• by Les Luchter , Staff Writer, January 11, 2024

“Could we live to 200?” begins “Welcome to the Superhuman Era,” a 32-page report released by Havas Health & You at this week’s CES technology show in Las Vegas. “Anything is possible,” answers Eric Weisberg, the agency’s global chief creative officer, as Havas declares “a new realm of health and wellness defined by AI-driven, hyper-personalized concepts and services that bridge the healthcare equity gap.”

If you do live to be 200 -- or even 100 -- you may well be helped along the way by health-related innovations displayed at the sprawling CES. Here are some of our favorites:

Measuring health vitals

Mirror, mirror on the table, who is the healthiest of them all?

-- A couple of years after NuraLogix debuted Anura, which provides health data from selfies via AI analysis of facial blood flow, the company has brought the technology to its new MagicMirror -- a 21.5-inch device geared to such potential partners as retailers, gyms, schools, corporations, pharmacies, and doctors' offices.

-- Withings, which at last year’s CES was touting “the world's first hands-free connected home urine lab,” is demonstating BeamO, a hand-held device that multifunctions as an ECG, oximeter, stethoscope, and thermometer. Withings says the device turns “the humble thermometer into a powerful tool for regular monitoring of heart and lung health.”

BeamO is expected to be available in June for $249.95, contingent on FDA clearance of its ECG capability.

-- Zeroing in on swimmers, Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute is at CES with iSwimWeaR, which uses low-power microwave sensing technology to monitor physiological vitals in underwater environments. Attached to swimming goggles or diving masks, the device captures heart rate, breathing rate, physical activity level and other data. In the event of fatigue, cramps, or drowning, iSwimWeaR sends out safety alerts.

Overcoming serious health problems

“I am proof that there’s so much potential if we commit to making inclusion a basic human right,” says Erin Taylor, a 24-year-old with the degenerative disease ALS. Or should we say the quote comes from Taylor’s hyper-realistic AI avatar?

Doesn’t really matter, since the avatar -- developed by consumer electronics brand Lenovo, DeepBrain AI and the Scott-Morgan Foundation -- has taken on Taylor’s voice, personality and physical mannerisms.

The foundation says it’s working with The Abilities Research Center at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai to optimize this and other assistive technologies in the real world.

Or as Taylor says through her digital twin, “True freedom lies in empowering everyone to live beyond limits.”

Disinfecting indoor spaces

Worried about catching COVID, RSV or other airborne viruses, bacteria and pathogens?

-- MobileShield, a handheld portable device, promises to disinfect any space up to 100 square feet by using Far UV-C 222nm light to inactivate infectious diseases. Powered by a rechargeable battery pack or a power adapter, MobileShield is available online now for $649.

-- Trident Air is previewing HEX, a wall-mountable air purifier, which can be used alone or in conjunction with additional units to clean rooms of any size. Still in development, the device is said to use a three-step “Hunt, Catch, Kill” process to “sterilize and purify both air and surfaces within minutes of usage.” And, unlike other air purifiers, says Trident, it provides “relief to individuals with respiratory issues such as rhinitis and sinusitis.”

Speaking, seeing, hearing

-- Assistive phone calling app Whispp has added the ability to convert whispered and vocal cord-impaired speech into a user's natural voice in real-time.

-- OrCam Technologies’ new Hear device conquers the “cocktail party problem” by letting hearing-impaired people isolate specific speakers in crowded situations. The company says the product, now in a technology preview phase, is expected to be shipped later in the year.

-- People with severe macular degeneration can see normally by donning Ocutrx's OcuLenz AR/XR headset, which uses video pixel manipulation to move imaging out of a retina’s damaged area to a good adjacent retina. OcuLenz is expected to be released in the first half of this year, with pre-orders now being taken online for $225.

Helping oral health

In just seven seconds, Proclaim’s personalized Custom Jet Oral Health System is said to blast away P. Gingivalis bacteria -- which the company says is linked to such conditions as heart disease, Alzheimer's and diabetes -- as well as plaque, food and other debris.

The product is now available online for $799, with the price including a dental visit to get an intraoral scan inside the purchaser’s mouth. The scan is used to design a custom-fit, 3D-printed mouthpiece that contains up to 60 “precisely placed, patented water jets uniquely shaped to clean between all your teeth and gum lines.”