The last two years brought us thinner and larger mobile phones and devices than ever before, but 2015 is set to be the year of virtual reality, curved phones, the driverless car, and smartwear. 

Along with technological advances innovators are delving more into the habits of our daily lives, from walking and sleeping, to playing and eating, to create devices that can be used for all of these. While some believe that technology surpass humans, others recognize its importance in fields such as medicine, healthcare, and education. 

During the Consumer Electronics Show 2015 (CES) held in Las Vegas at the start of January, thousands of technology companies and attendees gathered to know what the year 2015 has in place for us in the technology field. Here is a glimpse at some of the most innovative and weirdest devices revealed at the show.

Most innovative devices:

LG G Flex 2: The LG G Flex 2 phone was quite an attention grabber, not just because of its features, but also because of its curved screen. In addition to its cute design, the curved screen reduces shocks when the phone falls to the ground, offers a better viewing experience, and doesn’t cause any discomfort when put in the pocket.  The only downside, however, is that it makes the phone glide a little too much when put on a flat surface. Other features of the phone include its 5.5-inch screen, 13-megapixel camera, Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system, and fast-charging battery (from 0 to 50% in 40 minutes). Will it pave the way for a new generation of phones?

Driverless cars: Prior to the Las Vegas show, Audi conducted several tests on its new driverless A7 series. The cars operate on both electric power and oil. Ford also promised to launch its first driverless car in the coming five years, with Mercedes and General Motors also jumping on the band wagon. 

Selfie flying-robots: The “selfie” trend has now reached new heights… literally! After people got used to taking selfies with their front phone camera, there are now little flying-robots that can take selfies from the sky, such as Zano and Nixie.

4K HD Displays: Samsung has revealed its new curved SUHD TV which has a 4K HD display (more than 4,000-megapixel definition). The company made its announcement during the show having closed partnerships with giant visual content providers such as Disney, 20th Century Fox, and Netflix to promote its new TV.

Weirdest devices

Virtual reality treadmill: After Jan Goetgeluk became sick of playing virtual reality games sitting on a chair, he decided to develop OMNI to allow players to move their whole body and enter the game, in every sense of the word. OMNI is an integrated device that comes together with a treadmill, where as a player stands, so does the character, all through using shoes, a belt to track the player’s movement, and the Oculus headset. The device achieved tremendous success on Kickstarter and raised $1.1m USD. See how it works here. 

Smart pacifier: Kids or rather parents had a big share of attention at the CES which unveiled a number of smart pacifiers, including Pacifi-i, a pacifier that tracks the child’s body temperature and sends the data to an Android or iOS app via Bluetooth. Through the app, parents can enter the times they need to give medicine to their children, set alarms, and share the data with their pediatricians. The pacifier also includes movement sensors that let parents know when their children are more than 20 meters away, through a notification.  

Running tracker socks: Most running injuries result from feet hitting the ground in the wrong way. That’s why Sensoria is working on smart socks that include sensors that send information to the runner in real time through a smartphone app. Just by connecting the app to the socks and wearing Bluetooth earphones, the runner would receive real-time information that lets him know, among other things, whether he’s running badly, and if his foot position is wrong.

Automatic irrigation pot: Sometimes, we forget to water a plant we have, and so it withers and dies. That was the fate of the plant on my desk. To solve this problem, a plant pot called Parrot Pot was created with sensors that track the water level in the pot and use a reserve tank to water the plant. 

These are only a few of the innovations that were showcased during this huge annual technological event. We also saw relaxing headsets, a coffee machine that remotely makes coffee through a phone app, crystal rings and bracelets that act as wearables, and so much more.