android 10, and only features 4G LTE connectivity. You’ll find plenty of better specs on the best budget Android phones.
Although, in the age of diminishing 3.5mm headphone jacks, this phone manages to have not one but two, so there’s that.
A lightbulb that tracks your sleep
Do you want the benefits of health and sleep tracking but without needing a wristwatch or having a smart display like the Nest Hub (2nd Gen) taking up precious nightstand space? Well, Sengled has just the thing for you. CES’ hottest lightbulb is the Sengled Smart Health Monitoring Light. This bulb has everything; Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, health monitoring via radar technology to track sleep, heart rate, body temperature, and more, plus you can mesh together multiple bulbs to track specific movements and detect if someone has fallen.
Masks are becoming more expressive
Masks have been all the rage since CES 2021, and they’re back and even more outlandish at CES 2022. Razer returned with the new Zephyr Pro which takes last year’s model and improves on it with a new voice amplification feature so people can hear you clearly while you speak under your flashy mask. However, the new Qudi Mask (above) has another way to voice your emotions; using an array of LEDs to make you look like something straight out of The Purge or a Deadmau5 concert.
Neckband earbuds making a comeback
Neckband earbuds are a slowly dying species, but that hasn’t stopped one company from trying to make them great again. The Ible Airvida E1 not only lets you rock out, but it features a built-in air purifier to keep the air around your face nice and fresh. It has a neat trick where it releases ions that bond with airborne particles, making them heavier so that they fall to the ground faster than landing on your face.
Ible, the company behind the band, claims its technology can get rid of 99.7% of coronavirus, and with Deltacron slowly becoming a thing, a two-in-one earbud air purifier might not be a bad idea.