IFA 2020: best gadgets for a pandemic, from sex toys that operate remotely in lockdown to a face mask that sterilises itself
- Technology on show in Berlin for coping with the coronavirus included toothbrushes, razors, and even a mini-dishwasher, that all use UVC light for sterilisation
- Wearable air purifiers, which clean the air around the wearer, and sex toys couples can operate remotely if lockdowns keep them apart also featured
New products for a new normal. That’s one way to sum up the “special edition” of this year’s IFA, Europe’s biggest tech trade show, and the world’s only such event since the coronavirus pandemic took hold.
Normally visited by 225,000 people, the Berlin venue had only 6,100 attendees and 150 exhibitors during the three-day event last week. Organisers created an online “Xtended Space” and a “virtual market place” for companies to present their latest products, and deliver keynote speeches, without travelling.
As a unique new blend of the physical and the virtual, IFA 2020 was the first true hybrid expo, and to report from it was an odd experience. Masks had to be worn at all times, contact-tracing forms filled out all too frequently, and instead of snaking queues to attend press conferences there were mostly empty halls with chairs 1.5 metres (5ft) from each other.
If this is what the world now looks like, it was fitting that the trade event also saw the debut of technology that could help us all cope.
“Coronavirus has changed the focus of the tech industry from just being about convenience to being about things that are relevant now – hygiene, remote working, sustainability and other things that are actually impacting the world,” said Nick Sohnemann, founder and chief executive at Future Candy, an innovation agency based in Hamburg, Germany, who helped curate part of the IFA NEXT start-up zone.
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More practical was a clever new mode on Daan Technology’s mini-dishwasher called “Bob The Dishwasher”, which now has an integrated UVC light-powered “sterilisation mode”.
UVC is high frequency short-wave radiation that has been used for years to kill bacteria in hospitals and in water treatment plants. It’s naturally blocked by Earth’s ozone layer, unlike UVA and UVB light, which causes sunburned skin.
It’s the high frequency wavelengths of UVC that allow it to penetrate 99.9 per cent of bacteria at cell level and break down its DNA, killing it or rendering it unable to reproduce.
“To use UVC light safely you need a sealed box, and I realised that’s what we have, so we slightly redesigned it to include a new mode to clean your mask, phone and keys,” says Damian Oy, president and CEO of Daan Technology.
“We had the idea during lockdown when I was coming home after shopping.”
There were many other Covid-19 inspired products. From Japan’s Creative Technology come Ataraina wearable air purifiers that use electrostatic technology to sterilise the air around the wearer, while sexual wellness brand Satisfyer has a new app that allows couples to remotely operate each other’s sex toys. That could be handy if there’s another lockdown.
“The Satisfyer Connect App questions the status quo in the sexual wellness category and brings love to the next level,” said Daniela Märklin, chief marketing officer at Satisfyer.
However, away from masks, hi-tech hygiene and remote relationships there were plenty more mainstream products unveiled in Berlin.
Not only did Chinese electronics brand Realme make its first appearance at IFA, but it was also one of the few to host a live press conference. Its new Realme X7 Pro smartphone has an AMOLED display, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, a 4,500mAh battery and a quad-camera array with a 64MP shooter.
The other major physical event was staged by Huawei sub-brand Honor, which used IFA 2020 to debut its MagicBook Pro laptop and Watch GS Pro smartwatch.
The laptop is a virtually bezel-less (just 4.9mm), aluminium-frame 16-inch laptop that’s the size and weight of a 15-incher; the latter is an outdoors GPS watch launched with hikers and skiers in mind. It’s basically a tough version of Honor’s Magic Watch 2.
However, it was back in the IFA NEXT section where the most relevant innovations were on show.
With a remote colleague’s face shown life-size on a screen while they move around a room and receive images via a 4K video camera, it seemed like technology that grasps the zeitgeist.
Even if a future of telepresence robots and hygiene tech does not seem appealing, such products mark a welcome step towards relevance for an industry that’s spent the last few years obsessed with autonomous vehicles, delivery drones and other fripperies.
IFA 2020 will not go down as a classic tech expo, but it underscored just how radically changed the world’s priorities have become in 2020. It was also a klaxon to an industry that needs to change focus quickly if it is to stay relevant.
