CES, the most awaited consumer technology jamboree is finally here – in an all-digital format because of the current pandemic. On the first day of CES 2021, amid the big announcements by Samsung, Panasonic, Mercedes-Benz, LG, Canon, Sony, and Kohler, we are seeing a renewed focus on connected health solutions.
The trendiest smart healthcare products this year include air purification, water safety, disinfecting robots, and contactless solutions. We went into the event to learn how these products address critical issues facing consumers, patients, clinicians, and governments. We spoke to thought leaders across various segments to hear their predictions on connected healthcare.
IoT Tech Trends brings you the following exclusive coverage in association with key industry participants at CES 2021: LUFTQI, Pure365 and UNIPIN Medical Technology.
Breathe Free with Smart Air Purifiers
While a major draw last year, consumer air purifiers have picked up demand in 2021 because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The advent of smart air cleaning spans an entire range of creative new ideas from pocket-sized wearables to app integrations with whole-house air purifiers.
This year at CES, LG introduced its PuriCare range of air and water purifiers, which come with smart sensors and a display unit to give you the pollution status in your home environment on a scale of “violet” (polluted) to “green” (clean).
“Portable air purifiers” are an emerging segment where LUFTQI, a Taiwan-based electronics company with subsidiaries in the United States, has won rave reviews. This year at CES the company has launched LUFT Duo, its latest offering which follows LUFT Cube.
According to Titus Chang, marketing director and co-founder, “Luft Duo is a filterless air purifier which neutralizes mold reproduction by decomposing its cell structure, therefore purifying the air you breathe. This extremely lightweight device does not require any setup or filter replacement and is energy-efficient and environmental-friendly since it doesn’t produce any ozone.”
As you can carry the LUFT range of portable air purifiers in a purse or even your pocket, such a convenience is guaranteed to become an important consumer criteria.
The Role of Data in Air and Water Purification
Having a portable air purifier is a good thing. But if you want the solution to be “smart,” you would need a data-centric approach that integrates hardware with software. This is where Pure365 offers a quantified app solution to help you achieve a healthy home – free from harmful airborne particles and waterborne contaminants.
Immediately after you download the app from Play Store, you get side-by-side readings of indoor versus outdoor air quality. The “indoor” data is sourced from a range of whole-house air cleaners manufactured by partner manufacturers such as Intellipure, Pure Wellness and Bluewater.
Says Michael Don Ham, co-founder and CTO of Pure365: “Our goal is to make the indoor air better than the outdoor air. We want to flip the EPA standard, which says that indoor air can be two to five times more polluting than the outdoor air. The idea is to show them this data on an app monitor screen.” Apart from quantifying indoor air quality, the app integrates with a range of smart home devices, such as Nest thermostats, Ecobee, uHoo, and a few virtual assistants.
Sanitizing the Public Spaces with Disinfection Robots
After the onset of COVID-19, there has been a growing demand for solutions at CES which can help with the sanitizing and disinfection of large surfaces and indoor areas. Many of us have seen television visuals of large disinfection robots mopping the floors at major airports using ultraviolet rays.
Guangdong UNIPIN Medical Technologies is one of these companies that makes these industrial-scale disinfection robots and has brought them to CES 2021. If you want to know more on how disinfection robots work, visit this link.
According to Holly Wu, sales manager at UNIPIN, “The good thing about these robots is they automatically switch off when they detect human presence within five meters, which ensures that human operators are not exposed to UV-C radiations. At 1.3 meters height, the robot sweeps through restaurants, airports, schools and malls in a jiffy.”
More Connected Health Offerings at CES 2021
We discussed intelligent air purification solutions for home consumers above. But what if you needed to purify the air in a hospital setting? This year at CES, OMRON talked about its Nebulizer machines which help patients with asthma, COPD or other respiratory conditions.
Earlier we mentioned that in a post-COVID era, contactless consumer products will become popular. This is true for the smart consumer appliances which integrate with connected health. At CES 2021, Alarm.com has introduced the world’s first contactless video doorbell. The product uses rapid and accurate person detection to send a mobile alert to the homeowner. You don’t have to ring the doorbell or touch any surface with this new concept which goes along well with a post-COVID world.
Speaking of COVID-19, its screening will become very important this year at airports, restaurants, clubs, and other public venues. A new BioButton system has been introduced by BioIntelliSense. It’s a coin-sized button that can monitor vital signs and captures up to 30 days of symptomatic events.
This is just a short preview of interesting connected healthcare trends which have been noted at CES 2021. Many of these trends are going to define the innovations of the future and aim to improve the wellness of our living environments.
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