11 Things from CES That Actually Feel Futuristic

Is a 4K television a futuristic gadget? Of course not. The fact that I already saw someone advertising an 8K TV notwithstanding, flatscreens with higher resolution, DVD players with more apps, and cameras with more megapixels are just examples of the iterative gadget churn that keeps the industry moving, all while mountains of e-waste grow and grow.

That's not to say that ultra-mega-HD televisions aren't cool; I've been wowed too, even if I don't really get the curved screen thing. (Not for lack of trying!) I pick on TVs because they're the dominant force at CES, and it's fairly shocking to see how crowded, competitive, and lucrative the TV market actually is. TVs are where the money's made for a lot of big manufacturers, and keeping those sales up means constantly finding new specs and features to add in to hype next year's model.

It'd be unfair to really try and lambast CES for being itself, a trade show whose entire aim is to help the consumer electronics industry make money. And even if I think we're nearing the End of Specs—the point where screen sizes (or megapixel counts, or clock speeds) are so large that making next year's even bigger will prove pointless to consumers—it'd be silly to attack manufacturers for not investing their television R&D dollars in, say, jetpacks.

That said, the promise of technology, the reason we all dorked out as kids, is that of a better, smarter, cooler future. So, to give a little love to the folks willing to pave their own paths a bit, here's a rundown of some CES gear that actually feels like it's from the future.

3D Printer for Food

Cubify was one of the more impressive 3D printing outfits at CES, and the company took things to a rather tasty level with its line of ChefJet and ChefJet Pro printers that actually print edible objects. Sure, they can only print sugar, chocolate, and confections, but this is the closest we've come to the Jetsons' food future in awhile. The products are beautiful, too, as you can see in the sugar matrices above.

While it remains a ways off, credit to Cubify for getting people to think about a future in which our downloaded recipes are actually produced by our all-purpose food printer. Just imagine if Seamless becomes the Thingiverse of food in 20 years.

Toshiba's Smart Mirror

Okay, okay, the CES trend this year was to make everything smart, and it's all fairly goofy marketing speak. But this smart mirror from Toshiba was actually pretty cool. Connected to your health-monitoring smartwatch and weather or news apps, the mirror turns on whenever you're near, delivering key info to your day from the screen layered underneath the mirror surface. Whimsical as it is, the mirror indeed looks exactly like a product from the glossy world of a near-future sci-fi flick.

Of course, it's just a concept and there's no price. Who knows when this might actually come to market, and I doubt it'll be cheap. But if our houses are going to be smart in every way, they might as well feel futuristic while they're at it.

FutureRobot's Furo bot

Futuristic doesn't have to mean awesome. I first thought this was a Korean entrant into the growing telepresence market, but according to the company's materials, the bot is aimed at delivering advertising, information and guidance, and "robot event & security." On one hand, this thing could do well puttering around a mall, helping folks find their way with its large touchscreen. On the other, this particular model was set up to deliver robo-advertising. I can just imagine this thing following you down the street, cartoon face begging you to take a coupon. This is where we're headed, folks.

BBQ-Cleaning Robot

On the tastier end of the robot spectrum is this little guy, known as the Grillbot. It's exactly what you think: a little machine that flies around cleaning a grill with the help of spinning wire brushes. It's a pretty straightforward idea, sure. But it's also one of those clever little developments that reminds you that the whole point of technology is to make our lives easier, a fact that's far too often forgotten.

Intel's Edison Computer

A computer the size of an SD card? Now that is the future. The Edison computers feature "low-power 22nm 400MHz Intel® Quark processor with two cores, integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth," and can be linked together or house multiple apps. I asked one of Intel's engineers what he thought some potential use cases are, and he said that, because it's so small, what can't it be used for?

Baby monitoring is one use that's already being developed, but with Intel expressly calling for entrepreneurs and inventors to tinker with it, we'll be seeing a whole lot more. Here's one off the top of my head: What about a snowboard boot with intelligent binding and cushioning properties that change depending on what you're doing on the mountain?

E-Cigars

We were promised a future with nuclear-powered cars, floating houses, and electronic cigars. At least we've got one.

A Smartwatch That Tells You If Your Guests Are Trying to Rob Wine

I found the smart home demo tour that Brian Merchant and I went on to be pretty fascinating. I think smart homes have been hampered by the language we use to discuss them; the Internet of Everything is a pretty flowery way to say your fridge can text your TV. But in practice, having everything connected is pretty cool. Being able to control all the speakers in the house from my phone sounds like a dream. Getting messages to your watch that the wine cooler just opened and closed? That's just crazy.

LED-Powered Li-Fi

Merchant covered the li-fi tech, and it's absolutely fascinating. The TL;DR version is that a French company by the name of Oledcomm has figured out how to send data by controlling LEDs to output light at varying frequencies. Simply put, it's a data connection powered by blinking light.

Remote-Controlled Sex Toys

As soon as we get hyper-realistic androids, somebody somewhere is going to have sex with one. Not even Blade Runner could pretend otherwise. Until then, we've got remote-control sex toys.

SenseFly's eBee Mapping Drone

This little drone is indicative of how far UAS have already come in the consumer market. The eBee is designed as a high-quality mapping drone, and comes with a 16 megapixel camera that the company says "collects aerial photography of 1-10sqkm in a single flight at down to 5cm precision." It comes with its own mapping software too, which means surveys and aerial mapping—long an expensive endeavor—is now closer to the hands of anyone. I imagine researchers are going to have a wonderful time with this one.

A Car That Can Predict the Future

The auto section of CES this year was all about jam-packing cars full of apps, which I suppose makes them "smart." But a few automakers are also working on actually making their cars more intelligent. This Mercedes Benz S550 featured the company's "predictive user experience," which combines route, weather, and traffic data to prepare the car's adaptive safety and performance systems for what lies ahead. Essentially, it's data-driven future prediction, which truly does sound like something out of science fiction.

@derektmead