At this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) hosted in Las Vegas, Nevada, AI was clearly the talk of the town. Just about every news item that I've seen has had some form of AI integrated into the product or solution being launched or promoted.
For today's fun innovation story, I'm rounding up a few of the most interesting debuts that caught my eye. I'll be making a larger round-up next week on the fun, the beneficial, and the dystopian.
Old World Labs Announces the Next-Generation of Robots
Old World Labs (OWL) debuted its "Agents as a Service" technology, which takes AI systems and integrates them with humanoid robots to make the robots more capable of natural human-like interactions and more accurate task execution.
At the forefront of this tech is the "Replicants" system, a first-of-its-kind platform that's creating AI humanoid robots that use real-time reasoning, resource-aware adaptability, and dynamic interaction, which can bring huge benefits to manufacturing and virtual experiences.
Humanoid robots with AI can understand and interact with 3D environments, execute complex tasks on their own, and easily transition between physical and digital spaces.
Apart from the industrial space benefiting from this new solution, OWL has also expressd an avenue of these humanoid robots being companions for people. And that's as far as I want to go down that road. You can watch the video below to see its use as a companion. Who needs a nanny anymore when you have a robot?
Also, the robots in the video below are currently fantasy humanoid robots. We haven't made that advancement yet so imagine robots with AI more akin to Apptronik's Apollo robot and Boston Dynamics' Spot robot dog. Still extremely beneficial in an industrial sense if it works well.
The Mindfulness Necklace
PieX, a wearable tech company focused on emotional wellness, unveiled its AI Emotion Tracking Pendant. In addition to tracking your emotions, the pendant offers meditation guidance, automatic journal writing (voice memos), and AI coaching.
The AI coaching feature provides personalized advice based on your emotional state by using different sensors to monitor your stress level. It then uses on-device large language models (LLMs) to provide emotional insights and interactions to help you regulate your mood.
While there isn't a ton of information on PieX's website about all the technology of this pendant and how it operates, I was able to find another interesting feature. The pendant can stimulate your sympathetic nervous system to calm you when your emotions are high. Again, there's no further information on how it achieves this.
There's an app that then tracks all your data and provides mental health coaching to improve the state of your mind. You can even try out PieX's AI coach for the pendant on their site to see how it works.
The pendant is scheduled for launch in the second quarter of 2025, and you can sign up for updates on the Piex AI website.
In my mind, this is your smartwatch with fewer features that can be worn as a necklace instead of a watch. I see this being a hit with people who are really into mindfulness or maybe really need to get their stress in check for their health. Otherwise, I think most people will stick with a smartwatch as it already does most of what this pendant is offering, i.e. tools and resources for guided meditation, insights and tips on stress level and how to manage it, sleep tracking, etc.
And a part of me does like the idea of this but I also think I would end up chucking it across the room once I'm actually stressed or angry if it starts vibrating on me to regulate my emotions. I don't know, I would need to test it out and unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend CES this year.
The Home Chess Robot
The home robotics brand SenseRobot made its debut at CES with a range of products, including the SenseRobot Chess, SenseRobot 2-in-One, SenseRobot Go, SenseRobot 4-in-One, and the Light Wing Lamp. Among them, the "SenseRobot Chess and SenseRobot 2-in-1" made its global debut at CES 2025, wowing the audience as a representative of innovative AI products and announcing the start of the pre-launch phase.
SenseRobot brings chess to life with cutting-edge AI vision technology and intelligent decision-making algorithms. Its home-use robotic arm, designed with millimeter-level precision, effortlessly performs tasks like picking up chess pieces, enabling human vs. AI games, human vs. human games, and recording and reviewing gameplay. It's the world's first company to mass-produce household Al robotic arm robots on a large scale, more than 100,000 units have been shipped.
More than a robot, SenseRobot transforms learning into an adventure. Its tri-sensory interactive experience makes chess exciting and engaging for kids, sparking curiosity and a love for the game. For chess enthusiasts, it's a professional-level training partner, helping to sharpen skills while adding a touch of intelligent fun to every match. With the Apex Duel mode, you can challenge the top chess Al with a rating of ELO3200 and enjoy the thrill of playing chess.
It combines traditional 3D chess pieces and three-finger mechanical claws to flexibly grasp chess pieces and uses advanced visual algorithms to accurately detect and recognize chess pieces.
You can play on a physical board, improve your chess skills with 25 coaching levels, and compete online with players worldwide. It works for beginner lessons all the way to grandmaster strategies.
In addition to SenseRobot Chess, the company is also launching the SenseRobot 2-in-1 that combines chess along with checkers. It features 25 levels of chess AI built-in and 10 levels of checkers AI. It has teaching courses that are customized with leading institutions, using human-like teaching methods to enhance learning. It features chess level-breaking, apex duel, exercise & training, classic game review, online chess, endgame challenges, etc.
My husband is a chess enthusiast, spending countless hours on Chess.com playing against people and learning new skills watching Chess YouTubers. We have a physical chess board, but he's gotten so good at chess that I refuse to play with him since I only know the basics and like to wing it. So he beats me pretty quickly at this point. I see this being a great option for people who love to play and would like a break from always playing on the computer, would like a somewhat tangible playing partner, and a way to learn more strategies in real-time with a coach.
The SenseRobot Chess and SenseRobot 2-in-One will be launching on Kickstarter soon. You can visit the pre-launch page for information and to get exclusive early-bird pricing.
The AI Doll
Tuya Smart, a global cloud platform provider, has integrated with leading LLM providers, including Doubao, Tongyi Qianwen, Kimi, Yuanbao, OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, and Amazon Nova, to enable dolls and toys to use AI hardware to better understand voice commands and deliver customized voice responses.
Tuya debuted its AI-powered smart doll at CES that's designed for use in homes, schools, and other settings. The doll engages in communication and interaction with children, adapting its tone, voice, and language style to assume roles such as teacher or friend, enhancing the play experience. It interprets children's emotions and intentions, engaging in games or answering questions.
The doll also features scenario simulation capabilities, vividly describing adventures like forest explorations or space journeys to immerse children in diverse situations, sparking their imagination and creativity. Tuya plans to incorporate touch-sensitive features into the doll in the future to identify children's needs and offer personalized responses and interactions.
Unfortunately, Tuya didn't provide an image of said AI doll and I haven't been able to find any images of it yet. I can't wait to see what it looks like.
The AI Dog Tracker and Collar
SATELLAI, a company that focuses on AI-integrated pet solutions, unveiled its SATELLAI Tracker and Collar. If the name wasn't a giveaway, the trackers and collars provide satellite tracking support, advanced AI features, virtual boundaries, and detailed activity monitoring for dogs.
The SATELLAI Tracker is designed for extended outdoor activities like camping and hiking, featuring the Qualcomm 9205S Modem, making it the first tracker to use satellite communication for precise tracking. To enable global connectivity, including in remote areas without cellular coverage, the tracker relies on the 3GPP Rel17 5G IoT-NTN satellite system powered by the Qualcomm MDM9205 Modem and Aware platform. The tracker works with over 680 global networks across 180+ countries.
It includes a solar panel for recharging, allowing for long-term operation, as well as a 7-day battery life on a full charge. The lightweight tracker attaches to a padded harness that won't snag, cause discomfort, or hinder your pet's mobility.
The SATELLAI Collar uses a dual antenna and a multi-constellation satellite positioning system to deliver precise tracking, even in areas with low connectivity where old-generation GPS collars could not work.
Using Mapbox's mapping platform, the collar allows you to manage virtual boundaries, supporting overlapping and nested fences. The collar also supports virtual fencing for areas up to 100,000 acres, letting dogs run freely.
In addition to keeping track of your dog's location, the collar provides real-time data on your dog's physical levels. It can offer health suggestions to keep your pet in its best shape while integrating behavior management options such as vibration and auditory signals. The collar features an IP68 water and dust resistance rating to withstand rain, mud, or even a short swim.
The SATELLAI Tracker and Collar will be available in early 2025.