Technology is everywhere, from the bedding you sleep in to the device you are reading this article on. Technology has become an essential part of our daily lives, impacting every aspect of people’s lifestyles.
Here are some everyday technologies that can help people live better.
The Galaxy smart ring
Innovation in wearable technology is not slowing down any time soon. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, new possibilities and categories are introduced, expanding beyond our reach.
Smartphone giant Samsung will soon launch its new Galaxy ring. The device is a health tracker designed to be worn around the finger and will perform functions such as monitoring heart rate and blood flow. It may also be used to track sleep and can be connected to other devices via Bluetooth.
Smart rings track everything your smartwatch does – wellness, activity, sleep – just with a longer battery life and without a screen.
However, other brands of smart rings are already available, like the Oura Ring and the Evie Ring, which is designed with women’s health in mind.
Looks like smart rings may soon be giving smartwatches a run for their money.
Heated mattress cover
If you like your bed extra toasty at night, then getting a heated mattress pad is a great idea. As the cold season approaches, rather than piling on heavy blankets or wearing thick sweaters and socks to bed to get a little bit of warmth, invest in a heated mattress pad.
The heated mattress pad goes over your mattress like a fitted sheet and has several settings to help you find your ideal temperature. Since the heat emitted by the mattress pad is insulated by your blanket, you’ll be enveloped in a cosy layer of warmth all night. To warm the surface of your bed, the mattress pads use hidden wires to distribute heat evenly without leaving any cold spots.
Depending on your preference, you can buy a heated mattress cover, an electric blanket, or sheets.
Smart bulbs
We are living in a smart home era where, because of technology, our living spaces are undergoing a profound transformation.
Smart bulbs are an affordable and popular gateway to smart homes.
Other than pleasing aesthetics with colour-changing bulbs, smart bulbs bring a lot of value; they conserve energy, they can be scheduled to turn on and off at specific times, they can help ward off intruders when automated to vacation mode lighting which makes it look like you’re home when you’re not and perhaps, best of all, all the lights that were left on by members of your household can be switched off all at once by a single voice command or touch of a button.
Smart bulbs are just like regular bulbs, but the smart part comes from being connected to a smartphone or tablet via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Some brands of bulbs, like Philips, have their own apps which are easy to use and can be synced to your television and music.
Flo tracker
In recent years, period tracking apps have significantly gained popularity because of the increased awareness of menstrual awareness.
Flo, a popular period, pregnancy, and cycle tracking app, is a common choice among women around the world, with over 100 million downloads, because of its comprehensive menstrual cycle tracking abilities.
It uses Artificial Intelligence to predict and track your period and view future cycles. It is also useful for those who are trying to become pregnant.
Within the app, there is a Flo community where members can discuss sensitive topics, share experiences, seek advice, ask questions anonymously and find support in their wellness journeys.
My Fitness Pal
Whether you’re looking to lose a few kilos, gain or maintain weight, be mindful of what you eat or track your sugar or protein intake, there are food-tracking apps designed to help you get started.
My Fitness Pal lets you enter your daily food intake from breakfast to dinner and snacks in between, and it calculates the number of calories and nutrients, such as proteins, carbohydrates, and fibre.
For example, if your location is set to Kenya, and you had chapati for lunch, the search results that pop up will give you the number of calories in, say, one chapati. The app also has menu information from popular restaurants, so it’s easier to track your meals when you eat out.
It will also calculate the number of calories you are supposed to consume in a day, depending on your goals.
The Samsung Bespoke Smart Fridge
The Samsung Bespoke Smart Fridge knows when food is about to expire and can suggest recipes based on the groceries or other food items in your fridge. How does it do this? Through AI, of course.
The 4-door fridge uses internal cameras to intelligently identify the food you store and take out. This is because of its Vision AI, which can accurately recognise 33 different fresh foods. These foods can then be added to a customisable ingredient list, which will show up on the LCD screen.
The screen enables you to tap on a food item, add it to your food list, and add the expiration date. This way, you can keep track of how often you need to replenish things. You can also see what’s in your fridge on your phone via an app. There are a lot more compelling AI-powered features that can be explored by connecting Samsung health apps to aid in nutrition planning.
Robot vacuum cleaner
Cleaning is a repetitive, sometimes stressful task that we have to find time for. But with the increasing popularity of smart robot vacuum cleaners, cleaning doesn’t have to be a time-consuming chore.
There are many brands to choose from when it comes to robot vacuums, which are fast becoming just as popular as cordless vacuums. The good thing about a robot vacuum is that it doesn’t require any effort on the user’s part.
A smart robot vacuum is designed to be fully aware of its surroundings. It creates a planned cleaning route around your house. But before it creates its route, it must first traverse your house along the edges before it starts to clean efficiently. To do this, it uses a variety of sensors and lasers to intelligently navigate your home without needing help.
Smart video doorbell
If you are on TikTok, you’ve probably come across videos recorded from the field of view of a video doorbell. A video doorbell is a doorbell with a camera that live streams what is happening at your front door at any given moment. With video doorbells, you can answer your door from anywhere through a mobile application while seeing and talking to the visitor.
They work the same as security cameras, capturing video day and night and storing it on a built-in microSD card.
When a visitor approaches the doorbell, it recognises the motion and alerts you on your mobile app through a Wi-Fi connection. Cameras that use AI will differentiate people from other moving objects, which will be less of a nuisance than those that alert the user of motion of any kind.
