Consumer & Gadgets news

Consumer & Gadgets

AI 'CHEF' could help those with cognitive declines complete home tasks

In the United States, 11% of adults over age 45 self-report some cognitive decline, which may impact their ability to care for themselves and perform tasks such as cooking or paying bills. A team of Washington University ...

Internet

WhatsApp data reveal people often deceive themselves

How quickly we reply, how active we really are in chats—many people misjudge their own behavior. Researchers at Bielefeld University have, for the first time, used anonymized WhatsApp metadata to make such misperceptions ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Brew, smell, and serve: AI steals the show at CES 2026

AI took over CES 2026, powering coffee machines to brew the perfect espresso, a device to create your perfect scent, and ball-hitting tennis robots that make you forget it's human against machine.

Consumer & Gadgets

From sci-fi to sidewalk: Exoskeletons go mainstream

Exoskeletons are shedding their bulky, sci-fi image to become lightweight, AI-powered consumer devices that manufacturers hope will become as commonplace as smartwatches, targeting everyone from hikers to seniors seeking ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Dose of uncertainty: Experts wary of AI health gadgets at CES

Health tech gadgets displayed at the annual CES trade show make a lot of promises. A smart scale promoted a healthier lifestyle by scanning your feet to track your heart health, and an egg-shaped hormone tracker uses AI to ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Smart glasses find purpose among blind users

The actual use-value of smart glasses remains keenly debated—but less so among blind people, who are increasingly relying on the latest models to improve their lives.

Internet

AI produces shallower knowledge than web search, study finds

Learning about a topic by interacting with AI chatbots like ChatGPT rather than following links provided by web search can produce shallower knowledge. Advice given on the basis of this shallow knowledge tends to be sparser, ...

Consumer & Gadgets

VR hand gestures risk excluding millions, study finds

Hand gesture controls being developed for the next generation of virtual and augmented reality systems risk excluding millions of people, including those with common conditions such as arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome, ...

Consumer & Gadgets

How blind and low-vision users manage their passwords

Passwords remain the go-to authentication tool in everyday life, says CISPA researcher Alexander Ponticello. At the same time, passwords are often a security weak spot: too short, too simple, and reused far too often. Blind ...

Consumer & Gadgets

E-scooters up rideshare, cut bikeshare, raise safety concerns

A new study from a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign marketing expert finds that electric scooters, one of the fastest-growing forms of urban transportation, reshape city mobility in unexpected ways.

Consumer & Gadgets

How attractive do AI voices sound?

With recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI), synthetic voices have become increasingly prevalent in our everyday soundscape, raising the question: Can AI voices still be distinguished from human voices, and how attractive ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Five ways to make AI more trustworthy

Self-driving taxis are sweeping the country and will likely start service in Colorado in the coming months. How many of us will be lining up to take a ride? That depends on our level of trust, says Amir Behzadan, a professor ...

Consumer & Gadgets

New study uncovers data protection gaps in popular mHealth apps

Researchers at the University of Bremen have uncovered significant discrepancies between the data protection claims and the actual behavior of mobile health applications (mHealth apps). Many apps transmit personal data before ...

Consumer & Gadgets

How video games can alter reality

Since its release 40 years ago, Tetris has become one of the most prevailing video games ever.