COVER CES 2021
themselves having to get better at
predicting those changes, which has
meant a shift towards using artificial
intelligence and embracing more
digital technology.
“2021 has been a pivotal
moment for the consumer electronics
industry,” said Michael Miebach,
CEO Mastercard. ”Consumers will be
able to do more from home and that
will have massive implications as to
how businesses engage with them.
We’ve been able to demonstrate
that going online is easy! There may
be some issues around safety and
data protection, but this is now the
direction of travel.”
Connected health
Every year connected health and
fitness products have a strong
presence at CES, and the US market
is expected to be worth in excess of
A wearable device
from BioIntelliSense, the
BioButton, also went on
display. It has been designed
to continuously track a variety of
vital signals such as temperature and
respiratory rate to monitor a person’s
health and forms part of a complete
Covid-19 screening system that
connects to the BioMobile app. Data
is sent to the BioCloud, which then
looks for subtle physiological changes
and delivers a complete report to the
user on potential signs of risk.
Importantly, this health data is
protected with end-to-end encryption
from data capture to secure
storage, and uses privacy protocols
that comply with US government
legislation.
Airpop’s Active+ Smart Mask
brought Fitbit-style health tracking
to the user’s breathing and air
quality. A sensor, called the Halo,
is used to measure breathing rates
and monitors the filter installed
in the mask, it then delivers the
data straight to a mobile app. The
app is able to monitor the mask’s
effectiveness, breaths taken per
minute, and the volume of air that
has passed through it.
Going back to basics in terms of
monitoring health, the Japanese firm
Toto unveiled a lavatory that is able to
Above: Project Hazel,
the world’s ‘smartest
mask’
www.newelectronics.co.uk 9 February 2021 11
insta_photos/stock.adobe.com
$9bn in 2021. Within this
category, connected health
monitoring devices revenues
are expected to grow strongly
with more people using this
technology to check for Covid-
19 symptoms and manage chronic
conditions from home.
While the end of the pandemic
may be getting closer many frontline
health care workers, warehouse
operators and people working from
home, are still going to need some
form of protection.
In response this year’s CES saw
a large number of new products
designed to combat the spread
of Covid-19, such as smart face
masks, sanitizer dispensers for car
consoles and business solutions like
autonomous UV robots.
Gaming hardware specialists,
Razer, introduced Project Hazel
which it described as the “world’s
smartest mask” – it includes both
an active ventilation and a selfsterilization
function. It also deployed
Razer Voiceamp technology which
it said was able to listen to
the wearer’s voice and then
intelligently reproduce it through
two speakers, for clearer
communication. Project Hazel
remains a concept, however, with no
word on either pricing or availability.
Left: The BioButton can
continuously track a
variety of vital signals
/www.newelectronics.co.uk
/stock.adobe.com