Some of these we’d buy tomorrow. Some of them we’d keep far away from our Wi-Fi.
Weird technology comes every year. And this week, we are looking at some of the weirdest that came out in 2026. From “Why was this made?” to “Did they consider the security implications of this?”, we’re looking at everything in between. We drew from CES at the beginning of the year and IFA in Berlin, as well as several others, to bring you this crop of weird, wild, and downright strange technology that is or will be hitting the consumer market sometime soon.
Emerson
Smart Voice 10-Quart 6-in-1 Air Fryer
This one we want to bring up as not a bad weird, but more, “We never thought we’d get to live with Star Trek.” This is a voice-activated cooking vessel. And it has over 1,000 different commands for cooking modes and settings, but there’s no app, which in our modern technology society sounds pretty strange to say. There’s no mobile app. There’s no account setup. It doesn’t even connect to Wi-Fi or ask for a paid membership! We don’t usually get that excited over the technical aspects, but today, that is exciting. Instead, all you have to do is give a command: “Hey, air fryer.” We are still waiting for the day when we can say, “Computer, tea, Earl Grey, hot.” But that day is coming closer.
Dreame
Halo
Picture a tall, curved arc that stands on the floor beside you, and you’ve got the Halo. It looks more like a minimalist piece of art than either a light or something you’d look to for your hair care. However, Dreame says that it’s about more than dry hair. It also has a red light aimed at your scalp, meant to give your follicles a boost. And when it’s not drying anything, it can work as a lamp and set the mood with its lighting. Though we are fascinated and mildly confused by this one. At the very least, it doesn’t sound like it is attached to AI or going to kill you, or explode.
Thermacell
LIV 2.0 Smart System
This is one that we want to stick into the “Oh, finally” category, although we are a little confused still on how this one functions. The LIV system wires cast-aluminum repellers into one system with low-voltage cables, and then uses heat to diffuse an EPA-registered, scent-free repellent on a schedule that you set from the app. Instead of using fogging services or candles, the system regularly gives off this repellent. The 2.0 expands the network from the 1.0 up to 3,000 square feet of potential coverage. We like this one as it makes managing mosquitoes at home, especially in Dallas, Texas, much easier.
Petkit
Yumshare Daily Feast
While the company calls it “the world’s first robotic pet chef,” it also calls it “the first fully automatic AI wet food feeder.” So we’re a little confused on which one it is. It is a pet feeder which will automatically dispense food. The difference being that it serves wet food instead of dry food. We will admit, we can see the benefits for this one. If you have a pet that has an all wet food diet, this is great. We are mildly confused as to why it is called a chef, unless it’s hyperbole? We also would like to question why there is an integrated camera to track the pet in question. Also, what happens if you have multiple pets? Do you need one of these per pet? Further testing and work should probably be done on this one. We’re putting this under “Why did it get created?”
UCloudlink
Petpogo Pet Phone
This one has us wondering why. The idea will almost definitely appeal to many pet owners, but the way it’s working is something that we aren’t quite sure has been put to the test yet. It is a collar that, in theory, allows for two-way audio to talk with your pet through an app, and uses AI features to interpret behavior and motions so that your pet can theoretically initiate a call with you. The app also uses emotional analysis of barks, meows, or other actions to give you an idea of how they are doing throughout the day. The collar also has more traditional capabilities like tracking and geofencing, as well as flagging when your pet is behaving in an out-of-routine fashion, so that you can tell if they’re sick while you’re at work. These last few functions we understand. We actually appreciate them. But AI still doesn’t fully understand humans. How does it intend to interpret their emotions? While we can see intentionally teaching your pet how to “call” you, similar to the way that dogs and cats have been taught to use buttons in recent years, we’re still stuck on why you would want a phone call from your pet while you’re at work or out running errands. Most of the time, they’re going to be telling you, “Come home, feed me, pet me,” and we already knew that was happening.
FrontierX
Vex
Yet another pet robot. The Vex is a compact robot designed to trail your pet around all day, filming whatever they get up to and trying to play along. When the day is done, AI stitches the clips together into an edited video for you. It isn’t terrible, more that it’s just confusing. We’re putting this under “Needs more development”, because at the moment, it seems somewhat unfinished.
Amada
Soundwave Smart Mattress
Amada brought this smart bed to IFA this year. It does connect to a phone app. Is anybody surprised at this point? It does produce, if not sound waves, then what the brand calls a vibroacoustic experience, with various modes intended for pre-sleep relaxation, meditation, focus, and recharging. While we know that acoustics can help with both meditation and focus, we’re a little confused on the other two. And adding vibrations to the mix has us politely skeptical for the time being. We are putting this one firmly in “could work, needs more study.”
Seattle Ultrasonics
C-200 Ultrasonic Chef’s Knife
On the one hand, a good knife can cut through anything easily, but it does still require sharpening on a regular basis, but any semi-serious chef will tell you that the steel is what matters. This tool wants to bring you a new type of blade meant to make cutting even easier. It is a knife which has piezoelectric crystals in it which make it vibrate. It’s intended to make cutting easier. But now, in addition to having to keep it sharp, you also have to plug it in or purchase a separate wireless charging station. And we are just really confused. On one hand, we find the idea of piezoelectric crystals very interesting. On the other hand, do they belong in your knife? We’re sticking this one firmly on “Why did they make this?”
Govee
Mood-Reading Skylight
In this case, they are offering a very strange ceiling light that claims to be mood responsive. “What this means here is that the user can talk to Govee’s AI to discuss their mood or how they’re feeling. And the app then suggests color schemes to match.” The light is also capable of making a blue wavelength that should mimic blue skies and natural daylight. On its own. While the AI and Govee in general both have very positive reviews, we find this pretty strange. Why do you need a mood-reading skylight? Why is it necessary to have something determine what your mood is and then suggest lights? We understand the concept of mood lighting, but the idea of everybody having different colors that they relate to different moods seems to have missed Govee.
Dyson
CameraJet
Dyson, as always, is looking at the cutting edge of technology, but we are more than a little confused as to why they have created it. This is a toothbrush with a camera built into it, asking for $500, and it works with an AI to interpret 28 pictures per second. The AI then analyzes those images and works to target gaps between your teeth to ensure they get extra clean. You have to stand with your phone in one hand, looking at a close-up of your teeth, and try to figure out how to use what is essentially a water flosser attached to the toothbrush to hit what may or may not be gaps. It’s very strange and sounds like it’s focused toward taking advantage of hypochondriacs and those who are extraordinarily interested in dentistry.
Lepro
Ami
On to the category that comes with more concern. If we set medical devices aside, and we’re determinedly doing that here, this may be the most unsettling item on our list. Ami lives on your desk inside an OLED screen, and the pitch is an AI “soulmate” that’s supposed to pick up on how you feel and bond with you on a deep level. Our concern, though, and one that we doubt anybody else is looking at, is that it’s coming from China, which is regularly accused of utilizing data without any sort of fail-safe or protections, gathered from all sorts of technology. Why would this be any different? No, we doubt this will be any different.
NuraLogix
Longevity Mirror
Another one for the scary, but from a different angle. This is supposed to scan your face for 30 seconds and use AI to estimate over 30 health metrics, just from your face. Everything from your heart and stress load to sleep quality, diabetes risk, liver disease, even how your skin is aging. In theory, it does this by reading the tiny changes in blood flow under your skin and turns that into a wellness snapshot. Now, while the company does claim that this is not a diagnosis, we all know people who are going to treat it as gospel, should they get it. We want to raise the other factor, though, that AI is just as ineffective as Dr. Google is. We are concerned about where that is going to lead.
Roborock
RockMow X1 LiDAR Mower
Now, for anybody who doesn’t know, LiDAR is a type of laser-based mapping system. It can be used alongside a localization and mapping technology that is built into the lawnmower. Now, in theory, this is so that it doesn’t chop up your flowers or accidentally mow your neighbor’s lawn. Why that’s a problem, we’re not entirely clear, but we would also like to point out that, as with many bits of technology we’ve raised, very few technology companies put as much effort into their Internet of Things security as they do into the functionality of the machine. On the one hand, this sounds fantastic. The fact that it has a four-wheel drive to help with traction on steep slopes and capability of working after a rainstorm sounds fantastic. However, we also know that appliances inside your home can be used to map your home if they are hacked. What is a LiDAR-equipped lawnmower capable of doing? Even if it’s only passively feeding data to somebody else, that leaves us uncomfortable.
That’s our tour of the weirdest technology 2026 had to offer. Some of it, we’d happily let into our own homes. The Emerson air fryer is the one we never expected to get, and the mosquito system might finally make summer evenings bearable. Some of it left us asking, “Why did they make this?” And some of it left us asking the question we always seem to land on: did anybody stop to think about the security implications?
If there’s a pattern here, it’s that more of our stuff now has a camera, a microphone, or an AI attached, whether or not it needed one. Before you buy anything that wants to watch, listen, scan, or befriend you, ask what happens to that data once it leaves your house. Then ask whether the old, dumb version did the job just fine.
So which of these would you actually bring home, and which are staying firmly on the shelf? We’d love to hear it.
The strangest thing in your home shouldn’t be an appliance that quits on you. If your fridge, washer, dishwasher, or oven is acting weird in the boring, broken way, Appliance Rescue Service can help. Call us or book online at and we’ll get it running again.
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