It Could Happen Here: "Best and Worst (non-AI) Products at CES"

Podcast: Cool Zone Media & iHeartPodcasts
Episode Date: January 13, 2026
Host(s): Robert Evans, Garrison Davis, Ben Rose Porter
Theme: An irreverent, incisive walk through the highlights and lowlights of CES 2026—focusing on (mostly) non-AI consumer tech, their implications for society, and the state of technological “innovation.”

Episode Overview

In this episode, the hosts sift through the overwhelming, AI-saturated halls of CES 2026 to spotlight stand-out (and stand-out-bad) products not centered on generative AI. Across a host of gadgets—children’s communication tools, exoskeletons, biometric health trackers, and anti-droning security—they interrogate what actually counts as useful innovation, and what simply reflects the industry’s drive to “innovate” for its own sake. The conversation is energetic, wry, and at times deeply cynical, anchored by sociological perspective and concern for the social consequences of tech.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Challenge of Finding "Non-AI" Innovations ([01:06]–[02:43])

• CES 2026 is described as a sea of “bloatware” and unnecessary AI-enabled devices:
  • Robert: "It's kind of like, you know how people pan for gold? If instead you were panning for gold in a pile of used condoms." ([02:25])
  • Garrison: "Gold is also generous. This is panning for pennies." ([02:37])
• The panel (Robert Evans, Garrison Davis, Ben Rose Porter) positions themselves as battered, skeptical tech observers searching for substance.

2. Good Kids' Products: Noti Device ([03:01]–[04:21])

• Garrison: Highlights “Noti,” a smartphone alternative for kids aged 6–12 allowing voice messaging, basic music/radio, and language learning.
  • "It's the stuff we've kind of seen before...if you don't want to give your six-year-old an iPhone but you want them to have a way to contact you, right? And that's like fine, right?" ([03:14])
• Ultimately regarded as functional but unimaginative; emblematic of the underwhelming non-AI presence.

3. "Good Products Ruined by AI" – LG OLED TV ([04:21]–[05:39])

• Standout hardware (LG OLED TV) is marred by tacked-on “Evo AI” features, including AI-generated Hubble-like visuals.
  • Robert: "I wanted the tv. I might like a TV like that until you displayed that part of it. And now I just kind of feel dirty about even the prospect of wanting one of your products." ([05:29])

4. Interesting Security: Acoustic Eye for Drones ([05:39]–[06:49])

• Garrison: Praises a security system (misnamed "Acoustic Eye"—really an "ear") that acoustically detects small drones for high-profile residences.
  • "This is an interesting product that's like very current. It's a reflection of the times we're in." ([06:31])

5. Exoskeletons for Industry and Individuals ([06:49]–[13:07])

The Hypershell Experience ([07:20]–[12:07])

• Exoskeletons have moved from the factory floor to potential consumer use.
• Robert: “These do improve health and wellbeing of workers. Right. It reduces the felt load and the felt strain. It reduces the damaged knees and back.”
• Both Garrison and Ben tried the Hypershell exoskeleton:
  • Robert: “When I put the HyperShell on and had it at 75% power mode, my walking pace was...about 15 and a half minutes a mile...my heart rate didn’t change meaningfully...my lower back and my knees felt less strain.” ([07:44])
  • Ben: “It was pretty comfortable to wear…just very little time when you’re pushing against the machine. It’s coordinated very well. I mean, it just functioned. It worked.” ([08:54])

Customization, Safety, and Pranks ([09:56]–[11:19])

• Modes: eco, hyper, and “fitness” (adds resistance).
• Garrison: Describes mischief—swapping remotely from "hyper" to "fitness" mode, causing Ben to halt unexpectedly: “And it was really fun to do that for about seven hours.” ([11:07])
• App is not required for functionality, but offers “a lot of control that you’re not going to get off of a simple button.” ([11:44])

Broader Impact

• Robert: “There’s a lot of utility for people with disabilities for stuff like this.” ([12:03])

6. Health Wearables, Biometrics, and Data Privacy ([13:07]–[14:59])

• “Smart towels” and wearables promise real-time biometrics: hydration, vitamin deficiency, fatty liver detection.
  • Robert: “All these products are selling your data to the highest bidder. Your health data, your biometrics.” ([13:41])
• Deep concern over normalization of constant, unsecured health data collection—especially relating to pregnancy and abortion laws.
  • Garrison: “We’ve seen that specifically be a problem around pregnancy…and the ways in which these companies are aware of people’s bodies before the actual people are.” ([14:43])

7. Lenovo’s CES Booth: The “But Why?” Factor ([15:41]–[20:12])

• Lenovo’s "Twist" laptop offers a motorized, face-tracking, swiveling screen:
  • Robert: “It did work very well. I was like, this is impressive. Like, what is the use of…? Why would you want it?...For presentations...but that’s it.” ([16:55])
• Another "proof of concept" gaming laptop screen that triples in size, but looks awkward and impractical.

8. Surveillance, Fatigue Monitoring, and “Drunk” Detection ([20:12]–[24:42])

• Fatigue-detecting app on a Lenovo workstation appears unreliable—“It’s full of shit. Because it wouldn’t have been so different if it was actually measuring anything.” ([20:36])
• SmartEye’s eye-tracking “drunk/fatigue” detection for drivers: claims to identify drunkenness, but raises false positives/negatives and bias concerns.
  • Robert: “Is this going to show that I’m drunk or…be able to—I actually don’t know…that does seem like a concern I would hope they've dealt with. But also, I kind of doubt they did.” ([23:50])

9. VR Therapy and the Ethics of Simulated Deceased Loved Ones ([24:56]–[28:47])

• Garrison: Details a South Korean product (“Resolve XR”) for VR-assisted grief therapy, where a therapist puppets a digital avatar of a deceased loved one (optionally voice-cloned).
  • The hosts wrestle with its ethics: Is this the most ethical version of something that's fundamentally unethical?
  • Ben: “It’s tricky because on one hand, … it seemed like they were selling this as … augmentation to a therapeutic practice...But it’s so easy to imagine...all kinds of directions you could go in. It’s a Pandora’s box of creating replicas of the dead.” ([28:03])

10. The Futility of Automated, AI-Based Therapy ([28:47]–[32:05])

• Robert describes a panel where he discusses the failure of AI bots to help mental health:
  • “They’re programmed to make you want to continue to interact with them. And so it does things that are really bad for your mental health and … can exacerbate and cause new problems.” ([31:34])
  • Even good-faith attempts at “responsible AI therapy” are likely doomed due to the addictive incentives baked into these products.

11. The Worst Product: Childfree Trust ([33:52]–[38:42])

• App for “childfree” people to have their estate and power of attorney handled by a private company, rather than family, state, or lawyer.
  • Garrison: “This is the most antisocial service I’ve seen at all of CES because it’s built on this idea that if you have no kids and you are so separated from the rest of your family…you turn to a private corporation.”
  • Host consensus: Solution in search of a problem.

12. The Myth of Innovation and Tech Progressivism ([38:38]–[47:33])

• The hosts reflect on CES's self-mythologizing about “innovation” and “creativity.”
  • The banner: “Everyone here is an innovator.”
  • Garrison: “Everything is based on people, geniuses, you know, your Steve Jobs...the innovator and everything descends from the idea.” ([45:45])
• Ben (sociologist): “There’s not even a subject given of, like, innovators. Well, who is that? If you—Is that the owner? Is that the workers who make it? I mean, no mention of labor at any point in any of this, which, I mean, that’s a given.” ([40:01])
• Consensus: Tech industry’s “optimism” requires glossing over labor, social context, or meaningful utility.

13. Memorable Quotes & Closing Cynicism

• Robert (on face-tracking laptops): “It’s genuinely impressive…But why?” ([17:15])
• Robert (on the Jackery robot): “It’s impressive that it can go seek out the sun to charge itself up. It’s impressive that you could, like, call it…But who. What is the. Who will buy this? Why?” ([43:41])

Engaging Highlights and Tone

• Dark humor pervades, especially in analogies (e.g., panning for gold/pennies in a pile of…well, you know).
• The banter between Garrison and Robert over exoskeleton pranks, and Ben’s academic detachment, maintain levity amidst the existential tech angst.
• The recurring callout: “Who is this for?” reveals an episode-long skepticism toward “innovations” untethered from lived need.

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:06]: Theme introduction (CES & consumer electronics “falling apart”)
• [03:01]: Noti kids’ communicator reviewed
• [04:21]: LG OLED TV discussed (AI features unwanted)
• [05:39]: Acoustic Eye (“ear”) drone security system
• [06:49]-[13:07]: Exoskeletons/Hypershell in-depth discussion
• [13:07]: Health wearables & biometric data privacy concerns
• [15:41]: Lenovo’s showing – “Twist” laptop and skeptical reactions
• [20:12]: Fatigue, biometric demos, and SmartEye “drunk detection”
• [24:56]: Resolve XR VR therapy for deceased loved ones
• [28:47]: AI mental health bots & industry incentives
• [33:52]: Childfree Trust app – most antisocial product?
• [38:38]: “Innovation” rhetoric & industry self-mythologies
• [45:31]: Tech idealism/accelerationism vs. skepticism
• [47:39]: Sign off

Conclusion

Summary statement:
The hosts’ journey through CES 2026 is a relentless interrogation of tech’s claims to progress, with only rare flashes of practical utility (exoskeletons, maybe the drone ear). Most “innovation” is either repetitive, tinged by data extraction, or simply baffling in purpose. Even earnest attempts at technological ethics or mental health support are constrained by the perverse incentives and illusions that pervade the industry. Above all, the episode warns: when everyone at CES is an “innovator,” actual human needs and social context are the first things left behind.