10 Innovations In Tech That Are Scary Smart (In A Good Way)

Imagine a machine that knows what you should eat...just by looking at you. Boom! It already exists. And what's more, 3D cameras and speech recognition mean you can now browse recipes, pause videos, and set timers with your voice and gestures.

While we wait for self-driving cars to take the wheel, distracted driving is still a very real thing. Fortunately, camera systems can now detect if a vehicle's operator is losing focus — even with sunglasses — and alert them with a warning message.

Last year, the Dublin City Council announced plans to become "the most densely sensored city in the world." By monitoring environmental data, the city may soon improve its infrastructure with more trees, less traffic, and decreased noise levels.

Earbuds are a pain — especially when your playlist is bunk. That's why SMS Audio made smart earbuds that "monitor heart rate and adjust music playback based on sensor feedback" so if your music is awful, you have no one to blame but your heart.

The technology behind foosball hasn't changed much in 100 years, but the team behind Black Fragment hopes to change that — by building a smart table that tracks player stats and even replays goals via LED sensors underneath the game mat.

The internet has a password problem. They're tedious, hard to remember, and easily hacked. Thankfully, facial recognition technology has reached the point where you can now unlock your accounts simply by looking at your device. 😚

Think of a noun, and there's probably a startup working on connecting it to the Internet of Things right now. Like, oh, the Wallflower Ember, a device that retrofits any stovetop and alerts your phone if the burner is left on past a predefined time.

Urban beekeeping: It's a thing. And with Bee API, city-dwelling beekeepers can remotely manage their apiaries (or, as we call them, hives) via the Internet of Things, and even rent them out to others — so we can all harvest that sweet, sweet honey.

The smart house of the future may be a ways off, but hey, we'll gladly accept light switches we can turn on and off with our phones. Thanks to Switchmate, we'll soon be able to snap on a light switch cover and never get up from the couch again.

Peripheral headsets have existed for motorcyclists for a while, but only until recently have helmets started communicating directly with the bike. One BMW prototype can queue directions, pair with your smartphone, and even check your tire pressure.