CES 2016: 15 Strange Sights That Made Us Scratch Our Heads

The Good, The Bad, And The … Weird

Vendors from all different parts of the market gathered at the Consumer Electronics Show last week in Las Vegas to show off their coolest new products.

But some gadgets on the CES show floor were, in a word, strange. From products helping those who face challenges with their hair to a smart belt that can guilt-trip you into eating less, here's a list of 15 of the weirdest sights and products from CES. For more coverage of CES-related news, check out CRN's website.

Oliba: Cool Or Creepy?

French manufacturer Oliba showed off an app-controlled device that effectively turns any stuffed animal into an app-enabled smart toy. Oliba's device wraps onto a stuffed animal and allows users to track their teddy bear via a companion app if it becomes lost. It also has a built-in night light and will play songs or stories to soothe children to sleep.

But with some connected devices come security nightmares, particularly with a device that will be cuddled up right in a child's arms.

INAIL Intelligent Printer

There were many 3-D printers on display at CES Unveiled, but one printed something highly unusual -- nail designs.

Users can either have a design printed directly onto their nails or insert a set of artificial nails into the machine and apply them after.

An INAIL printer might be a bit over the top for the average consumer. But for those who have the interest and money, the INAIL printer costs $2,800 and is currently on the market.

Belty: A Smart Belt That Guilt-Trips You

Belty is a smart belt that automatically adjusts itself to users' activities throughout the day, and keeps tabs on their waistline based on either meals consumed or exercise.

Emiota, a French startup company, showed off the next generation of Belty at CES -- this product connects to an app charting data of the waistline and also nudges users if they've been sitting for too long. The belt is equipped with small sensors and an accelerator. Belty will go on preorder for $395 next year and is expected to launch in December 2016.

Royole-X: The Smart Mobile Theater

Royole showed off Royole-X, what it describes as the world's first foldable smart mobile theater. This headset allows users to watch movies from the inside of a headset.

This audio and video headset couples visual display, noise-canceling audio technology and an operating system to draw a home theater right before users' eyes. But the product begs the question: Would you rather watch a movie on a small screen in a headset as opposed to choosing a wider, more immersive big-screen TV? Royale-X will be available in the U.S. in January for $699.

A Crazy Towering Beam Pro

Suitable Technologies showed off its BeamPro at CES, a product that allows users to interact with remote locations by coupling high-end video and audio features with a moving product. BeamPros contain two wide-angle cameras and a six-microphone system that reduces background noise, as well as a 17-inch LCD screen and built-in speaker.

While most BeamPro products were tall enough to be face-to-face with consumers at CES, one version towered over the rest. While the towering BeamPro is handy for meetings with a large amount of participants, that doesn't mean it isn't odd to see a giant face on a screen wheeling around.

The BeamPro is currently available for lease, with a down payment of $2,369 followed by $576 monthly.

Intel's Adrenaline Dress

Intel showed off what it called the "adrenaline dress," a 3-D-printed, carbon-fiber design on the back of a dress.

The design extends from the back of the dress, almost like butterfly wings, but the strangest part is the design's panel that expands or contracts based on the wearer's adrenaline, stress or temperature. The dress, powered by Intel's Cure Module, is designed to mimic the fight-or-flight response of animals, and is used for fashion. But that doesn't mean the idea isn't incredibly strange.

U.S. Marshals Raid Changzhou's Scooter Booth

Among consumers, software engineers and service providers at CES were two U.S. Marshals, who showed up to seize scooters from Chinese vendor Changzhou's booth after an emergency court order.

U.S. company Future Motion had filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Changzhou's product, which was already patented and allegedly may be unsafe to consumers due to lack of quality control. Future Motion's Onewheel is a self-balancing scooter that has been displayed for two years at CES.

V olleyball Beach Scene At Digital Experience

While service providers talked Gigahertz and megapixels at the Digital Experience showcase, a game of beach volleyball was happening right in the middle of the floor. The contrasting display area was all part of Pepcom's showcase theme, complete with sand, a volleyball net, and volleyball players wearing beach attire.

Virtual Reality Motion Sickness

Remember the malady "Wii Elbow," the pain Nintendo Wii Tennis players complained about years ago? Get ready for "Virtual Reality Nausea." If CES was any indication of how the masses will respond to virtual reality, vendors might want to bundle motion sickness pills with their headsets.

CES was flooded with virtual reality headsets from HTC, Oculus Rift and up-and-comers offering immersive demos of their VR goggles. But too often the side effect of the demos -- where users are thrust into total visual saturation inside 3-D worlds -- was an ’I feel queasy’ along with a ’Wow, that was amazing.’

Interesting to note, we learned that the reason why many of these virtual reality headset systems make you sick is because they can run video at 90-frames-per-second. According to experts, if you can’t deliver above 90Hz your brain can’t process the image properly and you start to feel queasy.

Connected Home Hiccups

Nobody at CES was talking about connected home annoyances. But on this home theater HDTV’s screen of a connected home that we visited, a pop-up message alerted us: ’The door of the fridge keep opening, please check it immediatelly.’ [sic]

We don’t know about you, but if we're deep into watching the movie "The Martian" the last thing we want popping up in front of a Martian landscape is an alert telling us our spouse is raiding the fridge for a midnight snack. And as for the message itself, it might be helpful to check spelling and grammar – as our editor will attest.

Activeon Enlists Cirque Du Soleil

Activeon unveiled a solar-charging 4K camera that allows users to wander past the electric grid to go where few photographers dare go. Here at CES the company itself went where few of its peers went as well. To promote its new line of its Solar X cameras, Activeon enlisted two cast members of Cirque Du Soleil Zarkana that stuck out like bizarre Las Vegas-style Hunter S. Thompson hallucinations.

Hair-Raising Tech

Tech designed to make you look better was everywhere at CES. There was body sculpting tech, fitness trackers and the fat-zapping Belty.

One of our favorites was a product called HairMax LaserBand. This $700 headband is designed to promote hair growth via the laser beams that stimulate hair follicles to grow. The FDA-cleared LaserBand requires 90-second treatments in order to reduce thinning hair by stimulating growth in a receding hairline.

Zap Those Age Spots And Wrinkles

Bad skin? No problem. A company called ApiraScience is introducing a new gadget designed to rejuvenate your face using light therapy.

The company's iDerma uses either red/infrared, blue or green light masks that bombard your facial skin with gamma rays that are purported to promote different types of skin conditioning. For example, the green facial mask when used 10 minutes a day for eight weeks can begin to break down sun and age spots, according to the company. Blue can clear up acne and red/infrared can reduce wrinkles and shrink pores, the company says.

Smart Home Aroma

Who hasn’t been halfway home and said to themselves: ’Geez, I hope my home doesn’t smell horrible. I wish I could make sure it doesn’t stink. I wish there was a smartphone app for that.’

If you are in a very small minority of those that ponder such dilemmas, you’re in luck. A company called Aroma Therapeutics has introduced a $100 Internet-connected air freshener that can be remotely activated by a smartphone app to loft scents that inspire ’breath, memory and calm.’ The AromaCare system can be managed via a smartphone app for duration of scent dispersal, quantity of scent and when it goes into action.

I Hope Nobody’s Watching

Just when you thought you looked silly enough gyrating your head with an Oculus Rift headset on, then comes a 3DRudder so you can look even more ridiculous. We did not try the 3DRudder, which is a foot-based game controller to navigate virtual worlds, but we did appreciate how goofy it made some people look.

The 3DRudder is a round platform that lets you navigate forward, backward, right, left, up and down. The skateboard-like game controller is also compatible with other non-VR games such as Xbox and keyboard controller-based games.