The 2019 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) once again reflects the expansion and influence of technology in the home. More elements of the home that were once analog mainstays are making their digital debut.
Cooking
We’re excited to preview the Connected Hub Wall Oven. It scans your family’s calendar and finds times everyone can eat together all while guiding you through tonight’s recipe, helping you plan the perfect family dinner. #CES2019 #ConnectToMore pic.twitter.com/TqnJZLFzYL
— Whirlpool USA (@whirlpoolusa) January 10, 2019
For the sous-chef in training, one of the most difficult but essential learnings is how to manage multiple items within a single oven. When you’ve got both a whole roasted chicken and a puff pastry that need to come out ready for serving simultaneously, managing that dance can be challenging.
Enter the magic of Augmented Reality.
Whirlpool’s Connected Hub Wall Oven concept utilizes a transparent 27” LCD to not just display the ingredients and full instructions on how to cook the items in question, but shows a computer generated preview of where to place the food within the oven. It even uses a camera system and automatic internal temperature sensors to ensure your food is cooking at the correct rate.
Beauty
While the web is littered with social influencers posting pictures that are about as untouched as the island of Manhattan, hiding blemishes and imperfections in person is a daily makeup-caked chore.
The Opté wand scans your skin at a near-microscopic level and instantly applies an individually customized coverage. The results are a natural look that focuses entirely on the individual’s hyperpigmentation, leaving the surrounding skin untouched. It involves no dangerous lasers, instead utilizing a picoliter (one trillionth of a liter) of serum that will naturally reduce the pigmentation over time.
Security
Smart locks have been around for several years now, but Lockley’s new Secure Pro smart lock has combined and refined all of the best features into one single package.
It includes a capacitive fingerprint scanner, which prevents any ‘scanned’ fingerprints from tricking the lock. You can also use the Alexa and Google Assistant voice commands to lock and unlock, as well as through an app.
Most unique is a digital keypad (named PIN Genie) that randomly arranges the digits into groups of 3, so it is nearly impossible to guess the input, even if someone has visually observed it being entered. You can even remotely generate a temporary PIN to allow guests and potential home buyers to enter.
If even works with something being called a “key”. What will they think of next?
Love
Finally, while the world agrees that there is no technological solution for human companionship or the affection of a beloved family pet… some companies at this year’s CES beg to differ.
Lovot* is engineered from the ground up to be a huggable, comforting being that builds a fully-formed emotional connection to its owner. It features over a dozen sensors and a “brain” built from 10+ CPU cores, all packed within a soft and inviting exterior.
*There has been no confirmation if there are side effects to charging it after midnight.
Christian Russo, Senior Director of Marketing Innovation for Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC, has spent his 7 years with the brand building new technologies and driving new ways to engage with agents and consumers. His current pick for must-have home tech is the Sonos Beam.
