#CES2016 Lays Foundation For Smart Homes Of Future

Conclusion of #CES2016 brought forth two major developments in the smart home category – security devices and connected devices. We shared earlier about products that made headlines at the #CES2016 event, held at Las Vegas. Companies including Samsung, LG, and Google have already showcased their intent to be the forerunners for smart home products and services, but there is another set of companies that, too, have made it evident that their products will be more lifestyle enriching.

Here's are some more products that will change the way we will live in the future:

Smart shower: A company called Hydrao unveiled a smart shower. A smart shower for bathing? Yes, that's right! The company claims that this device flashes various lights depicting the amount of water used. For instance, the showerhead flashes a blue light when one uses 10 litres of water while a green light blinks for every 50 litres consumed. But, how are the flash lights powered? That's the real eco-friendly catch. The chipset uses energy from the flow of water to operate. Another variant of the shower can be connected to mobile application via Bluetooth. This variant records your habit, to help you use water more efficiently when it comes to bathing. The app also generates several reports depicting the money saved month-on-month, water usage habits, and so on.

(Hydrao)

Smart toothbrush: Well, when the world is betting big on the future of smart homes, then every part of home would be transformed. Then, how can something like toothbrushes be left behind. Kolibree, a French company, has showcased world's first smart toothbrush that coaxes kids to cultivate a proper brushing habit. The toothbrush is connected via your smartphones and it thrives on the aspect of gaming – yes, you read it correctly. The company unveiled four games that stressed on the use of proper angles, pressure points and so on, while brushing. The smart toothbrush claims there's a lot more to proper preventative dental care than simply brushing twice a day – and after seeing their games we cannot disagree with them on it at all.

(Kolibree)

Stream videos with friends and family: Cast by Genii is a smart streaming device that kicks out the copyright and legal issues for broadcasting or streaming content via Internet. Well, the company is not encouraging the idea of multiple consumption of content, but the idea of limited sharing among users. The device lets users share and stream videos in any part of the globe, with the idea of bringing users closer to the experience at the same time. The catch is, Cast limits the content streaming applicable only to paid content. So, now Netflix, available in 190 countries, could be accessed easily via Cast.

Sleep Better: With long working cycles and engaging lifestyles, sleep deprivation has become a common thing with new age working class. But, the question is can it be monitored to help you get better sleep? To find an answer, a company called Sleep Numbers has unveiled a smart mattress called the 'It Bed'. The mattress uses in-built biometric sensors to analyse and body's sleeping patterns. It will measure your breathing, heart rates and body movements throughout your sleep. All the measurements makes up a Sleep IQ score, which then shows on the owner's smartphone in the morning. The mattress is designed to track two bodies at the same time.  But does that make this device really apt for your smart home? Well, it does. The mattress is designed to communicate to other smart devices via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. So the next time you are sweating in your sleep, the mattress will communicate with your smart thermostat and adjust the room temperature accordingly.

Smart petting: Have you been in a situation where you had to leave your pet home alone and you had no idea for what he had been upto? Have you and partner always longed for a pet dog, but refrained from taking the plunge of buying a pet dog because you both had working commitments? Well, there is a solution to it now. A company called CleverPet might have the most plausible solution to this pertaining problem. Kickstarter backed, CleverPet, has showcased a product that keeps your pet canine engaged and appears like a doggy dish with three paw-friendly touch pads on its front. The device is programmed with a series of level-intensive games, that the company claims, are tuned for a canine brain. The devices demands for some sequence to be completed, and upon completion, releases tasty food as a reward. The product will be up for grabs for $299 (approx Rs 19,724), and is currently only tuned for dogs. But, in the near future, the company might bring more such devices for other pets.

Mirror, mirror on the wall: Well, this might not be the coolest things to be in your smart home, but we will have to admit it is a stylish tech product. Unveiled at the CES, Panasonic's smart mirror promises to give an instant makeover. The smart mirrors have a camera to capture your face – you'd obviously have to get used to aligning the face with the camera's recognition area, a touchscreen to let you swiftly browse through different kinds of make-up you'd want to apply. You can also fine tune the make-up by bringing a particular palette into Photoshop and enhance your features. But, the appreciated feature of the mirror is that it analyses your skin's health. The company claims that the mirror can also see through a thick layer of already applied make-up and tell whether your skin needs a bit more hydration. And, yes, the mirror does inform you about the age spots as well.