Digital Health, AI and Lots of Robots: What CES Tells You About Your Tech Future

Observations from the tech industry’s biggest event

Edward C. Baig,

AARP

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Published January 13, 2026

AARP members and readers are invited to submit pressing technology questions they’d like me to tackle in my Tech Guru column, including issues around devices, security, social media and how all the puzzle pieces fit together.

This week marks a departure in this space, as I’m coming off CES, the mammoth tech industry event held each January in Las Vegas. Here are some of my observations from tech’s biggest shindig and what it means for older adults.

Is there a robot in your future?

“Zero labor home.” That’s the phrase LG Electronics is using for a concept I suspect many older adults might willingly embrace.

The general idea is that artificial intelligence-controlled home robots and connected smart appliances and machines will handle everyday household chores, freeing us humans to do almost anything else. Not only must they work seamlessly, they must also fit into everyone’s budget.

The LG CLOiD is a nearly 5-foot-tall humanoid robot designed to fold laundry and do other tasks.

Courtesy LG

LG bravely did a live demo of a nearly 5-foot-tall humanoid robot named CLOiD that was able to fold laundry and load a washing machine, tasks people either don’t want to do or, due to physical limitations, cannot do.

Elsewhere, the Chinese company SwitchBot demonstrated its own laundry-capable robot, Onero H1, which can also serve food and drinks and wash dishes.

Humanoid robots, or what the Consumer Technology Association refers to as “personal AIs,” were everywhere. I came across robots that were dancing, doing backflips, boxing, playing ping-pong, and, this being Vegas after all, dealing cards at a blackjack table.

Cool demos are a staple at trade shows. But if you’ve been dreaming about your own version of the Jetsons robotic maid Rosie for generations, be prepared to wait longer still. Most of the robots I saw showcased what’s possible technologically, but despite genuine advances in AI and hardware that give robots the dexterity to pick up objects, among other capabilities, these are early-stage prototypes that are far from finished products.

Among the many obstacles to bringing robots into the home are the cost, the fact that every abode is unique (with stairs, clutter, the presence of children or pets, etc.), and privacy and security concerns. We surely don’t want our futuristic robots to go rogue while we sleep at night.

For its part, LG isn’t expected to start testing CLOiD in real-world homes until 2027, and there’s no indication yet of its price tag or commercial availability beyond that. And while SwitchBot said we may be able to buy its robot before the end of the year, the cost is expected to be around $10,000. Plus, judging by the demo I saw, the slow-moving prototype has a ways to go.

Of course, robots can assist people in other ways. Diligent Robotics Moxi, for example, is a humanoid, “purpose-built” robot deployed in hospitals to assist nurses and pharmacists and retrieve and deliver lab specimens and medications.

An area where robots may serve a more immediate purpose at home is as a companion when other people or pets are not around. Tombot has begun taking preorders on Jennie, a cuddly, lifelike, $1,500 emotional-support robotic Labrador puppy that the company says is designed to comfort older adults as well as people living with dementia, anxiety and loneliness. Tombot founder and CEO Tom Stevens said he was inspired to form the company after his mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and could no longer care for her goldendoodle.

I should mention that if you already own living, breathing animals, there are also robots for them. One example I saw was the Petkit Yumshare Daily Feast robotic wet-food feeder, which can identify Fido or Fluffy via AI-generated facial recognition technology and determine which dog and/or cat is eating or receiving their meals. The feeder can hold up to seven days of “contamination-free” wet meals in sealed packs, ensuring your pet receives only fresh food. Pricing hasn’t been set.

Ed Baig, AARP's technology writer, tries on the Dephy Sidekick, an AI-enabled exoskeleton designed to enhance mobility.

AARP

Making you bionic

You can give your body a bionic boost by wearing one of the many AI-enabled exoskeletons exhibited at CES, which can enhance your mobility when you’re tired or your joints are aching. I tried a couple.

The Dephy Sidekick is billed as a kind of e-bike for walking. It is designed to help you walk more, faster and with less discomfort and fatigue.

Cofounder and CEO Luke Mooney says it’s for folks with “personal range anxiety” and it’s almost like having an extra calf muscle. It was indeed a relief to my actual calf, which, given all the steps I took on the trade show floor, was hurting.

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You strap the adjustable exoskeleton around each calf and snap it to Dephy’s custom sneakers via a carbon fiber plate in the sole. After powering on each side, you feel a slight tug, and you’re to walk normally for approximately 20 steps so that the Sidekick can learn your gait and how you walk. It then gives you more or less power as you speed up or slow down. I adjusted to wearing them surprisingly quickly but had to readjust after I took them off, as if returning to land after being on a cruise ship.

The Sidekick will be available later this month for $4,500, which covers the entire system.

The Mo/Go (short for “Mountain Goat”), from Skip, is an exoskeleton integrated into a pair of pants to assist with climbing stairs, hiking or other outdoor activities, particularly for individuals with joint pain or limited stamina. It has adjustable carbon fiber cuffs.

The company, part of AARP’s AgeTech Collaborative, explained that Mo/Go doesn’t walk for you but with you, delivering a 40 percent boost to your legs. It is not FDA-cleared or classified as a medical device.

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There are 10 size options, and Skip is taking preorders at $4,999.

Help get some sleep

Smartwatches, smart rings and other wearables enable us to track our sleep. But if you have trouble falling asleep, two companies in the AgeTech Collaborative have solutions that may help you catch those z’s.

Elemind is a $399 neurotech headband you wear at bedtime. In simple terms, cofounder and CEO Meredith Perry says it can disrupt the brain wave associated with wakefulness at the peak of that wave, comparing it to noise cancellation for the brain.

I didn’t fall into a deep slumber the first time I tried it, but I felt relaxed and came close.

a woman sitting in a chair while wearing headphones, an eyecover and a device around her neck

The Sensate pendant is a non-invasive tool that claims to calm your nerves.

AARP

I had a similar experience, nearly dozing off, when I tried Sensate for about 10 minutes. A noninvasive pendant hung on a lanyard placed on my chest, emitting what are called infrasonic waves via bone conduction through the body that can calm nerves, complemented by relaxing musical soundscapes from the Sensate app that I heard through headphones. Sensate sells for $279.

What about the television?

CES used to stand for “Consumer Electronics Show,” and in the past that mostly meant beautiful big-screen televisions and souped-up sound systems.

To be sure, attendees could still marvel at ginormous TVs with gorgeous displays (OLED, Micro RGB) from industry mainstays such as Hisense, LG, Samsung and TCL. Sony’s booth, however, was notably absent of televisions. The company focused instead on a pricey Sony Honda Mobility electric vehicle prototype called Afeela, which is set to arrive, first in California, in late 2026.

All TVs nowadays are internet-connected smart TVs and have been for a while, with models such as LG’s Wallpaper TV or Samsung’s The Frame TV designed to display artwork as if in a museum. But like so much else in the industry, what we constantly hear about is AI, which manufacturers claim enhances picture quality.

AI assistants are showing up inside TVs as well.

Google Gemini is coming to Google TVs from TCL with features such as the ability to tell the AI that the “dialogue is lost” or to “brighten the screen.”

Amazon is adding its Alexa+ AI assistant to Samsung TVs, the first time Alexa has been on a non-Amazon device.

Samsung’s AI TVs can recommend things to watch and answer questions about show characters or objects in a scene. If you’re watching a cooking show, for example, the AI may recommend wines to pair with a dish you see on-screen.

None of this is terribly surprising: Walking around CES, you’d have been hard-pressed to find any exhibitor that didn’t mention AI and its potential impact on our daily lives in some capacity, even if, frankly, the term is often overused and overhyped.

Monitoring your health for early warning signs

Digital health and “longevity tech” also took center stage at CES, with new and emerging ways to track our health.

Samsung explained how AI can analyze digital biomarkers and patterns over a two-week period, captured from your phone, smartwatch, smart ring and even your TV. In real time, these devices may detect early signs of potential cognitive decline. Perhaps you or a loved one are sleeping irregularly, forgetting to charge your devices as often as before or introducing more typos in communications. As such patterns become more evident, you may receive what Samsung says are “gentle” alerts to warn you or those close to you to check things out. If you or they are having cognitive issues, Samsung will be adding simple games to its TVs to help people retrain their brains.

Withings, the company that pioneered the internet-connected home scales space in 2009, has an expensive new version coming out midyear called Body Scan 2, described as a science-backed “longevity station.” The $600 scale will include 60 biomarkers, including a hypertension risk notification, and what Withings describes as a “full assessment of cardiac pumping efficiency.”

a person standing next to a smart toilet seat

TrueLoo, from the startup Toi Labs, is a Wi-Fi-connected AI smart toilet seat that can detect concerning health issues and send out alerts.

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TrueLoo, from startup Toi Labs, is a Wi-Fi-connected AI smart toilet seat currently being deployed in adult care facilities to alert staff of concerning signs detected from urine and stool samples. It utilizes an optical scanning system to analyze the color, shape, frequency, clarity and other characteristics present in urine and bowel movements. According to Toi Labs, TrueLoo can be fitted as a replacement seat on most existing toilets in 15 minutes or less, and accommodates up to two residents sharing a bathroom.

I came across an interesting Canadian startup called Cogni that created Calista, an accessible AI agent reached from any phone, and built with older adults in mind. After someone calls, the person’s acoustic voice, linguistics and other factors are analyzed for 50 different voice biomarkers trained on thousands of hours of “clinically-labeled voice data.”

Founder Omar Atwa told me that just based on the voice, the company can tell the user and their doctor if they’re at risk for any type of dementia, mild cognitive impairment, stress, anxiety or more complex disorders. “This is meant to be used over time,” Atwa said.

The consumer cost to make unlimited calls to Calista and receive insights is $10 per month. For now, the company is operating only in Canada, though it has designs on the U.S. market. Cogni also sells to retirement homes and doctors. It is not just about voice analysis, Atwa said; people also chat up the AI because they’re lonely.

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Edward C. Baig covers technology and other consumer topics. He previously worked for USA Today, BusinessWeek, U.S. News & World Report and Fortune, and is author of Macs for Dummies and coauthor of iPhone for Dummies and iPad for Dummies. Follow him on LinkedIn; Threads; and X, formerly known as Twitter.