At CES in Las Vegas, hundreds of startups tried to prove that technology can help heal people, improve education and work, increase productivity and save the planet. Selected pieces from the year’s high for technical innovations and electronic gimmicks, which is ending this Sunday.
We touch with our eyes
The start-up One Third, which aims to fight food waste, presented an infrared light device for “scanning” avocados. Just show him one of these fruits, known for their nutritional benefits, and read the result on a mobile application. The program’s algorithms use a color code to indicate whether the avocado is “not yet ripe”, “ripe” or “overripe”.
In addition to the information useful for consumers, the device is intended to discourage supermarket customers from trying the fruit one by one, which harms them. The company owes its name to the fact that a third of the food produced worldwide is wasted.
Sorting hat
Like Harry Potter’s sorting hat, the iSyncWave headset sits on the head and is able to scan brainwaves and make a diagnosis. But it’s not magic. The device performs an electroencephalogram and its artificial intelligence algorithms predict the risk of cognitive disorders (including Alzheimer’s) in ten minutes.
The South Korean company that developed it, iMediSync, believes its headset could dramatically reduce the financial resources and time required for such diagnostics. The device is also intended to be used to carry out certain therapies against neurodegenerative diseases.
dance now
Many startups are working on methods of communicating with technology for all people who cannot program but need or need to interact with increasingly complex computer systems. At the c (Next Industries) booth, Nadia Giuliani stands behind a small robot, grabs two connected controllers and claps her hands saying “Clap”. The device immediately imitates him and applauds. The manager can also teach him dance moves.
“Our technology is being used to transform interactions with devices,” explains Massimiliano Bellino, CEO of Next Industries. “We use voice commands and gestures to humanize interactions with the digital world,” he continues.
The Italian company’s artificial intelligence-based software suite is designed specifically for factories so technicians can teach robots to perform tasks instead of having to program them manually. Tactigon promises 30% productivity gain thanks to algorithms.
Smart punching bag
With I’I-Perskin, it’s no longer about hitting the punching bag anyway. This connected cover slides over the punching bag and features light targets and flexible electronic sensors to guide the drills and analyze the boxer’s power and precision.
Training can be set and performance checked via a mobile app. The French start-up that designed the cover, I-Percut, initially wants to sell it to sports halls.