A reader sent us an article about contact lenses with augmented reality. Soon, you can be out of touch with reality all the time.
Mojo Vision contact lenses will work like regular contacts, but they will also display weather information, a map, heart rate, blood sugar and other information floating in the air before the user's eye, the company says. They remind us of Joy's Form Swim goggles, which give swimming workout statistics in front of the right or left pupil. Google is an investor in Mojo Vision. Availability: In two years, or so, the company says.
Other gadgets of interest:
• Segway S-Pod: Remember how the Segway was going to revolutionize transportation? It never happened, though we do see tourists using them. Segway just announced a sit-down version, which goes up to 24 miles per hour. That's more like it. As people age or develop joint problems, they could use the S-Pods at airports, large campuses and on tours.
This seems to be a big improvement over the current Segway, which isn't easy on the feet if you've been standing on it for hours. Joy was a little leery to try one but it practically balances itself. The new version will be even more of a no-brainer, if you don't mind joystick controls. It's sometimes described as a "self-balancing stroller," or a "lounge chair on wheels."
• Nurvv insoles might have prevented Joy from damaging her feet in long runs around a track. She used to run on her toes, which was bad for them. These insoles send data to an app on your phone. The app analyzes your running technique and gives you statistics, such as stride length, as well as advice.
• The Manta5 Hydrofoil Bike mimics riding a bicycle -- on water. An electric motor provides an assist to your pedaling. Once you get up to speed, the hydrofoils provide lift. Joy saw it on YouTube and now wants one. There's a catch, though. It costs $7,500.
See more in a SmithsonianMag.com article called "Eight Remarkable Inventions Unveiled at This Year's CES." That's the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which was earlier this month.
IPHONE UPDATE
A reader is in doubt about whether she should update her iPhone 6. She stopped doing updates when her friends' phones got messed up after they did theirs. Bob has an aversion to all updates. Not every change is an improvement.
It turns out her phone is too old anyway. You need an iPhone 6s or newer to install Apple's latest operating system, 13.2.2. It won't work on an iPhone 6. That may be a lucky break. According to Forbes magazine, iOS 13.2.2 has caused a lot of problems. These include crashing during email, audio irregularities, graphic glitches, cellular connection difficulties and excessive battery drain. Forbes urged users to stay away from the update unless they've been faithfully installing updates all along and now have version 13.2.1, which is worse. Version 13.3 is in the "beta" or testing phase, but we'll probably see a version 13.2.3 first. Are you confused yet? We like to fall back on the farmer's mantra: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
FACEBOOK ANNOYANCE
Bob got so tired of getting notified about every post on Facebook, he went to "Settings" and turned them all off. Joy did it too. We were astonished by the number and variety of notifications.
Start at Facebook.com on your computer. Look at the blue bar at the top of the screen and go all the way to the right to click a drop-down arrow. Choose "Settings." Look to the left and click "Notifications." You can turn off more than a dozen of them. This includes notifications by email, text message or pop-up. We shut down notifications about status updates, videos, things for sale and charities, among others. We kept birthday reminders.
INTERNUT
"Can this teenager use a rotary phone?" Search on that phrase to find an unintentionally funny YouTube video. A friend who had coincidentally just wished aloud that the world could go back to rotary phones found it for us. "I couldn't stop laughing," she says. Two teenagers try to work a dial-up phone and can't figure it out.
Bob and Joy Schwabach can be reached by email at bobschwab@gmail.com and joy.schwabach@gmail.com.
Business on 01/25/2020