CES 2023 is in full swing. We have been drowning in specs for the very best a part of every week and it is beginning to grate. Alright, there are some fancy bits we have noticed—a brand new vary of thirteenth Gen, RTX 40-series gaming laptops (opens in new tab) right here, a sprinkling of excessive refresh, low response time displays (opens in new tab) there, however what about the actual scientific improvements?
Properly, as a lot as I might like to current you with timeline altering technological wonders, there’s much more stuff on the market that appears solely to ring the gilded bell of consumerist advertising gumpf. Nonetheless, my spirits have been lifted considerably by the smattering of hilarious expertise worming its means onto the market.
So to interrupt up the mundanity interrupted solely by my singular perception of “Gosh, aren’t there plenty of 16:10 gaming laptops (opens in new tab) this 12 months,” I offer you Katie’s worst of CES 2023. A wonderland of technological strangeness to set us up proper for a brand new 12 months of staring into the void that’s humanity’s future.
Delivered to you by boredom™, in affiliation with Future Publishing.
Pissing contest
(Picture credit score: Withings)
Alright so let’s begin off with one thing meant that can assist you handle your bodily effectively being. A noble trigger, and completely not one thing that would ever be misused. It is tech that you just’re meant to pee on. Not that I am inclined to do such issues, however my colleagues guarantee me that “any tech could be peed on.” Whether or not it needs to be peed on or not is one other matter.
The U-Scan (opens in new tab) is a well being monitor within the type of slightly piss pebble to place in your bathroom. Not solely does this little pee monitor allow you to keep watch over vitamin deficiencies, oestrogen, PH ranges, and far more by analysing your urine, it does presents its findings by means of a helpful cellular app. It is an important thought, however I do not see many individuals purposefully shopping for tech you are meant to pee on. Possibly I am incorrect, however I can virtually hear our Jacob wincing by means of the pc display screen over the uncleanliness of all of it.
This factor is even good sufficient to inform the distinction between human pee and water from the flush. It might probably even detect precisely who is peeing on it.
God, inform me the Withings workplace that introduced us this little would not have these lining their bathroom cubicles within the workplace, protecting tabs on worker vitals. Outdated Orwell is rolling in his grave proper about now.
Thousand greenback Rubik’s Dice
(Picture credit score: Cubios)
Alright so this one’s truly type of cool, or at the very least it was earlier than I noticed the unique price ticket. Basically it is a Rubik’s Dice, solely digital and with video games. The press launch merely notes that it is “a strong black glass dice….. alive… the place you possibly can change the display screen geometry throughout the gameplay, can’t be described in phrases, it’s actually a sight to behold…”
If all these ellipses weren’t sufficient to awaken the burning thriller of the WOWCube, its inner connections talk by means of the usage of magnets. Magnets, how do they work? Sadly the press launch refuses to reveal the WOWCube’s most intimate of secrets and techniques. Now, whereas the crossover between Rubik’s Dice likers and those that perceive obscure Insane Clown Posse (opens in new tab) references is comparatively area of interest, at the very least the WOWCube is a bit more related to gaming than a few of the stuff on this listing.
WOWCube preorders (opens in new tab) are open now, and the corporate will begin delivering the primary batch in “January 2023.” Particular. Simply know that the tip high “Black version” will set you again $999, or $699 in the event you preorder. So, a Rubik’s Dice that prices greater than the Steam Deck (opens in new tab) ? No thanks.
Stick Drift
(Picture credit score: Sony Honda Mobility)
Three years in the past, Sony rocked up at CES with the Imaginative and prescient-S (opens in new tab) , an idea sedan full of wall-to-wall leisure options. It gave the impression to be not more than a publicity stunt, however now the corporate has paired with Honda to make the dream a actuality with the Afeela.
In case you are questioning, Afeela is an Arabic identify (opens in new tab) , numerologically related to social prowess, companionship, and charm. Although it is the ‘really feel’ half that the announcement confused.
It is an AI-powered electrical automobile with, after all, an built-in PS5. The worst half is that, whereas the LED panel on the entrance of the automotive would possibly be used for some cool stuff, we will see the place it is going with this: cheaper leases for ad-laden automobiles, or worse, adverts on the automotive you paid for you can’t flip off.
As our Jorge admits, he is not actually afeelin’ the thought of a gross promoting development (opens in new tab) .
Do not get me incorrect, the automotive is trying rattling attractive, I simply have my reservations when corporations stray out of their essential wheelhouse. This is hoping the Afeela would not find yourself with simply 417 hours to dwell (opens in new tab) just like the Sony DualSense controller.
Odor your waifu
(Picture credit score: Aromajoin)
The Aroma Shooter (opens in new tab) fairly presumably takes the crown for CES 2023 for not solely the worst identify, but additionally probably the most potential for perverted utilization. It is a smelly tech necklace that transmits smells related to what’s being proven in your pc display screen. It makes use of “solid-state” cartridges (opens in new tab) that are available a wide range of flavours, together with papaya, chamomile, and even soy sauce.
It is primarily a wearable aroma diffuser, solely the corporate has managed to eliminate liquid and gaseous supplies. The suitable app, AromaPlayer, is technically what’s being showcased right here. It is a platform that “integrates odor into your favourite films” and permits you to create and distribute your individual digital smellscapes.
Okay, nothing unusual about that. Individuals have been eager to transmit smells digitally for a while. Possibly it will catch on, I believed.
Then—and in the event you watch the video beneath you may perceive why—my suggestive mind kicked in, and rolled a essential success. As our Robin talked about, setting a considerably degenerative tone for the remainder of our morning assembly right now, “It does look a bit like it might be for pervs.”
Granted it does have some unbelievable potential to be used in video games, although there’s one other pungent contender within the recreation area: OVR expertise (opens in new tab) . It is slightly module that, as an alternative of being worn round your neck, hooks onto the underside of your VR headset.
Each may very well be fairly enjoyable, used responsibly.
NFT anime PC equipment
(Picture credit score: XPG)
The anime that tech model XPG delivered to us final 12 months, Xtreme Saga (opens in new tab) , has simply birthed a red-washed spherical of gaming gear from the Adata subsidiary. And whereas the peripherals and PC case truly do not look too unhealthy, I’ve some critical reservations in regards to the anime it is all primarily based round. Primarily, it being a entrance to promote NFTs, but additionally because it’s one of many worst anime’s I’ve laid eyes on in a while.
Now you possibly can base your total PC setup round the principle character, and why on earth would not you? She’s a badass redhead with a constructive angle and a penchant for kicking ass.
It truly is telling when the YouTube view to love ratio sits at 2M:397.
