We always find weird gadgets at CES. With thousands of participants selling their wares, trying to find a market for things no one has ever dreamed of before, there’s no way around it. From startups to giants like Samsung, there’s plenty to make us stop, laugh, and shake our heads. Here are a few favorites from CES 2024. Note that weird doesn’t necessarily mean bad. It just means weird.
If you squint, you can see that a laptop paired with AR glasses can provide a wider and more immersive experience than a standard 14-inch laptop screen. Unfortunately, the narrow viewing area, spongy keyboard and high price make it a bit of a non-starter.
Yes, Ballie is definitely cute. We were delighted to see it rolling around the demo area at Samsung’s CES booth. But it’s still pretty weird to have a tiny robot that can project a workout video onto the ceiling watching you while you work your abs.
Moonwalkers have a high base: by pushing the wearer a little farther than they would normally walk when they take a step, it can add up to a day, week, or lifetime of more efficient walking. The new “X” model is lighter and has fewer wheels, which theoretically makes it easier to manufacture. But the original Moonwalker cost about $1,400, which was a wild amount of money. Probably better to walk a little faster.
While we can see the potential use cases for having a smarter voice assistant powered by ChatGPT in your car, having the car tell us a story about dinosaurs was a pretty weird way to demonstrate it.
We’ve all seen videos of dogs “playing” an instrument, but this may be the first video for a pet. “Teach” your dog to “play” this “piano” and you’re sure to have hours of fun. The $299 device even comes with an automated feeder to encourage your dog to keep going.
Downtempo music music calms pets and exits reads cartoons endlessly the same. We love the research that shows this, but it still doesn’t explain why it’s any better than letting your dog listen to your Spotify account.
Come on, look how cute it is! Leave the poor boy, your cruel and arbitrary cat.
Let’s be clear: “weird” doesn’t necessarily mean “bad” or “useless.” Adam-X certainly seems useful for medical education. But, well, it’s also a bit silly.
We’re reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas, January 6-12. Stay up to date with the latest news from the show here.
