Tag Archives: connected home

iWONDERCOOK takes the hassle out of preparing a fresh meal @ CES 2021

January 30, 2021Accessories, CES 2021, Gadgets, Homeces2021, connected home, gadgets, kitchen, robot, roboticsPLUGHITZ Live

After a long day at work, whether you’re working from the office or working from home, sometimes the energy or interest to cook dinner can be limited. For some, it means going and getting fast food. For others, it means jumping on an app and ordering delivery. But, if you are lucky enough to have an iWONDERCOOK, you don’t have to have fast food or order out, and you don’t have to expend the energy to cook.

iWONDERCOOK is a small robotic chef that is designed for your personal kitchen. It is about the size of a consumer 3D printer and even follows similar principles. The design of the meal is done beforehand, and the required materials are prepared and shipped to your house. To cook the pre-packed but not prepared meal, you scan the barcode on the package and place the ingredients in the machine. Then, in about 15 minutes, return to the machine and plate your food. That’s all there is to it. In fact, during the conversation, Michael Lemberg cooked and plated a meal on camera.

The way it works behind the scenes is similar to some of the meal kits, but with an easy and robotic twist. The company sources the ingredients to support the recipes in its system. They then clean, cut, and pack those ingredients into containers, split by meal. They ship those packets to you, which contains the general ingredients, sauces, and spices. So far, a tried and true model. The difference, of course, is that you don’t need a printed recipe with preparation and cooking processes. Instead, just scan, cook, and walk away. You don’t even have to deal with cleanup, as the machine takes care of that (except for your plate and silverware).

Because of delivery requirements, iWONDERCOOK is currently limited to the New York area. If you are interested in learning more about the product, check out the website.

Interview by Daniele Mendez of The New Product Launchpad.

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Caregiver Smart Solutions eases the aging in place process @ CES 2021

January 24, 2021Accessories, CES 2021, Health, Homeaging, ces2021, connected home, gadgetsPLUGHITZ Live

Caregiver Smart Solutions aging in place technology As we age, certain abilities degrade. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong or embarrassing about this – it’s just a part of aging. However, many people still feel a level of embarrassment about these changes and will do things to pretend they don’t exist. When aging in place, ignoring these issues can be even more of a problem because they can indicate other issues, or cause future issues. Caregiver Smart Solutions has a suite of products designed to help identify these issues while maintaining privacy.

People with hearing loss will pretend all is fine and not look for hearing enhancement technology. Some will begin to experience mobility issues, and not tell anyone including their doctors. And we know when we ask our parents how they are, the answer is often “fine” regardless of the truth. This can cause a lot of stress for the families of those aging in place, and a lot of ways of checking up on your family can be intrusive. The Caregiver Smart Solutions suite allows you to learn about your family’s behaviors without installing cameras and other intrusive technologies.

In an example provided by Ryan Herd, founder of the company, think of your mother coming home with groceries. She puts them away but doesn’t completely close the refrigerator door. She isn’t able to hear the refrigerator beeping to let her know, so she leaves the kitchen and goes to watch TV. When she returns later, she finds the door open, but still uses the food that may have spoiled in the fridge and gets sick. With this solution, however, you could get an alert that there is an alarm going off in the kitchen and call your mother to check on her.

The sensors track a lot of other environmental conditions, as well. For example, you can learn whether your family is eating, sleeping normally, moving around. It also has the ability to detect falls and notify you without the need for a wearable device or a panic button.

You can purchase the Caregiver Smart Solutions in kits or individual sensors now. To learn more about the system and make a purchase, check out the company’s website.

Interview by Scott Ertz of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology.

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Cutii is a companion robot to ease social isolation @ CES 2021

January 24, 2021CES 2021, Homeaging, ces2021, connected home, privacy, safetyPLUGHITZ Live

Cutii by Care Clever companion robot We all want to maintain our independence and lifestyle as long as we can, but for seniors, that can be difficult. Memory can slip and activity can wane, but the biggest challenge is actually being alone. Senior isolation has always been a problem, and it has gotten even worse in the past 12 months. There are great services out there that can send a home health worker to the house or even a “grandkid on-demand,” but what about the in-between times? That’s where Cutii by Care Clever comes in.

This robotic companion combines the best aspects of a telepresence robot with the voice control capabilities of a digital assistant. It is designed to help relieve some of the stresses created by social isolation by creating virtual environments in which to interact with other people. For example, during CES, a Thai Chi class was held through the platform. While other virtual class platforms exist, Cutii sets itself apart because you can easily interact with your classmates. This makes the experience a lot closer to what it would be like to be in a real class.

In addition, Cutii has the ability to interact with things around the house, including smart devices. This is because of its wide range of communication technologies. Cutii can turn on lights, check doors and windows, and more. You can also summon Cutii to your location with your voice, which is possible because of the onboard sensors which create a map of the house. While voice is a common technology these days, Cutii also makes interaction via touchscreen a possibility, because it is designed to be accessible to the most people possible.

Cutii is coming soon. For more information about the product or the company, or to find out when it becomes available, check out the company’s website.

Interview by Scott Ertz of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology.

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Nooie brings beauty and security together in your home @ CES 2021

January 20, 2021Accessories, CES 2021, Homeces2021, connected home, gadgets, security, smarthomePLUGHITZ Live

Nooie Cam Doorbell The technology field is full of fascinating products that, while doing a great job to help the user in his chosen field, are not very attractive to look at. This is where Nooie is so different. The Nooie line has beautiful cameras and a smart-looking doorbell.

Nooie was created in 2018 in San Francisco by co-founder and designer Sasha who introduced us to Nooie. The Nooie Cam Doorbell is designed for beauty and smart function. One of the advantages of the Nooie Cam Doorbell is the ease of installation and use. The wiring has been eliminated and replaced with a powerful battery with a 10,000 mAh capacity. The base station, on the other hand, plugs into a standard outlet and must stay within 20 feet of the bell. One of the things that set this doorbell apart is that it is a 2K camera instead of HD. This will give greater clarity when viewing remotely or reviewing footage.

Another product of this company is the 360-degree camera with night vision. It has horizontal and vertical rotation with advanced algorithms that can track motion wherever the action is. The night vision has two 940nm infrared LEDs that will ensure a perfectly crisp and clear picture up to 32 feet, even if it is pitch black. There is also a 2-way audio system allowing you to listen and talk to your family and even your pets anywhere in the house. It has a built-in anti-noise feature and a mic and speaker. You can share streaming and recordings with others if desired. There is a capability of also using it with Alexa, making it like having a personal assistant in your own home.

These designer security products are available now on Amazon. The Cam Doorbell retails for $149.99. The Cam 360 is retailing for $49.99. To learn more about these and other Nooie products, check out the company’s website.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central.

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Oort SmartHub Integrates With Bluetooth

February 22, 2015CES 2015, HomeCES, CES2015, connected home, home automation, interview, videogeek news

Smart homes and the Internet of Things are very much in vogue at CES this year with vendors offering a wide range of products, some of which hardly deserve the name “smart” and others that are genuinely innovative. In the latter camp, there is Oort which tries to “make your world smarter”. Don learns more from Radek Tadajewski, Wizard of Oort.

The difference between Oort and many of its competitors is that Oort has been designed to work openly with Bluetooth devices from the start. By using Bluetooth profiles as the integration mechanism, Oort can use any Bluetooth device that has the necessary profile. To get you started, there’s a $350 starter kit which includes the Oort hub, light bulbs, sockets and a tracker beacon though other devices can be added as needed. As you’d expect there’s a smartphone app for Android and iOS which communicates with the hub and the connected devices. You can view the status of devices and sensors through the smartphone app, whether you are inside the house or sitting in the office, and you can turn devices on and off as needed.

There’s more in the interview by Don Baine, the Gadget Professor.

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iHealth Offers Connected Home Health Monitoring System

January 15, 2015CES 2015, Healthconnected home, digital health, home health monitor, iHealth, jamie davis, PodmedicJamie Davis

Health Tech Weekly host Jamie Davis, the Podmedic visits the iHealth booth at CES Digital Experience event in Las Vegas to find out about their new system for helping seniors without smartphones or similar mobile devices. iHealth is known for their connected health assessment tools for the home user like blood pressure machines, blood sugar monitors, and other health devices.

The challenge for many people has been that all those devices have required someone to use a smartphone or tablet to make the most of the connected features and apps. That has all changed now that iHealth is offering their new connected hub for the home that collects data from all their connected devices and transmits that data securely to their web application for the home user to access on their computer using a normal web browser.

The data can also be shared with family members or even the user’s health care professional like a doctor or nurse monitoring them remotely. The iHealth Discover will be available by the end of 2015. You can find more information from iHealth about their products and services at iHealthLabs.com.

Make sure you follow Jamie’s picks and coverage over at HTWeekly.com and the Tech Podcasts Network live CES 2015 coverage over at TPN.tv during the show where our entire CES team will be bringing you the best, the most innovative, and newest tech gadgets to you from the conference! And don’t forget to check out his shows for at NursingShow.com, MedicCast.tv, and the brand new Health Tech weekly show at HTWeekly.com.

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