Surviving the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas requires comfortable shoes, plenty of liquids and some indispensable and inspirational gadgets to get you through the day – my Jawbone Up band tells me I walked more than 30 miles over 4 days.
Yomping through the show floors can be made bearable with a rechargeable rucksack, an all-over massage chair and the uplifting sight of an ultimate command and control centre that can make you emperor of all you survey.
The Powerbag is not only a well-designed backpack for nerds,with every kind of zip pocket imaginable, it can also be plugged into a socket for its internal battery to be charged.
Emanating from the battery are wires and ports for every kind of device to be charged at the same time while stored inside the bag – there is a full USB port for tablets, various mini-USB cables and an iPhone cable.
I liked the LED indicator on the front of the bag when the battery is charging and the P logo there also acts as an on-off button for the battery and can be pressed to give a reading of how much power is left.
Of course, once detached from the mains, the battery will continue to charge devices until it runs down. Battery capacities vary, but on average are capable of four full smartphone charges. There are several styles for the Powerbag and prices ranging from $140 to $180.
Inada’s booth at CES seemed about the most crowded, although the attendees were all horizontal so it was a little deceptive. I had to join a queue for its massage chairs, one of whose occupants told me she was thinking of buying it to replace her bed.
That would cost her around $5,000 – a lot for a chair, but I’ve never seen one that massages you in so many places from head to feet.
Close by, Modern Work Environment Lab was showing a contraption that looked like a prop from an Iron Man movie or something Austin Powers‘ Dr Evil might covet.
The $6,200 Emperor 1510 consists of a comfortable high-backed office chair with a footrest, swing-out keyboard tray and a hydraulic “scorpion’s tail” arm behind it that brings down a triptych of monitors in front of the user, with LED lights turning on and music booming from built-in speakers as it does so, for added effect.
Now if I could just get Inada and MWE Lab together on a project, we might achieve nirvana with the complete massaging office-chair command and control centre. I wonder what that might cost?
