CES 2018: Day four and the gadgets are getting weird

A smart toilet, laser tag, and a scent DJ show up at the Consumer Electronics Show.

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CES 2018

The first flashy days of CES are over, which means we’re getting into the weirder—and often more interesting—parts of the show. Start with a smart toilet? Sure, why not.

Kohler made a really fancy, smart toilet

At first glance, you could almost believe the Numi from Kohler is a high-end gaming PC, with its wacky square form factor and glowing lights. In reality, however, it’s a toilet with Alexa connectivity that lets you control everything from the built-in bidet to the integrated sound system using voice commands. You can create personal toilet profiles for each person in your house, too. It has a touch-screen remote and even a foot warmer. It’s all wildly over the top—but I still want it. I’m currently very angry at my own toilet because it’s so stupid compared to this thing.

CES 2018 Ubtech Walker

Ubtech Walker takes the first steps toward real robot butlers

There are a lot of random robots kicking around CES, doing everything from playing ping pong to mimicking humans in a super creepy way. The Ubtech Walker is simply showing off its skill for walking around on two legs. Far future versions could be full-fledged robot butlers, but the current version doesn’t even have arms, so…that seems pretty far off.

Razor Turbo Jetts propel children by their shoes

Remember Heelys? They were shoes with wheels at the back, which let kids roll around on hard surfaces and sometimes fall down. Razor—you probably know the company best for its mini scooters—has introduced a beefed-up version that powers kids around with motors at the back of each foot. They top out at 10 miles per hour and can travel up to 30 minutes on a charge. What could possibly go wrong?

CES 2018

The Merge 6DoF Blaster is like laser tag in AR

It almost looks like a Nerf blaster, but the 6DoF deals in augmented reality instead of foam darts. A slot on top of the device holds your smartphone. As you wave it around, it tracks the blaster’s movement and translates that into in-game action. You can have simulated shoot-outs and play app-based games. Plus, once the battery runs out, you can run around going yelling, “Look at me! I’m from Halo! Pew pew pew!”

CES 2018 L'oreal

L’Oreal UV Sense measures sun with a fake fingernail

Sun exposure is serious business when it comes to protecting your skin, especially if you’re in Vegas when it’s not raining. L’Oreal’s UV Sense is a tiny plastic patch that’s 2 millimeters thick, 9 millimeters across, and made to sit on your fingernail. It stores data about the amount of UV light to which it’s exposed. It will cost less than $50 and relay your sun exposure data to you via smartphone.

CES 2018

Acer Swift 7 laptop the thinnest laptop

The race for the thinnest laptop will never stop until a company makes one that’s flat as a razor blade. This year, Acer takes home the skinny-computer crown with its Swift 7 laptop, which measures just 8.98 millimeters thick. Beyond its thinness it’s, well, a laptop. It sure is skinny!

Moodo Scent machine

Moodo is a DJ for smells

Those adorable little pods are filled with scented oil, and the Moodo can dish them out in customized amounts designed to offer a specific smell to match your mood. Honestly, we probably don’t need any more devices that use swappable “pods” in our life. But if they can make one that approximates the smell of chicken nuggets or pizza (I’m really hungry), then it might be worth the roughly $200 price point.

 

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