With CES 2020 wrapping up last week, there’s a lot to digest. We saw tons of innovative products in fitness tech, TVs, self-driving vehicles, and even basics like Bluetooth technology. CES is a spectacle that never fails to impress. While some products might be more realistic than others, the showcase can be a source of inspiration for product developers and entrepreneurs.
Designing a great product doesn’t happen overnight. Many of the over 45,000 companies that introduced products at CES built on emerging trends from the past few years. But for entrepreneurs working on the next big idea, it could be something as simple as a napkin scrawl and the right partner to move your design a leap ahead.
Read on for the most innovative products at CES 2020 – and take inspiration from their example.
Foldable Tablets and Laptops
CES 2019 featured foldable phones, like Huawei’s foldable Mate X – inspired by Intel’s “Horseshoe Bend” reference design. This year, the foldable trend expands to laptops and tablets.
Analysts are buzzing about Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Fold, a foldable display that combines the best features of a laptop and tablet in one sleek design. Lenovo’s tablet features a 13.3-inch screen that folds in half. It also supports a stylus with Windows Ink and a magnetic keyboard. This magnetic keyboard can be directly attached to use the tablet as a laptop.
Dell also debuted two foldables, the Concept Ori and the Concept Duet. This next evolution in foldable screens promises to “offer laptop users more immersive movies, generously large spreadsheets and better tools for editing photos and videos,” according to CNET.
Withings ScanWatch
Fitness trackers have come a long way since the first Fitness entered the market in 2008. Primarily due to the addition of the built-in SpO2 sensor, Withings’ ScanWatch took home the honors as the best digital health product of CES 2020.
This feature can help you determine whether or not you need to be tested for sleep apnea, bridging the gap between fitness tech and medical health tracking. The ScanWatch looks like an analog watch, but it can track your heart rate for abnormal cardiac activity, has a battery life of 30 days, and includes a wide range of fitness activity tools.
Amazfit HomeStudio
Huami, a wearable company, and Studio, a fitness startup, have teamed up to reinvent the treadmill. Together, they will debut the Amazfit HomeStudio at CES 2020.
The smart treadmill promises to compete with existing products from Peloton as well as new market entrants like Mirror. “The most notable feature of the Amazfit HomeStudio is its lack of a traditional treadmill front.
Instead, you control the device using your smartphone. A separate, vertically-oriented 43-inch HD screen called the “Glass” receives the content from the smartphone, according to TechCrunch.
The Amazfit HomeStudio combines expertise from both brands: the treadmill tracks metrics such as time, heart rate, distance, and calorie consumption, and even measures your form to offer tips to improve your running. The “Glass” screen in front of the track offers classes from Studio’s more than 1,000 online fitness classes, with a focus on treadmill running.
Hydraloop Water Recycler
Green-tech found new prominence at this year’s CES, and one of the most innovative products was Hydraloop’s Water Recycler. “The large appliance, which filters and purifies greywater from baths, showers, and washing machines, employs a series of six maintenance-free filtration techniques. It can recycle up to 85% of the water used in the home for re-use in toilets, pools, and irrigation systems (your toilet and kitchen sink are safe from filtration, so don’t fret),” writes a reviewer from Time Magazine.
Hydraloop recyclers are already in use in Africa and Europe; not only do they save the planet, but they can save money. By company estimates, a four-person household can save up to 20,000 gallons of water per year.
Motion Pillow
Water is just one scarce resource that tech is aiming to save in 2020. Sleep is another. The Motion Pillow is a consumer good that helps reduce snoring. “A box on your nightstand records audio as you sleep then sends it to your phone for analysis.
When the app detects snoring, the pillow inflates in various positions, gently juggling your head around until you quiet down,” describes Fast Company. A lack of sleep affects more than 45% of Americans, with serious health implications; it’s no wonder that the Motion Pillow was an honoree in this year’s CES Innovation Awards.
Any of these products sparking new ideas? Work with Gembah to bring your next great product out of your head and into a functional, beautiful, makeable design.