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The wackiest, weirdest gadgets of CES 2017

"Why does this product exist?" "They really thought of that?" "Who can afford one of those?" These are the zaniest, most outlandish and exorbitant items we've seen at CES 2017.

Sean Hollister
When his parents denied him a Super NES, he got mad. When they traded a prize Sega Genesis for a 2400 baud modem, he got even. Years of Internet shareware, eBay'd possessions and video game testing jobs after that, he joined Engadget. He helped found The Verge, and later served as Gizmodo's reviews editor. When he's not madly testing laptops, apps, virtual reality experiences, and whatever new gadget will supposedly change the world, he likes to kick back with some games, a good Nerf blaster, and a bottle of Tejava.
Sean Hollister
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1 of 30 Screenshot by David Carnoy/CNET

Hushme

Colleagues yapping on the phone nonstop while you're trying to work? Perhaps this totally-not-cosplaying-as-Bane mask -- aka the Hushme -- could help! Billed as the "world's first voice mask for mobile phones," it's designed to let a person gab without disturbing those nearby. It's also got a built-in voice changer, if you want to sound a bit more like Darth Vader. Yes this is a serious idea.

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2 of 30 Josh Miller

Airdog Fitair

And while you're strapping things on your face (previous slide) -- how about an air purifier? It's literally a breath of fresh air.

$100 (roughly AU$140, £80) when it comes out later this year.

Kerastase Hair Coach by Withings
Kerastase Hair Coach by Withings
0:57
3 of 30 Josh Miller/CNET

Kerastase Hair Coach by Withings

A smart hair brush? That's right: the Kerastase Hair Coach teaches you to brush your hair properly. (Because you've never done that before.) A built-in microphone listens as you brush, while a whole host of other sensors tests your strokes and your environment.

It can be yours this summer for less than $200.

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4 of 30 Sarah Tew/CNET

Denso Vacuum Shoes

Vacuum shoes. Yep, these sure look practical. Fashionable, too!

They don't use batteries: every time you step, you press down on a pedal, which powers the motor and sucks dirt into a tiny internal receptacle.

Acer Predator 21X
Acer Predator 21X
1:00
5 of 30 Sarah Tew/CNET

Acer Predator 21X

Two GeForce GTX 1080 GPUs. Two power supplies. Five system fans. Nine heatpipes. 64GB of memory and five storage drives. The world's first curved screen in a laptop -- 21 inches diagonally. A mechanical keyboard. An overclockable CPU. A touchpad that turns into a numpad. Eye-tracking cameras.

All yours for the totally reasonable price of $9,000 (roughly £8,520 or AU$14,540). Have fun lifting it off the ground.

Razer Project Valerie
Razer Project Valerie
1:22
6 of 30 Sarah Tew/CNET

Razer Project Valerie

Of course, you could hold off on the Acer Predator 21X (previous slide) and wait to see if Razer produces the Valerie -- a laptop that takes the already-insane Razer Blade Pro and adds two additional screens. Yes, this is a laptop with three 17-inch screens, which automatically fold out on motorized hinges. The whole concept laptop is 1.5 inches thick and weighs 12 pounds, which -- to be honest -- isn't out of the ordinary for a normal bulky gaming laptop.

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7 of 30 Sensorwake

Sensorwake Oria

An alarm clock that helps you sleep by farting in your face? Who wouldn't want that? Next summer, you can try the Sensorwake Oria's patented scents for yourself -- for the low, low price of $150 (roughly £122 or AU$207).

Furrion Elysium RV
Furrion Elysium RV
2:17
8 of 30 CNET

Furrion Elysium RV

When you think "recreational vehicle," perhaps you imagine living aboard a bus. This bus has its own hot tub and built-in retractable helipad -- complete with helicopter.

Volcano fortress and piranha tank sold separately.

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9 of 30 Josh Miller/CNET

Tanvas Touch texture haptic feedback

Could a tablet screen fool you into thinking you're touching fabric instead of glass? A company called Tanvas thinks so -- it uses vibrations to (supposedly) let you tell the difference between corduroy and silk, among other things. Our CES demo didn't fool us, but stay tuned!

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10 of 30 Griffin

Griffin Technology Connected Toaster

It's a Bluetooth toaster. No joke. App-enabled and all.

It might be the best thing since sliced bread. But if consumers don't go for it, it's toast.

$100 (roughly AU$140 or £60), early next year.

Happiest Baby Snoo
Happiest Baby Snoo
1:21
11 of 30 Chris Monroe/CNET

Happiest Baby Snoo

You can't put a price on your infant's comfort -- or can you?

The Happiest Baby Snoo will run you $1,150 (roughly £930 or AU$1,600). That's partly because it'll carefully rock children to sleep, adjusting its motors and white noise based on the kid's behavior. And it's partly the pedigree: The Snoo comes from design icon Yves Behar and Dr. Harvey Karp, inventor of the Five S's for soothing infants. Now available.

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12 of 30 Tyler Lizenby/CNET

Hubbel Hugo emotion-reading camera

Home security cameras, sure -- but a security camera that can tell how you're feeling? The Hubbel Hugo smart cam uses facial recognition to do a bunch of cool things, like noticing when your baby is crying (and triggering music or a fan) or NOT triggering a motion alert every time an animal runs by (because they're not human). No word on what it does if you're angry. It should cost between $250 (roughly £201 or AU $340) and $300 (£241 or AU$408) this summer.

Sleep Number 360 Bed
Sleep Number 360 Bed
1:28
13 of 30 Tyler Lizenby/CNET

Sleep Number 360 Bed

Speaking of beds, the Sleep Number 360 Bed doesn't just remember your comfort settings, it also warms your feet while you sleep, auto-props up your partner's head when he or she starts snoring, and deflates the mattress slightly if you shift position in the middle of the night. Yes, but does it make itself? That's the feature we'd like to see.

LG Smart InstaView fridge
LG Smart InstaView fridge
1:02
14 of 30 Chris Monroe/CNET

LG Smart InstaView fridge

Listen, what your fridge really needs is a 29-inch touchscreen. And not just any touchscreen -- one that turns transparent when you knock on it twice so you can see inside without letting out the cold air. Oh, and a built-in Amazon Echo so you can tell the fridge to order groceries and put items on your shopping list. The price? You can't put a price on convenience.

The Hypersuit
The Hypersuit
1:28
15 of 30 Ben Fox Rubin/CNET

The Hypersuit

Say hello to the Hypersuit, a metal exoskeleton that helps you feel kind of like you're flying when you pair it with a VR headset.

You don't want to know what it costs -- unless you actually have the space for such a thing in your home, in which case the price probably doesn't matter.

Look! Over there behind the La-Z-Boy! It's a bird! It's a plane!...

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16 of 30 Josh Miller/CNET

Neumonic

Because you've always wanted to print black-and-white pictures on Post-It notes and stick them all around your house.

The name probably comes from "mnemonic," a memory aid -- because some people are better at remembering things if there are physical reminders all around.

The printer will cost around $120 this summer in the US. Paper is $4 a roll.

Under Armour Gemini smart shoe
Under Armour Gemini smart shoe
1:05
17 of 30 CNET

Under Armour Gemini smart shoe

It's a shoe that tells you when you're tired. Under Armour's smart shoes aren't brand new, but this feature takes the cake: Jump up and down six times in a row, and the shoe will tell you (via an app) how far it thinks you're capable of running today. Jump up and down 20 times, and it fixes you another latte. Kidding.

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18 of 30 Chris Monroe/CNET

Laundroid

Why waste your life folding laundry, when a robot arm can do it for you? Just throw them in the Laundroid's drawer. Cons: it only sorts through 30-40 items at a time, takes roughly five minutes per item, can't do socks, and will likely cost the price of a good kidney.

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19 of 30 Chris Monroe/CNET

Hydrao First showerhead

Imagine if your shower could tell you when you're using too much water. That's the idea behind the Hydrao First -- it's got built-in LEDs that change color (from green to blue to purple to red) depending on how much water you've used. An app can customize how much water use triggers each color, and it can track your savings.

The Hydrao First is available for preorder for $99 in the US (roughly AU$140, £80).

Razer Project Ariana
Razer Project Ariana
1:18
20 of 30 Sarah Tew/CNET

Razer Project Ariana

It's a projector, but it's not designed to be your primary screen. The Razer Project Ariana prototype is about making you feel like you're more in the game. It "extends" your screen to the room around you, adding lighting effects, to give you extra ambiance. Remember Microsoft's Illumiroom? Yeah.

Pop-I backpack
Pop-I backpack
1:00
21 of 30 Claire Reilly/CNET

Pop-I backpack

Haven't you always wanted to walk around with a black-and-white image of yourself on your backpack?

Surprisingly, the price isn't bad: Despite having to stuff a 10-inch e-ink screen and the electronics inside, the Pop-I backpack will cost as little as $99 when it launches in the US this spring.

genican-with-bag-1.jpg
22 of 30 GeniCan

GeniCan

Tossing something in the trash? Scan it first with the GeniCan -- which attaches to your trash can, yes -- and can automatically order you a replacement from Amazon's Dash service. It will cost $149 (or roughly £120/AU$200), coming later this year. Or if you blindly trust the company's ability to deliver, you can preorder now for a discount.

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23 of 30

Eugene

Another trash gadget! Do you have trouble telling whether your garbage is recyclable? Just scan the bar code on the package with the Eugene, and it'll tell you.

Assuming 1) your trash has a bar code, 2) still has a bar code by the time you're throwing it out, 3) is a bar code that Eugene recognizes, and 4) isn't obviously recyclable or not based on the recycling marks that probably also appear on the label.

The gadget is set to ship in the US and UK for $99 and £99, respectively.

Cerevo Taclim VR shoes
Cerevo Taclim VR shoes
1:17
24 of 30 CNET

Cerevo Taclim VR shoes

You don't have to worry about how ugly these sandals are, because they're virtual. (They let you feel like you're walking on wood, sand, etc while you're in a VR headset.) Perhaps the company will let you pay the $1,000-$1,500 asking price with virtual money, too?

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25 of 30 Scott Stein/CNET

Holo Cube

It's just a block of foam!

Except, when you pop your phone into a special VR headset, the phone's camera reads the patterns on the cube, and makes it look like a Super Mario coin block, a little floating city, or whatever else app developers want.

It'll cost $20. Coming this summer.

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26 of 30 Asus

Asus ROG GT51CH

The Asus ROG GT51CH. You know -- just in case you want your next PC to look like the head of a giant evil robot dragon with a huge mouth-mounted laser beam.

Also, it weighs 50 pounds. Find it next summer.

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27 of 30 Josh Goldman/CNET

Jagger & Lewis smart collar

No, it doesn't translate Fido's barks into intelligible human speech, but this smart collar does promise to tell you your pup's mood. Sensors measure actions like eating, drinking, sleeping and scratching.

Or you could just look at your dog, and you won't have to pay the $200 Jagger & Lewis are asking for (that's about £165 and AU$275).

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28 of 30 Chris Monroe/CNET

Bloomlife

Can pregnant mothers tell the difference between contractions and possible complications? Now there's an app-equipped gadget for that! One without FDA certification, unfortunately, and one that costs $150 (about £206 or AU$121) for the first month, $100 for the second, and $50 a month after that.

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29 of 30 CNET

PowerRay

Gosh, I never catch any fish. What if I could send a minicamera-equipped submarine drone down there to find out where they're hiding?

Well, apparently you'll soon be able to. The PowerRay even features an add-on sonar kit. Preorders begin in February, for an undisclosed sum.

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30 of 30 Andrew Krok/CNET

Furrion Prosthesis

This isn't a statue. This isn't a giant rollcage for a boat. The Furrion Prosthesis is a racing mech -- a 14-foot tall, 7,000+ pound mechanized suit that can runs at 21 miles per hour and can allegedly jump 10 feet in the air.

Please, please let this ridiculous thing be real.

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