Top 5 coolest gadgets and innovations at CES Asia 2015

[HighwayStar]

Top 5 coolest gadgets and innovations at CES Asia 2015

PUBLISHED : Friday, 29 May, 2015, 12:00pm
UPDATED : Friday, 29 May, 2015, 12:00pm

Staff Reporter

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Asia took place in Shanghai this week. Photo: AFP

The inaugural Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Asia took place in Shanghai this week, the first time the event has been held outside of the United States. International and domestic technology companies, including Intel, Twitter, Suning, and JD.com, were in attendance, as were South China Morning Post reporters.

Our reporters have sifted through the multitude of innovative products, including those highlighted by the official Best of CES Asia Awards, to choose five of our favourites.

Kitchen robot

Moley Robotics demonstrate their kitchen robot for guests at CES Asia. Photo: AFP

Designed by London-based Moley Robotics, the automated kitchen consists of two large robotic arms which can construct dishes based on an iTunes-like library of recipes. The arms were designed by the Shadow Robot company, which also provides technologies to NASA, and consist of 20 motors, 24 joints and 129 sensors allowing them to mimic the movements and dexterity of human hands.

Audi R8 E-tron

The Audi R8 E-tron was unveiled at CES Asia. Photo: AFP

Unveiled at CES Asia, Audi's new self-driving, all-electric R8 sports car can reach 100 kph (62 mph) in under four seconds and has a top speed of 250 kph, all without needing a human driver. The vehicle's "piloted driving" technology uses a raft of sensors across the car to map out the road ahead and choose a fast and safe route. In China, the company is also partnering with search-giant Baidu to provide mapping, positioning, and points-of-interest data for passengers.

Remix OS

The Jide Remix Ultra tablet. Jide won an innovation award at CES Asia for their Remix operating system. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Jide's Remix operating system (OS) recreates the cross-device functionality of Microsoft's new Windows 10 OS on Android. Remix brings the look and feel of a desktop operating system to mobile devices, allowing a tablet to be used like a laptop, running multiple apps in small windows and offering full file explorer capabilities and multitasking. Backed by Taiwan's Foxconn, the world's biggest contract electronics maker, the Beijing-based start-up has also begun production on its own tablet, the Remix Ultra.

Turing Robot

The Turing Robot dances for visitors at CES Asia. Photo: Xinhua

While it can wave, speak and even dance, the truly impressive thing about the Turing Robot is its software. Artificial intelligence and speech recognition functions mean the robot can react to sound or visual cues, while its open application programming interface (API) means anyone can write software to control the device, enabling it to evolve and add functionality like you would add songs to an iPod.

4D virtual reality controller

Visitors to CES Asia try out the 3DinLife virtual reality controller. Photo: AP

Virtual reality products, of varying degrees of quality and believability, were all over CES Asia. Chinese manufacturer 3DinLife took it a step further, with its huge, egg-shaped VR seat controllers. Mounted on hydraulic lifts the controls swoop and jolt players as they take part in virtual reality flight or space simulation games, similar to Disney's Star Tours but in your living room.