Trivial tech at CES – tomorrow’s eyebrows today

Tech companies showed off their latest products this week at CES, formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show, with new developments in video as well as lifestyle enhancements among the trivial tech at CES.

The world’s biggest brands do business and meet new partners at CES, the most influential tech event in the world. It’s a proving ground for new technology and new talent.

Crowds of potential investors, media and tech workers have streamed into Las Vegas this week to see the latest gizmos from big companies and startups.

Here are some eye-catching innovations from this year’s event.

Zooming off?

Zero Distance reckons people are not satisfied with their zoom calls, and they may have the answer we’ve all been waiting for.

Wehead is a device that helps people at a meeting feel like a remote attendee is in the room with them.

It looks straight out of Blade Runner, but much clunkier. Three or four of you are around the meeting room table at headquarters and seated among you are three or four of these things. One is probably your boss. Another is a Sith Lord.

When the person participating from afar looks around or nods, the spooky machine moves.

Wehead works with a standard computer or smartphone webcams.

Creator Ilia Sedoshkin said…

“For people who spend like 40 hours a week in their home office, they don’t see other people a lot. So, feeling like the person in the room, using some space on your table, can give you less loneliness.”

ADAM, boba barobotista

ADAM the robot barista can make any boba tea drink you like. ADAM also can function as a bartender, but he made boba tea all day long for delighted CES attendees this week, who used digital touch screens to select their drinks.

Timothy Tanksley of Richtech Robotics said…

“ADAM is intended to be a way to attract guests and a way to make drinks fully automated and very efficient.”

The two-armed robot looks like it could tear a mere human barista limb from limb. It has two grip handles that can be customised to make almost any drink.

While not busy mixing beverages, ADAM loves to dance. He’s only working as a barista while waiting for his next job.

Milk of robotic kindness

During lockdowns in 2020, California resident Luiz Rapacci had a hard time finding his favourite almond milk at grocery stores. He looked up online recipes to make his own, but they were messy and time-consuming.

Having since consumed three years, Rapacci has arrived with his trivial tech at CES to unveil his nut milk brewing machine, the GrowUp brewer.

Rapacci said…

“With GrowUp, customers can make nut milk at home in minutes with water and their chosen variety, from cashews and walnuts to almonds and pistachios.”

At a price of US$599 (20,000 baht), it’s nuts.

Spray-on eyebrows

The L’Oreal app scans your face and uses AR to make personalised recommendations for choices of shape, thickness and effect for your eyebrows before you apply a primer. Then the Brow Magic device provides 2,400 tiny nozzles to brush over and paint your eyebrows.

Yes, this last piece of trivial tech at CES doesn’t just ghoulishly distort your pictures, it ghoulishly distorts your actual face.

L’Oreal developed Brow Magic in partnership with Prinker, which makes a device that applies temporary tattoos.

The makeup Brow Magic sprays onto your face lasts up to two days and comes off with regular makeup remover.