Victoria Song

Senior Reviewer, Wearable Tech

Victoria SongJan 10, 2024

Here’s how you know urine Eureka Park.

At CES, Eureka Park is where you’ll find a ton of smaller startups and tech companies working on next-gen ideas. It’s also where you’ll generally find a handful of companies trying to innovate the way we pee. Toilet humor aside, there’s a lot of valuable information stored in urine — which is why it’s an area of interest for the health tech community. Here’s a look at three urine-related tech startups that caught my eye.

MEDiLIGHT bladder monitor on a mannequin

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MEDiLight is a wearable designed to help people who have a hard time gauging when it’s time to pee. It uses near-infrared light to monitor your bladder levels and will alert you when you need to empty the tank.

Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge

L’Oréal’s futuristic hairdryer uses infrared light for smoother, more hydrated hair

Victoria SongJan 9, 2024

Beauty tech is here at CES.

While CES is known for wacky displays, laptop concepts, and TVs galore, the show’s opening keynote this year is from L’Oréal. The beauty company kicked off the show talking about how AI, augmented reality, and gadget innovations can democratize beauty tools and lead to greater sustainability by saving water and electricity.

It also showcased some of its existing tech, like its HAPTA lipstick applicator for folks with limited mobility, a wearable headset that can deliver scents based on your emotions, and a Giorgio Armani skin profiler. L’Oréal also had Eva Longoria come out to talk about its Colorsonic at-home hair dyeing gadget because celebs — they get gray hair just like us.

Eva Longoria holding Colorsonic in L’Oreal video

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Movano’s smart ring is the rare CES health gadget that will actually ship

Victoria SongJan 9, 2024

Why settle for one laptop screen when you can have three?

The Xebec Snap reminds me of my colleage Dan Seifert’s unhinged Dex setup. It’s a bracket you stick on the back of your laptop. There are these wings that pop out and you can then snap on portable monitors that extend your laptop’s screen.

The bracket supports up to two portable monitors, has passthrough charging, and works with both Windows and macOS. The Xebec folks also showed off some prototype accessories, like a MagSafe charger for your phone and a ring light.

Not gonna lie, I would kill for one of these when I’m filing stories on business trips.

Xebec Snap attached to a laptop with a vertical second monitor attached, and an open bracket for a third monitor or accessory.

You can have up to two extra monitors, and they can be placed vertically or horizontally. You can see the Xebec Snap’s attachment on the right side of the laptop.

Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge

Victoria SongJan 9, 2024

An automated litter box, but make it mid-century modern.

All cat owners know: litter boxes be stinky and ugly. That’s why I did a double take tonight when I saw Pawbby at CES. This looks like a litter box straight out of Mad Men.

It’s got a deodorizing cartridge in the litter drawer, and you only have to empty it once every two weeks for a single cat. (It supports up to four cats.) There’s also a companion app that tracks your cat’s weight.

I’d love one except my cat Pablo wouldn’t be able to use it. He’s a chonker at 19 pounds, and this only supports kitties between 3 and 17.5 pounds.

I wouldn’t hate looking at this litter box.

Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge

Victoria SongJan 9, 2024

I have witnessed all 57 inches of the Predator Z57’s curvaceous glory.

At CES, Acer announced the 57-inch Predator Z57, which as you might guess is a gigantic curved Mini LED display. Well, I’ve seen it in person and it’s as ridiculous as you’d think.

An Acer rep told me that it’s mostly meant for console gaming, given its 120Hz refresh rate but I was too busy staring at how wide this big boy was. It’s honestly hard to capture the curvy essence in photos — it’s truly overwhelming. But I’ve also included a picture with my head for scale.

View of Acer Predator Z57 with a gaming controller in front of it.

Side angle of Acer Predator Z57’s curves

Person taking selfie in front of Acer Predator Z57.

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Note how small that controller looks.

Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge

Acer adds swappable mechanical keys to its latest gaming laptops

Victoria SongJan 8, 2024

Would you wear one of these headbands to chill out?

Judging by what I saw at Unveiled, we’re all anxious, none of us are sleeping well, and the key is to hack your brain with a wearable. I found all three of these devices in the same aisle.

The Frenz Brainband reads your brainwaves and then uses bone conduction to play a personal soundscape into your skull. You stick the Mywave on your forehead for a night to generate custom sleep tracks based on your delta waves. Meanwhile, NeurGear’s ZenBud is a headset that stimulates your vagus nerve to help you chill.

Honestly could’ve used something to help me sleep last night.