"At CES, A Gadget To Fix Everything \u2014 Except Relationships"

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

And a final thought on tech now from last week's International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Commentator Judy Carter was there checking out gizmos with human relationships on her mind.

JUDY CARTER, BYLINE: I was supposed to go to the show with my partner, but we had a fight. So I went alone, wondering if gadgets could help us. The first thing I see - a brain-sensing headband.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: But what it does is it senses the electronic signals coming from your brain.

CARTER: Can it sense the brain activity of your husband or your wife?

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: No and it doesn't necessarily read your brain. It just reads your brain activity.

CARTER: Oh, well. I moved across the floor.

This is SoulMate Technology?

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: Yes.

CARTER: They were just selling chargers for mobile phones.

I thought it was finding your soulmate, like dating, like getting married. No?

There are thousands of gadgets to recharge phones but nothing to recharge relationships. Apparently, the most important relationship you have is with yourself. I don't need anybody as long as I have my own drone.

What does this say?

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: Taking your selfies to new heights. You throw your Zano up, and you get a photo or a video of you in a location.

CARTER: So you can take selfies of yourself now from the sky?

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: Yes, pretty much.

CARTER: Probably a little more flattering.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: Yeah.

CARTER: The theme of CES - people don't need people, they did gadgets. Well, as I'm leaving, I look up and I see a big sign proclaiming the message of this conference - break free of your attachments. Really? But I need attachments. Coming home, I realized that my partner does something that no gadget does - makes me laugh. But hey, coming in 2016 - the new gadget Laugh At That for all platforms - uh oh. Judy Carter for NPR News.

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