Imagine a conference room with a dozen people, plus more joining remotely on a video call. It’s awkward. Eye contact is tough and if you’re on video, it’s hard to see everyone clearly. Logitech Sight combines a tabletop device with a multi-camera system and AI to automatically snap the focus onto whoever’s speaking (and center them in-frame), creating a more natural conversation for video conferences on a range of platforms. Up to four speakers can be shown in split-screen, which looks like a slick TV news production—and that was precisely the inspiration. Logitech’s VP of Product, Henry Levak, calls the solution “a little bit of Hollywood and a little bit of Silicon Valley.”

Buy Now: Logitech Sight on Logitech | Amazon | B&H Photo Video

When you set up a Haikubox in your backyard, it automatically listens for birds, records their songs, identifies the species (using AI-powered audio pattern recognition), and then, via Wi-Fi, shares this information to a website for bird-watching enthusiasts. The corded device gives birdwatchers a handy tool to keep track of every bird that nears their home. Plus, the cumulative data being collected can give new clarity on bird migrations. Scientists working with Haikubox found that during the darkness of the April 2024 solar eclipse, many birds stopped singing. “We could look to see on a minute-by-minute basis how birds were responding,” as the eclipse moved along its path, says David Mann, Haikubox founder and inventor. A detailed study of the effect of the eclipse on birds is forthcoming.

Buy Now: Haikubox on Haikubox | Amazon

Traditional posture monitors use a gyroscope to track the position you’re holding your body in while sitting, but they’re unable to assess dynamic form during exercise. The BackAware Belt, on the other hand, can handle motion. The wearable tech uses two sensors that calibrate to your spine; a one-time setup recognizes your starting posture, then tracks how your spine flexes and changes while in motion during activities like Pilates and deadlifts. BackAware gives real-time feedback on your form, via vibrations on the belt and visual cues on your phone, ensuring proper posture to avoid injuries.

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Dental X-rays can be tricky for patients—especially kids—to understand, as the gray blobs of a cavity can look similar to the gray blobs of a healthy tooth. And if the patient is confused, then complying with the dentist’s instructions (like wearing a mouthguard) is less likely. So the FDA-cleared Overjet uses AI to create a visual overlay of images that dentists can show young patients, clearly marking cavities in red, exposed nerves in purple, and so on. (The system also makes it easier for dentists to spot problems.) “You see a lot of crowns on children that could be avoided,” says Wardah Inam, CEO of Overjet. “The communication bit is key.”

Over 250,000 people in the U.S. alone live with spinal cord injuries. To help patients regain sensation and strength in their hands and arms, Onward Medical’s ARC-EX therapy uses electrical stimulation—applied externally with electrodes—to effectively boost the brain’s signals. A study in Nature showed that nine out of 10 patients using ARC-EX recovered some strength or functionality; it also found that the treatment can be effective for patients who had injuries decades earlier. “For most people with a spinal cord injury, there’s some [brain signal] conduction making it through the block, but not enough for movement,” says Dave Marver, CEO of Onward. “This device serves as an amplifier.”

Most snowboards are made, in part, from a plastic called polyethylene, which comes from petroleum. So to demonstrate that they could be made more sustainably, Wndr designed the first snowboard made from microalgae—an oil produced through fermentation. On top of being eco-friendly, the microalgae was engineered to improve the Alpine Shepherd’s “damping,” meaning its ability to reduce vibrations. The larger unlock is that if biomaterials can be used in extreme outdoors—where safety is critical—then it could be scaled across other industries. “What’s really cool about winter sports is that it’s an amazing proof-point for materials innovation,” says Xan Marshland, co-founder of Wndr Alpine. “In the mountains, materials matter.

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Cats can be stoical, hiding their health problems until it gets serious. But their urine can provide clues: When your cat goes in the Smart Box Health Monitoring Cat Litter, the pellets will change color as a warning sign that something’s wrong, such as a urinary tract infection or kidney problem. Other color-changing litter uses silica crystal to achieve health-monitoring—essentially plastic that gets dumped in landfills—but the Smart Box litter is fully biodegradable, says Alistair King, co-founder of Rhodes Pet Science, who calls the litter “health monitoring in a natural format.”

Buy Now: Smart Box Health Monitoring Cat Litter on Walmart

Traditional air fryers risk dehydrating meat as it cooks, so what you get in convenience you lose in tenderness. To combat this, the Dreo ChefMaker employs a “water atomization system” that sprays the food with tiny particles of water throughout the cooking process, using a probe to ensure it remains at the optimal level of hydration. The “Precision CombiCook” mode allows for automatic tweaks in temperature at just the right time, such as searing a steak at the end. As Jamie Wang, head of the kitchen product line at Dreo says, “We mimic the science of how a chef cooks, but without a lot of effort.”

Buy Now: ChefMaker Combi Fryer on Dreo | Amazon

Freshly ground spices just taste better; when pre-ground spices come in jars, they eventually lose their flavor as the oils evaporate. But manual grinding is labor-intensive. The FinaMill reconceptualizes the spice grinder as an electrically powered way to grind not only pepper, but also sesame, garlic, onion, and countless other favorings, thanks to the swappable pods that contain different spices. To grind, just push a button. Switching pods to use another spice mid-recipe is simple, too.

Buy Now: FinaPod GT on Fina Mill | Amazon | Crate & Barrel