STACK #244 February 2025

TECH FEATURE

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The top 5 devices at CES 2025 that make you ask, “Why?” Now we get to the weird and fun stuff! Amongst all the truly useful and innovative tech at CES, there’s always a selection of “What the…?” devices that both confuse and amuse. Here are our five favourites from this year’s show.

Words Amy Flower

Kirin Electric Salt Spoon We need salt to live, but not too much. Yet it can be tempting to pop that extra sprinkle on the eggs or chips without really thinking about it. With our health in mind, Kirin’s Electric Salt Spoon “enhances the salty and umami taste of low-sodium foods with the power of electricity.” So, rather than adding more salt to your diet, it magnifies the perceived taste by a factor of approximately 1.5 times – via a mild electric shock to your tongue! States the Japanese company: “Through this device, we aim to realise a society in which people can improve their lifestyle in a delicious way.” Bless!

Nékojita FuFu Tea- Blowing Robot You’ve just brewed a nice pot of tea, poured a cup, and scorched the living daylights out of your mouth by sipping too soon. Mercifully, this need never occur again thanks to the ingenuity of Japanese company Yukai Engineering, who have created the cat-shaped Nékojita FuFu. Actually aimed at a wider audience than just tea drinkers, the FuFu will cool down any hot drink, and even food, simply by removing the strenuous task of having to blow on them.

Mi-Mo Walking Table

Yes, hook FuFu to your cup or pop it beside a plate and let this rechargeable mini robot blow things cool for you, thanks to an internal fan that even randomises its blowing strength to simulate how us humans do it. Well, used to do it…

Robotics hasn’t necessarily delivered on the promises of TV shows we grew up with like The Jetsons , however Japanese company Jizai is aiming to change that. Say hello to their “customisable general purpose AI robot”, Mi Mo. Thanks to an assortment of AI models using audio, visual, and movement cues, it’s able to think and act of its own accord. While internally it’s space age to the max, its designer wished to keep it looking like a piece of furniture – hence the genuine wood – while behaving like a living creature. We reckon it looks like some sort of mutant escapee

AtmosGear Electric Rollerblades Billed as “the world’s first electric skates”, these hybrid rollers will have you going places at up to around 29km/h, with a range of close to 26km.

from Toy Story , and with an estimated US$30K price tag, we’re not sure that we’ll ever get to play with one.

There’s an array of stuff to sort before you get them on, though. The batteries didn’t work in the boots, so the AtmosGear boffins found a solution – a fanny pack! Strap it on, do up your boots, wire yourself up, and grab the remote control. Then you’re free to roll. Oh, and you can also use them as old school, motor-free skates.

LiberLive C1 Stringless Smart Guitar

Radiohead once declared Anyone Can Play Guitar , yet thousands of neglected axes worldwide tend to paint a different story – it takes dedication to learn, let alone stay in tune. LiberLive aim to make strumming more accessible to everybody by, well, removing the strumming. With buttons and a rocker switch to deliver the strum, their C1 – available in four neat shades – is more like a futuristic Guitar Hero peripheral than a real guitar, but the tech inside it is a game changer. Glowing lights guide your way, as the handily foldable C1 pumps out authentic-sounding acoustic guitar notes and chords via its inbuilt speaker – or you can plug it into an amp old school style for that big sound.

44 FEBRUARY 2025

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