Tag Archives: ces2021

ScopeMedia gives online fashion retailers a boost @ CES 2021



ScopeMedia fashion assistantAs consumers, the overall process of bringing an already well-established line of products to market seems to be routine and relatively simple in our minds. For example, if we want or need a new suit, we visit retail stores (whether brick and mortar, online, or more commonly by some combination of both) to shop and ultimately make our purchase. As far as the supply chain, we inherently know there are designers, marketers, distributors, advertisers, and wholesalers/retailers involved in the process. However, we usually never stop to consider that, in this day and age, there are many other intricacies involved in helping us get to our final purchases. Actually, there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes for any industry, and especially when trying to improve upon processes and sales growth. The fashion industry is no exception to this. We had the chance to discuss one of these industry improving technologies with Paul from ScopeMedia this year at CES 2021.

As a leading developer of visual-based personalization and recommendation services, ScopeMedia has conducted years of research on Artificial Intelligence (AI) as well as Computer Vision and has developed quite an interesting system. The result is a smart visual recommendation system that involves an innovative fashion index for e-commerce retailers. As internet shopping becomes more prevalent, adding a machine learning approach to all aspects of the design-to-purchase process is a smart path to take.

Their platform can easily be integrated into eCommerce stores to assist retailers to increase customer interest and sales, as well as improve the overall shopping experience. They have a unique Fashion Index model that is specifically designed for the fashion industry. It’s not only good to increase consumer satisfaction and increased sales, but it also helps retailers conduct trend analysis on the back end.

Be sure to watch the entire video to get more information and if you would like to give their technology a try for yourself, you can check out their demo store.

Interview by Daniele Mendez of The New Product Launchpad.

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Wayzn turns your sliding door into an automatic pet door @ CES 2021



Wayzn automatic pet doorPets can require a lot of attention. In particular, they need to go outside to do their business fairly regularly. This can pose a challenge when you’re working, whether you’re working from home or going into an office. They may also need to go while you’re gone to the store, or out with friends. Wouldn’t it be great if they could let themselves out? That’s the goal of Wayzn.

Now, there have been options for pet doors for years. The most common is the traditional flap. They’re fairly inexpensive to purchase and uncomplicated to use. However, they require you, or more likely a contractor, to cut a hole in your exterior door. Plus, if you don’t lock the flap or put a board in front of it, you’re inviting wildlife into your home. A cool place with food left out is a raccoon’s dream scenario, and the flap would make that possible. There are also sliding door inserts, and, while they’re easy to install, they have the same issues as a regular flap, plus they limit the door’s usage.

With Wayzn, you get all of the benefits with none of the drawbacks. The system sits on the bottom part of the track of an existing sliding door. As long as the door is long enough and the fixed pane is outside, you’re likely good to go. Installation can be done by you with little trouble. Once installed, you can set the door to open on its own, by an app, or by voice control.

Wayzn devices are in limited production but are available to purchase now. They run only $399, which is less than the installation of a flap. To learn more about the Wayzn door opener or to take the survey to make sure it will work with your door and to purchase, head over to their website.

Interview by Christopher Jordan of The Talking Sound.

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Impulse Neuro-Controller makes you faster when gaming @ CES 2021



Impulse Neuro-ControllerFor gamers, one of the most important things is controlling your timing. Every fraction of a second in response time can be the difference between getting the shot or getting shot. Gamers go out of their way to find just the right mouse and keyboard to be able to speed up their reaction times ever so slightly. But, as Avram always says, you can also speed up the slowest part of your computer – you. One way to accomplish this is with Impulse Neuro-Controller from Brink Bionics.

The Impulse is a fingerless glove that works with your existing gaming mouse to improve reaction times. Rather than waiting for you to click, it literally reads your mind and acts early. It is able to read your impulses (hence the name) from your hand using biosignals. Using an AI algorithm, the glove is able to learn your behaviors and act on them ahead of time.

Just like any bio-feedback device, it takes some time to train. Everyone reacts differently to different stimuli. For example, if you are training a brain control headband, you need to determine certain things to think about and map those thought patterns to specific actions. With the Impulse, you simply set it up for training and plan like normal. The system is able to read your biosignals and connect them with your actions on the computer. Once the connections are made, it is able to work ahead of you to produce results before you are able to click.

The Impulse Neuro-Controller is ideal for players of first-person shooters, real-time strategies, multiplayer online battle arenas, and more. To learn more about Impulse and Brink Bionics, you can head over to their website, which currently takes you to their Indiegogo page, which has a lot of additional information.

Interview by Christopher Jordan of The Talking Sound.

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Swidget is future-proofing your smart home devices @ CES 2021



Swidget modular smart homeThere is no doubt that smart home devices are becoming a normal part of most homes. Whether it be a daily driver type device, like a connected thermostat, or a less complex product, like a lightbulb, connected devices are everywhere. One of the big problems, however, is the interconnectivity, or lack thereof, between different brands and technologies. Fortunately, Swidget has a way to keep your products working with one another.

Swidget has taken the concept of smart devices and broken it into components. Take, for example, a connected light switch. Let’s say you purchase a set of 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi bulbs and get a light switch that controls them. When the bulbs need to be replaced, the brand no longer exists, so you buy new bulbs. Unfortunately, these bulbs work on Z-Wave. This means that your light switch no longer controls the bulbs, so you have to purchase a new switch, too.

With the Swidget technology, the communication method is separate from the device. That means that you can pop out the communication module for Wi-Fi and swap it to one for Z-Wave. Now you’re up and running again without having to do electrical work – it’s literally as easy as a snap.

In addition to just communication modules, Swidget allows you to add functionality. The modules can have USB ports, video cameras, thermometers, guide lights, and more. The idea, of course, is that your devices can carry forward with you as the technologies change. But, for those who like to be in full control of their devices, which is the target demographic for smart homeowners, you can truly decide exactly what features you want, and where you want them.

Swidget switches, outlets, and inserts are available now in Wi-Fi configuration, with Z-Wave modules coming soon. To learn more about the technology or find where to buy, check out the company’s website.

Interview by Christopher Jordan of The Talking Sound.

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Reflexion trains athletes’ brains to improve performance @ CES 2021



Reflexion Flex sports cognitive trainingWhen we think of professional athletes, we can immediately imagine the amount of work that goes into training. The long days in the gym to improve their bodies, and then even more time on the field, court, or rink in order to improve their specific sport performance. Nearly every professional athlete or Olympian has a similar story of doing this since childhood. But, there is an aspect of the body that is generally ignored, which Reflexion looks to solve.

The part of the brain that is far too often overlooked is the brain. This is despite the major impact the brain can have on performance. Take, for example, Tom Brady, who just took the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the Super Bowl for the first time in nearly 2 decades. Sure, he’s the greatest football player of all time, but part of that is because of his reactions. Not only does he move quickly and throw with accuracy, but he can also read the field quickly to make decisions on what to do.

Brady credits his quick response time to regular cognitive training, which is the technology that Reflexion has been developing and deploying as Reflexion Flex. The company’s technology is specifically designed to improve sports performance in competition. The company’s solution uses a touchscreen lightboard and cloud-based software to create interactive training games and activities.

The responses to those activities are logged and analyzed to determine areas that need improvement. These can be decision making, hand-eye coordination, peripheral vision, or reaction time. Activities in the future will then be run to help improve those areas of performance.

Reflexion has been working with athletes directly in private, but is releasing the platform to the public. The Reflexion Flex is available now through Dick’s Sporting Goods and runs $3499.99.

Interview by Christopher Jordan of The Talking Sound.

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Tovertafel brings joyful play to late-stage dementia patients @ CES 2021



Tovertafel interactive gamesSjoerd Wennekes is the co-founder of Tover, a Dutch company that specializes in interactive games for people with severe cognitive disabilities, and he joined us at CES 2021 to tell us about their signature product, Tovertafel.

Tovertafel, or Magic Table, is an interactive gaming system for people with late-stage dementia or other cognitive impairments. Using a ceiling-mounted projector equipped with computer hardware and sensors, the device projects images onto any existing table in a care facility, creating simple interactive games for life enrichment. The games are played by touching the projected images, for instance, the action of swiping away projected autumn leaves or bouncing the image of beach ball back and forth between one another.

Tovertafel is a care home-friendly system, requiring no connections to external computers, or any sophisticated installation process. The ceiling-mounted device has a wide-angle lens with an adjustable projection field that can be used on any size table. Family members or staff can easily use the remote and get right to playing together without the need for special instructions.

While the projection technology is not new, how Tover utilizes it is unique. The company focuses on late-stage dementia patients who lack the ability to activate themselves, those typically living in long term care facilities who are often subject to apathy – the total lack of feeling and emotions which is the primary cause of death in dementia patients. Tovertafel games are designed to stimulate the portions of the brain that are not damaged by diseases like Alzheimer’s so that even people in the last stages of dementia can experience some joyful quality of life.

Care professionals utilizing the system have noted that patients playing Tovertafel games are more physically active, engage in more social activity, and seem to experience more joy and less sadness while playing with the Magic Table. They’ve also found the system improves the relationship between caregivers and residents and increases happiness for care professionals, family members, and friends alike.

Tovertafel is used in over 5000 cognitive care facilities in 12 countries. The company is launching in North America this spring.

Visit the company’s website to learn more.

Interview by Christopher Jordan of The Talking Sound.

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Fauna Audio is putting amazing audio into your glasses @ CES 2021



Fauna Audio GlassesListening to our favorite songs and movies, and even taking conference calls are all very important aspects of our daily lives. And it seems that we usually need to make sure that we aren’t disturbing coworkers and others around us. Now, we all love a good set of headphones. But, honestly, they can be quite bulky and even impractical in a lot of settings. Earbuds are great. But even they don’t always fit the best and, like headphones, aren’t always perfect in the office, while driving or even taking a walk, because many times you can’t hear what’s going on around you. Luckily Fauna Audio has been working on this very thing. Their new line of smart glasses is an excellent solution, not to mention quite fashionable.

It was a pleasure to have a discussion with Isabel from Fauna Audio this year during our coverage of CES 2021 and learn more about them. And even though the virtual nature of the show this year has made exhibiting some of the products a little more difficult, it was actually a great way for us to get a good look at the smart glasses in action, as she was using them for the interview. This sleek and stylish eyewear features MEMS loud-speakers that are produced by USound. With these speakers located in both temples, they boast technology that concentrates the sound around the ears to reduce audio leakage and are designed to only be heard by the listener. These easy to use glasses pair with your devices via Bluetooth, have a built-in mic and also a digital voice assistant, making them perfect for hands-free calls.

They didn’t stop their design process with only great style and sound, either. They also wanted the best for your eyes. They have included Zeiss DuraVision BlueProtect lenses in their regular line, as well as Carl Zeiss Vision for their line of sunglasses. These lightweight, high quality, and durable lenses are BPA free with more than 99% protection from UVA/UVB rays and offer distortion-free, clear vision. The frames are also designed to allow for the lenses to be easily swapped out with most prescriptions lenses.

Currently being sold in Europe, they are hoping to launch in the U.S. soon. To learn more about their convenient and stylish audio eyewear, make sure to watch the full interview and check out all the specs and designs on their website.

Interview by Christopher Jordan of The Talking Sound.

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Wizest helps build expert, winning investment portfolios @ CES 2021



Wizest investment portfoliosWilliam Littlefield is the CTO of Wizest, a 2-year-old next-generation investment trading platform that takes the complexity and drudgery out of wealth building.

While young professionals recognize the value of building an investment portfolio, Littlefield says they can find the current process complicated, intimidating, or boring. Wizest flips the standard practice of picking stocks, bonds or financial instruments yourself, and gamifies the process, making investing more like playing Fantasy Football, helping investors to build their own team of financial experts.

Anyone can join Wizest as an investor and after indicating their investment preferences, the platform takes those preferences and matches them up with financial experts in those fields to create a leaderboard for an investor to peruse. Once the investor identifies a few financial experts they like, they can then drill down further into their portfolios, and investment strategies. Then, with the click of a button, the investor can replicate their preferred expert’s portfolio for themselves. Depending on an investor’s risk threshold, new investors can anticipate returns between 3% and 16%, net of fees.

There are no account minimums and investors can get started now with a closed-beta risk-free simulator. After the beta period, investors will be able to open an account, deposit funds, and execute real trades. When you’re ready to invest with real money, Wizest charges 0.5% for transaction fees and a 0.5% annual management fee. Unlike many investment platforms, Wizest has no account minimums. Additionally, experts never have direct access to investor funds, which are instead held by the platform.

Participating financial experts, can bank on no overhead costs, a national clientele base, and added income. They simply create a profile on Wizest, including their strategy and investment experience, create a portfolio of stocks, using a percentage allocation model, and then post and communicate their strategy to attract investors. Wizest compensates experts based on the amount of their virtual assets under management, subject to multipliers based on user satisfaction and portfolio risk.

Interested investors and financial experts can find more information and enroll in the closed beta period at their website.

Interview by Christopher Jordan of The Talking Sound.

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Pleco water monitor provides real-time data for real impact @ CES 2021



Pleco water monitorMarcelo DeCarmagc, the co-founder of Nudge Systems and the Pleco water monitor, hails from a background of instrumentation and measurement. His partner and co-founder works in the water utility industry. In 2014 they experienced one of the severe droughts common in California. In the process of discussing how difficult it is to get compliance when governments and utilities ask people to conserve water, Nudge Systems was born. The company’s goal is to save and conserve as much water as possible while giving people the tools and information they need to make good conservation decisions.

Nudge Systems believes the gap in the residential market related to water conservation, exists because residents don’t have an intimate relationship with water, and therefore don’t understand exactly what they need to do to make an impact. Their solution, Pleco – named after the common aquarium suckerfish that keeps tanks clean – is based on the premise that people would be more willing to conserve water if they were given more actionable information. Nudge Systems nudges people to take the steps to do what they wanted to do but didn’t previously have the information to inspire them to do it.

Most water conservation systems for homeowners are complex, says DeCarmagc, and require professional installation. The Pleco system consists of three main elements and an app, all of which can be installed and deployed easily, without tools. The sensor is a “water watch” that’s wrapped around the existing water meter and measures water flow into the home. The sensor data transmits the water usage data to the homeowner via a customized radio system. The data appears on the Pleco touch screen display in real-time. The display also acts as a hub connecting to the internet and a companion smartphone app. The entire system can be set up in minutes by the homeowner.

By measuring water flow in real-time, the homeowner can not only see the information, but via an algorithm that recognizes patterns of usage, can actually identify where the water is going – to showers, faucets, toilets, irrigation, or being lost through leaks. By seeing more clearly in real-time where their water goes, Nudge Systems believes that homeowners can and will change the way they relate with and use water in their home.

The device retails for $249. You can learn more about Nudge Systems by visiting their website.

Interview by Christopher Jordan of The Talking Sound.

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Signal Cortex simplifies task management for staff & managers @ CES 2021



Signal Cortex task managementMatt Crowley CEO of the start-up, Signal Cortex, is the former CIO for Philadelphia and Cleveland airports. During his time with the airports, he became accustomed to working in complex situations with large traffic flows and heavy background work done by frontline employees – everything from mopping floors to moving chairs around to directing customers. Current systems for managing these tasks, he says, are very complicated. For example, for janitorial staff trying to clean up a spill, they need to carry multiple devices and complete a long questionnaire after completing their task, so management can make proper deployment decisions going forward. It is a messy system with inconsistent results.

Signal Cortex addresses the bulkiness of these challenges through a system they’ve developed that simplifies complex enterprise environments, getting tasks to staff members more easily and results back to management more efficiently, to help them make better logistical decisions. The company’s first product is a simple phone app that can use commodity Bluetooth devices and convert routine tasks that employees need to do into audio-based notifications.

The system automatically dispatches and manages work for individuals, groups, or teams, empowers staff by streamlining data collection, reduces training time and process complexity, and is easy for everyone from staff to management to use.

Originally developed for airports, Signal Cortex pivoted because of COVID-19 and redirected their enterprise solution as a building management tool for building service contractors. Building service contractors typically lose half of their customers each year due to bad data, says Crowley, with either employees not receiving information about their tasks, or failing to report the tasks completed, resulting in dissatisfied customers. Their solution eliminates both those problems.

Ultimately Signal Cortex views itself as both a business and a consumer product as well. The company officially launched publicly at the end of January.

To learn more about Signal Cortex, visit their website.

Interview by Christopher Jordan of The Talking Sound.

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