The recently concluded Consumer Electronics Show featured an Internet of Things theme that made a lot of headlines. The technologies underlying IoT can be pretty much summed up as consisting of ICs and sensors squeezed into all manner everyday objects, whether doing so makes any sense or not. (Does anyone other than competitive eaters really need a belt that adjusts its own tightness based on the amount you’ve eaten?)

Here are a few of the IoT items we spied that seemed to sport interesting technology and actually did provide some useful functions.

A better look at blood pressure

Omron has long been known as a supplier of home blood pressure monitoring equipment using conventional blood pressure cuffs that wrap around the upper arm so that they measure the pressure in the brachial artery. More recently is has come up with a version that wraps around the wrist and measures pressure in the radial artery, the main artery of the lateral aspect of the forearm. It took a clinical study validating pressure measurements via the radial artery to make this possible. Users can wirelessly transfer readings to a smart device for tracking progress or other purposes.

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