Products that improve health and well-being seem to be an ever-increasing part of CES and CES2020 was no exception. Here is an overview of some of the solutions we saw at this enormous tradeshow that promise to improve the quality of life for people of all abilities.

Diagnosing concussions, internal bleeding and other brain injuries may happen much faster and at a fraction of a cost thanks to new MRI machines from Hyperfine. Using technology from a smartphone, leti/ceatech demonstrated a low-cost, lens-free microscope that could benefit rural areas that uses AI to automatically diagnose spinal meningitis on-site and within a minute.

These types of developments are indicative of the advancement of devices that will enable telehealth applications, such as what H-Robotics displayed with their robotic arms that act in concert with an app to provide remote physical and rehabilitation therapy for stroke and other patients.

Better hearing, whether through improved earbuds or medically approved hearing aids, seemed to be everywhere. Phonak is bridging these two worlds with a so-called hearable; a hearing aid that embraces the acceptance of earbuds as part of everyday life. Meanwhile, Eargo, with its practically invisible hearing aid, has a different business model that also effectively doubles as a telemedicine application.

Sensing brainwaves and then providing visible feedback to help children and adults better focus without the use of medicine is another application that promises to make therapy more accessible and Narbis demonstrated one such approach. Muse continues to help people sleep better, find peace of mind and deal with illnesses through its brainwave headband and associated meditation app and is proving the results with 3rd party studies.

Robotic pets are proving therapeutic to the elderly in Japan and can be as simple as a cushion with a tail that reacts to a user’s emotions, such as Yukai Engineering’s Qoobo. Meanwhile, Groove-X’s Lovot mimics the gaze of and the soft sounds of a beloved pet and may serve as a replacement for Fido for some who want the pleasures of a pet without the maintenance. ‘

Amidst all the exciting developments at CES2020, the American Speech-Language Hearing Association, which points out that it isn’t anti-tech, was there sounding a warning that technology cannot be a substitute for human-to-human, particularly parent-child, contact. Stay tuned to Viodi for interviews with many of these companies and more.