A robot that loads my dishwasher and brings me wine? Yes please! A $3,000 doggy door that makes Fido’s every wish its instant command? Buying it (just as soon as I win the lottery)! Flying cars? Can’t buckle in soon enough.

Oh sure, there’s an amazing array of fringe, far-out, and just plain fantastical new tech we’re all talking about during this year’s all-digital CES. But when it comes to the winner for most memorable — the jaw-dropping and OMG-inspiring — rise to the top every time. Here are the unforgettables from CES 2021.

Mojo Vision’s Bionic Contacts

While the rest of the tech world gets closer to getting smart glasses right (see Vuzix here), Mojo Vision sees a future where AR contact lenses give your eyes magical superpowers.

The Mojo Lens contacts are as close to a bionic-eye accessory as anything I’ve ever seen. There’s a teeny-tiny display that’s about a half a millimeter in diameter — about the size of a grain of sand — embedded within the contact lens itself. It projects images and information somewhat subtly in your peripheral vision as you walk down the street, cycle up a hill, or gaze into the night sky.

During CES’s Last Gadget Standing Competition earlier this week — that I emcee’d — company CEO Drew Perkins told us that the Mojo Lens can access “information of any kind,” available on the internet, such as the weather, your appointment schedule, the name of the person you’re talking with, and even provide real-time language translation.
Perkins also explained their goal is to help the visually impaired first, then eventually become a consumer device to offer information without breaking contact with the outside world — ie., staring at your smartphone while you walk across a street. The company expects it to hit the market in the next few years and cost around the same as a high-end smartphone.

Toto’s Poop Detective Toilet

Number two on my list (sorry, not sorry…) is Toto’s concept Wellness Toilet. It’s a thinking throne that can give you a healthier future based on what you leave behind (can’t stop, won’t stop). Toto’s newest AI smart commode is a sensor-filled smart bowl aimed at detecting early signs of disease based on “key outputs,” from analyzing everything from how long you sit on the john to whether your stool contains enough fiber. Then, it sends you recommendations on how to improve your health via app on your smartphone. Toto says it will ship the Wellness Toilet to consumers “sometime in the next several years.” Just in time to be bowled over from the latest data dump?

Bio Breast Milk

Impossible Pork helped itself to a massive portion of the CES headlines last year, but this could very well be the mother-of-all new inventions. BioMilq is a customized, cultured breastmilk born in a lab…sort of.

The company collects mammary epithelial cells from a pregnant mother, then cultivates them to reproduce human milk — personalized for that specific infant. The company’s run by a female cell biologist and a female food scientist, who say their mission is to create an alternative solution for the three-out-of-four moms who have to stop breastfeeding before the recommended six months.

If we can make plant-based bacon and burgers taste so real, human milk shouldn’t be too far off, right?

Dormio’s Dream Weaver

Another one of the most surprising — and kind of creepy, but I totally want to try it — is a gadget to hack our dreams. MIT’s Dream Lab conjured up this Inception-esque Dormio device that looks like a bit like a prototype for a futuristic bionic hand. It uses sensor pads on your fingertips to track your sleep state, and can play music and other audio cues to wake you enough to guide your dreams in a different — and ultimately better and more restful — direction.

LG’s OLED Bed

Remeber waaay back to last year when LG’s fancy TV screen that rolled up out of a console blew us all away? Pshaw. This year the company has a new transparent OLED screen that tucks away into the foot of your bed. No more falling asleep on the couch binge-watching Netflix! Now your screen can magically disappear when you start to snore, or help wake you up with a morning stretch routine the moment your alarm goes off. It can also summon a backdrop if you want to watch a movie, or the screen can collapse completely, and appear in partial or full view, depending on what you’re looking at. And it won’t obstruct the view outside your actual window if you dare to actually look outside in the future.

Meet Cutii: Robot for Grandparents

We all someone who’s lonely and isolated this year, and CareClever’s Cutii robot is ready to roll into their lives — and hearts — within the next few months. It looks a bit like a tablet on a tripod, but what it lacks in fur, cuddles, and really anything vaguely human or fluffy-animal adorable, it makes up in being an actual gadget you can get someone this year.

More specifically, Cutii addresses a whole lot of senior needs — from connection and companionship to logistical help — and it even rolls right to your side. If you fall, Cutii glides up next to you and dials your emergency contacts for help. It can even turn on your lights, help you remember if you’ve taken your pills, and play games with you. If only it could pour you a glass of wine and do the dishes, amirite?

How Does Your Rise Garden Grow?

Who needs a farmer’s market when you can grow more than 100 different types of produce in your own home — no sunlight or soil needed? Rise Gardens is a plug-in home gardening system designed to let you cultivate fresh leafy greens and more, indoors via its WiFi-connected, mobile app-guided hydroponic system. You can even use your Alexa-connected device with voice commands for things like turning off the lights or knowing when to fertilize.

Be sure to read Christina’s column here on here picks for the strangest gadgets from this year’s show. I love her list too!