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The Weird and Wonderful Smart Home Tech of 2016

A look back at the more surreal smart home products that the past year brought the world

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Gatebox AI's smart home hub offers a bit more personality than Amazon's Echo or Google Home.

gatebox.ai
Gatebox AI's smart home hub offers a bit more personality than Amazon's Echo or Google Home.
gatebox.ai

Next week entrepreneurs, developers and enthusiasts will descend on Las Vegas for a first look at the latest smart home technology at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show, which begins on Jan. 3.

But before we fully embrace 2017 and the endless smart home product possibilities it will present, we're taking a look back at a few of the more under-celebrated (some might say "strange") devices of the past year.

More:Rise and Shine Brighter With a Smart Bedroom

These products all purport to solve a problem plaguing the masses, and while they may miss that mark, they are still intriguing and entertaining, if not entirely applicable to everyday life.

Below are our favorites from the weird and wonderful home tech of 2016.

A Hub Of An Entirely Different Color

Hubs like the Amazon Echo and Google Home were the smart home story of 2016 (and might continue to be in 2017), but if neither of those products completed the illusion of an artificially intelligent virtual assistant for you, there is another option: the recently announced Azuma Hikari.

Azuma Hikari—only somewhat creepily made extant by Gearbox AI— is a CGI blue-haired anime character who lives in a glass cylinder, in your home. Using Wi-Fi, bluetooth and infra-red technology, Azumi can control your dwelling’s many intelligent home devices, like lights, temperatures, locks and more. She’ll also be able to keep you apprised of the weather, manage your schedule and encourage you to play hooky from work.

Is Azuma worth the $2,500 price tag? Almost certainly not. The Gearbox AI is essentially a pared down Echo or Home, but without even the voice-activation of those products. You have to physically press a button on Azuma’s glass prison to speak with a command.

Still, you can text with Azuma and "she" will enthusiastically respond, and when’s the last time Echo’s Alexa ever sent you an emoji?

If you’re eager to answer a barrage of questions anytime friends or family enter your home, pre-orders for the Gearbox AI are available now through January 2017, with delivery expected December 2017.

Keep the Kitchen Weird

For some reason, the kitchen seems to inspire more smart home products than any other room in the house and 2016 was no exception.

The past year saw the introduction of the Ripple Maker, a coffee machine that lets you print intricate coffee shop-style designs directly onto the foam of your cup of cappuccino. 

The Ripple Maker starts at $1500, but will quickly pay for itself as it is a well-established fact that you can charge up to $5 more for coffee that has a rendering of Van Gogh’s night sky in foam.

On the other side of the adult beverage spectrum, Kuvee is hoping to be the last wine bottle you need. A Wi-Fi-connected, touchscreen bottle sheath, the Kuvee accepts wine cartridges, which look like high-end water bottles, of a variety of vintages. Once a cartridge is slotted into the sheath, the Kuvee cover will enlighten you about the vintage and even allow you to leave your own review.

In addition to enabling everyone at the table to drink what they want, Kuvee cartridges promise to keep their freshness up to 30 days. Of course, you can always easily order more via the Kuvee cover as well.

Kuvee will cost you $199 to $299 depending on which starter package you select and whether you opt for a wine cartridge subscription.

How do you recover from ornately decorated coffee and whatever wine you want? More drinks, obviously.

The Juicero delivers fresh, healthy, cold-pressed juice drinks via Keurig-esque, subscription-based juice packets, gifting you with life-sustaining fruit and vegetable liquids with none of the hassle and cleanup of preparing fresh, healthy, cold-pressed juice drinks.

Two caveats: The Juicero costs $700, making it the most expensive home juice maker on the market, and it won’t work without a Wi-Fi connection. So if you didn’t pay your internet bill because you bought a Juicero, you’ll still be making juice the old-fashioned way.

But humans can’t live on liquid alone, so for making a satisfying meal, there is SmartyPans, a pan that is more intelligent than any cookware should be. This smart pan and accompanying app can give step-by-step cooking instructions, compute calories in real time, document recipes in real time, and let you know when know when you’re burning the risotto.

A side benefit of owning clever cooking equipment is that you can tell any family member unhappy with their meal to direct their complaint to the SmartyPan.

The SmartyPans pan is available for pre-order now for $299.

For the Dogs

It’s not only human concerns that smart home devices attempted to solve in 2016. Selflessly, developers devoted their energies toward the trials of furrier friends as well.

Like the Furbo, a treat-tossing smart camera with speaker that will allow you to see, speak to and spoil Snoopy from anywhere in the world. 

You can secure your dog its own food-flinging friend for $249.

But it’s not enough to keep in constant contact with your canine. You need to look out for their intellectual development as well and for that there is CleverPet, an puzzle-based game for your dog to play when you are away from home. 

Featuring challenges designed by dog-loving neuroscientists, CleverPet will keep your dog engaged with skill-level appropriate puzzles, and will keep you apprised of your dog’s progress via an accompanying app. You can start your dog's journey towards enlightenment for only $299.

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