https://techxplore.com/rss-feed/consumer-gadgets-news/ en-us Tthe latest news on consumer electronics, electronic gadgets and electronics. Most of us now carry in our pockets devices capable of running small AI chatbots. These chatbots have little safety oversight to ensure they don't provide information and answers with the potential to encourage self-harm, lead to financial loss or promote extremist notions—especially when operating offline. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-simple-math-formula-ai-chatbots.html Consumer & Gadgets Thu, 08 Oct 2026 11:00:28 EDT news710612401 Fatigue can be just as dangerous as drunken driving. That is why both researchers and companies are increasingly investing in technologies that can monitor and improve our sleep. But what happens if sleep is no longer regarded as a private necessity but as something that can be measured, documented and optimized? https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-employer-demand-proof-youve-slept.html Consumer & Gadgets Thu, 08 Oct 2026 10:00:01 EDT news710671648 Life often gets in the way of going to bed in sync with our circadian rhythm and getting enough sleep. Work, school and other social commitments can pull our schedules out of step, and scientists call this mismatch social jet lag. When people experience this sleep mismatch, they feel tired and off their game. This jet lag can often trigger social anxiety and worry about being judged negatively by others. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-sync-people-ai-dating-job.html Consumer & Gadgets Tue, 06 Oct 2026 07:00:01 EDT news710416680 Stories about AI systems deceiving users, cooperating with one another or pursuing their own goals increasingly invite us to talk about them as if they had minds of their own. But do people really believe that AI is conscious? A new LMU study suggests that they draw a surprisingly sharp line between intelligent behavior and consciousness. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-ai-people-conscious-humans.html Consumer & Gadgets Fri, 02 Oct 2026 12:00:25 EDT news710160902 Anyone who has used ChatGPT or another artificial intelligence chatbot has likely seen a disclaimer that its answers may be incorrect. Large language models are built to generate the most probable response to a prompt. Even when they lack reliable information, they may produce an answer that sounds convincing rather than acknowledge uncertainty. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-quantum-math-ai.html Consumer & Gadgets Wed, 30 Sep 2026 10:40:08 EDT news709982677 AI-generated summaries are becoming increasingly prevalent—from news article previews to workplace meeting transcriptions to high-stakes settings like police body camera footage—despite studies showing that AI can generate misleading or inaccurate information. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-ai-generated-summaries-distort-human.html Consumer & Gadgets Mon, 28 Sep 2026 14:00:16 EDT news709822321 Meta is going all in on a consumer-friendly AI agent and pushing forward with AI-powered wearable devices during a moment in the industry when its CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged it is a "wild time to be building." https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-meta-big-wearable-ai-agent.html Consumer & Gadgets Thu, 24 Sep 2026 04:17:32 EDT news709442163 When an AI chatbot agrees with our reasoning in resolving a social dilemma, we may become more confident in our opinions. But when the chatbot disagrees, we may simply dismiss the challenge rather than reconsider our views. That's according to new research from the University of Michigan examining how people respond when artificial intelligence weighs in on personal and interpersonal dilemmas. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-ai-people-technology-view.html Consumer & Gadgets Wed, 23 Sep 2026 07:40:04 EDT news709367882 AI-generated texts are increasingly perceived as human, but people can still recognize human writing as such. However, this distinction becomes much more difficult once AI is explicitly instructed to come across as human. This is shown by research involving, among others, Tilburg University, published in the journal Nature Communications. Several experiments involving more than 3,000 participants examined how human and empathetic people perceive relationship advice generated by AI and humans. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-ai-empathetic-human.html Consumer & Gadgets Tue, 15 Sep 2026 11:20:07 EDT news708689221 When a phone is lost or stolen, reporting it to a cellular carrier is supposed to prevent unauthorized use. Michigan State University researchers have found that weaknesses in the reporting system itself could potentially be exploited to block legitimate devices from cellular networks. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-stolen-safeguard-disrupt-home-alarms.html Consumer & Gadgets Wed, 09 Sep 2026 17:20:07 EDT news708192001 Apple on Wednesday unveiled its latest generation of iPhones, including a widely anticipated foldable version called Duo. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-apple-ceo-unveils-latest-iphone.html Consumer & Gadgets Wed, 09 Sep 2026 15:35:15 EDT news708186886 Researchers at the University of Southampton have come up with a way to help people spot AI-generated faces. They've developed a short training program that improves people's ability to distinguish between real, human faces and those generated by AI software. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-minute-people-ai-generated.html Consumer & Gadgets Thu, 03 Sep 2026 15:10:01 EDT news707665247 While artificial intelligence (AI) is receiving increased attention for its potential to improve productivity and performance, results can vary widely across different tasks, industries and individuals. Developers can now shape AI personalities to customize AI agents for individual users, but most previous research into the benefits of AI has used experiments providing all participants with identical AI tools. A key question remained: Could variations in performance be related to tailoring AI agents for their human collaborators? https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-personality-pairing-human-ai-collaboration.html Consumer & Gadgets Wed, 02 Sep 2026 12:20:03 EDT news707568541 The kind of technology that can deliver sound to a single listener—like something out of a spy film—may soon become a reality. Researchers at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) have developed a speaker system that can direct speech to a specific person. The work is published in the journal Nature Communications. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-ultrasound-based-speaker-music-disturbing.html Consumer & Gadgets Mon, 31 Aug 2026 12:00:08 EDT news707395202 While it may sound like science fiction, earbuds that read brain activity are already on sale. Wearable technology company Neurable claims that its headphones, equipped with electroencephalography (EEG) sensors, can track your fatigue and reduce burnout. At night, NextSense's Smartbuds pick up the electrical signals of your brain to chart your sleep. By day, the same EEG sensors help schedule demanding tasks for the hours when you are sharpest. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-brain-earbuds-prompting-urgent-children.html Consumer & Gadgets Fri, 28 Aug 2026 09:20:01 EDT news707126125 For robots to be successfully deployed in real-world environments, humans should trust them enough to cooperate with them. Some roboticists have been trying to determine whether users perceive robots that exhibit socially expressive behaviors, such as gestures, eye contact and nodding, as more trustworthy. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-humanoid-robot-social-backfire.html Consumer & Gadgets Fri, 28 Aug 2026 08:00:03 EDT news707109064 Consumer detectors sold to help people find hidden surveillance devices are often too difficult for typical users to interpret, potentially giving a false sense of security to those most at risk such as domestic abuse survivors, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-spy-device-detector-users-hidden.html Consumer & Gadgets Mon, 24 Aug 2026 16:20:05 EDT news706804201 For people who are blind or have low vision, moving around independently is a daily challenge. Harvard researchers have developed a new tool that could help people navigate more quickly and safely with nothing more than a device they likely already have—a smartphone. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-smartphone-app-vision-users-obstacles.html Consumer & Gadgets Mon, 24 Aug 2026 11:00:03 EDT news706535108 A new security loophole discovered by researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst can bring some expired credit cards back to life. If stolen, these "zombie credit cards" could leave cardholders vulnerable to fraudulent charges, according to the new study, presented at the conference USENIX Security 2026. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-zombie-credit-cards-loophole-reanimate.html Consumer & Gadgets Mon, 17 Aug 2026 17:20:06 EDT news706205101 Prosthetics are a fact of life today. It's estimated that more than 50 million people globally—some 2 million of them in the United States—have lost a limb, and most could benefit or already do benefit from artificial limbs to restore mobility and lifestyle. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-emitting-textile-sensors-optimize-prosthetic.html Consumer & Gadgets Fri, 14 Aug 2026 14:00:01 EDT news705929552 The widespread use of conversational platforms such as ChatGPT and Gemini is raising important new ethical, anthropological and legal questions regarding the potential risks, misuses and shortcomings of artificial intelligence (AI). In discussing their personal experiences, some people have shared that they formed emotional attachments to AI agents or even felt that they had formed romantic relationships with them. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-people-ai-agents.html Consumer & Gadgets Tue, 11 Aug 2026 08:00:02 EDT news705585110 In recent months, American drivers have felt the pain of increased prices at the gas pump. There's some evidence that higher prices may be fueling interest in greener ways of getting around. Battery electric cars, more commonly called electric vehicles or EVs, can be cheaper to own and operate than gas-powered internal combustion engine cars, and they offer considerable sustainability benefits. But just how much better for the planet are electric vehicles, really? https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-car-ev-compelling.html Consumer & Gadgets Thu, 06 Aug 2026 14:00:05 EDT news705155941 Last year, Melanie Walsh, a University of Washington assistant professor in the Information School, wrote an article examining how 300 popular children's books gendered their animal characters. Of the 13 most common animals, most were male—unless they happened to be cats, ducks or birds, which trended slightly more female. But a frog, a wolf? More than a 90% chance it was a "he." https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-ai-erase-female-characters-kids.html Consumer & Gadgets Wed, 05 Aug 2026 16:20:06 EDT news705165248 People gave the highest ratings to AI-generated stories they were told had been written by humans and were unable to tell the difference between human- and AI-created stories, according to new research published in Judgement and Decision Making. The study, led by researchers at Villanova University, U.S., adds to the growing body of evidence that many people's ability to spot AI-generated content is limited. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-people-stories-written-ai-told.html Consumer & Gadgets Tue, 04 Aug 2026 19:10:03 EDT news704970841 From doctors diagnosing symptoms to judges intervening in court cases, humans make complex decisions every day. Increasingly, artificial intelligence tools are being used to help with those decisions. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-decision-overreliance-ai.html Consumer & Gadgets Mon, 03 Aug 2026 13:20:06 EDT news704980861 The human eye, as good as it is, misses out on so much of the world because it is limited in what it can perceive. It can't see X-rays, ultraviolet rays or infrared light. While X-ray goggles are still the stuff of science fiction, we may be moving closer to wearable glasses that make infrared light look almost like everyday vision. Scientists at the Beijing Institute of Technology have developed a device that transforms infrared light into a full-color visible image. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-prototype-glasses-infrared-vision.html Consumer & Gadgets Mon, 03 Aug 2026 10:00:04 EDT news704969949 Researchers have created a wearable patch that can detect hazards in the environment—such as dangerous gases or heavy metals in water—and then notify wearers by vibrating against their skin. The researchers have also extended the work to create an "e-skin" for robotic devices, allowing robots to detect and avoid hazards in their environment. The paper is published in the journal Device. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-wearable-patch-vibrates-environmental-hazards.html Consumer & Gadgets Fri, 24 Jul 2026 14:40:08 EDT news704114278 New research led by The University of Manchester in collaboration with Durham University has found that AI chatbots such as ChatGPT can match—and in some situations outperform—humans as a source of everyday emotional support. However, the advantage depends on the emotional context, and a key ingredient for effective support—offering specific, actionable guidance—can boost the quality of support from both humans and AI alike. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-ai-chatbots-effective-humans-emotional.html Consumer & Gadgets Wed, 22 Jul 2026 19:00:01 EDT news703777081 Webtoons are coming to life in the physical world, ushering in a new era in which comics are not merely viewed but experienced. A KAIST research team has developed the world's first next-generation extended reality (XR) comics platform that enables a wide range of readers to enjoy immersive, three-dimensional comics in physical space. By expanding webtoons beyond the screen and into the real world, the team has opened up new possibilities for the future of comics. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-source-xr-webtoons-3d-comics.html Consumer & Gadgets Tue, 21 Jul 2026 12:40:04 EDT news703853761 Tech firms are racing to roll out advanced smartphones that use artificial intelligence to do everything from ordering food to composing messages with a simple voice command. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-pocket-size-ai-powerful-star.html Consumer & Gadgets Sun, 19 Jul 2026 04:50:02 EDT news703654773