The 5 Weirdest AI Inventions Showcased at CES 2026 in Las Vegas

Artificial intelligence has been around for a long time, and simply embedding AI into a product is no longer enough to make it stand out, especially at the world's largest tech show like CES 2026. The publication's technical editor Lifehacker Michelle Erhardt talks about the strangest and most unusual gadgets that use AI. Read on, first-person.

Anime girlfriend in a special tube

At CES last year, gaming lifestyle company Razer unveiled Project AVA, a concept for an AI esports coach, a disembodied voice living in a laptop. It's boring. But this year, the company took it a step further and decided to bring AVA into the physical world.

At the Razer exhibition space, I chatted with Kira, a hologram anime girl who lives in a small USB tube connected to my laptop. Using the tube's built-in camera, she spotted my orange sweater, asked about the exhibition, and offered to play Battlefield 6, along with some general gear tips. I spoke to her through microphones built into the same tube, and she responded through her speaker, not the laptop. Razer explained that the new version of AVA is intended to be a versatile AI companion, not a purely entertainment tool.

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In this regard, the company claims the system is "AI-agnostic," and users can connect any model to it. The demo I saw clearly used Grok, and it felt almost like interacting with AI companions within the app—right down to the awkward jokes. But Razer claims that, theoretically, both ChatGPT and Gemini would be compatible.
Neither the chatbot itself nor the imagery here are anything particularly new. Essentially, you're buying a USB cable and the characters inside it.

Kira isn't the only option. She's the typical anime gamer, but I was also shown Zane—a tattooed, muscular man. The target audience for both looks is immediately clear. If you prefer something more neutral, the handset can be configured to display the Razer logo surrounded by a sound wave; this mode is simply called AVA. The company also works with real-life celebrities: eSports athlete Faker and influencer Sao have already given permission for their likenesses to be used.

Razer is still deciding how exactly it will distribute these characters. I was told that you'll get a starter pack with your purchase, and additional skins will likely be available for purchase later.

Pricing and availability are unknown. Technically, it's still a concept, and could potentially be reworked. However, Razer's website states that the company expects to release the device in the second half of 2026, and pre-orders are currently available for $20.

The new Project AVA is essentially a talking "holographic" desktop toy. It's a nice idea, but I'm not sure the word "hologram" is appropriate. Kira looked rather flat—more like an image on a transparent screen, accidentally placed inside a cylinder, than the famous Princess Leia projection. So far, the novelty effect clearly doesn't live up to its promise.

A gaming headset that uses AI to 'read your mind'

When I play competitive games, I usually do a few practice sessions first to get into shape. This is helpful, but time-consuming. The Neurable x HyperX concept headset aims to reduce this process to just a few minutes.

It looks like a typical gaming headset, but the earcups are embedded with sensors that are said to be able to read your concentration level. Essentially, it's a simplified version of the brain-computer interfaces familiar from science fiction, scaled down to a consumer-friendly format and without the daunting wires.

This is where AI comes in. The miniaturization of sensors means they collect less data than lab-based systems, but Neurable claims that their models, by filtering out noise, can detect patterns even in this limited information flow.

For players, this involves a short concentration exercise called Prime. You concentrate and watch the cloud of dots collapse into a solid sphere. This takes about a minute and a half, after which you're supposedly fully prepared to play.

Unfortunately, I performed worse in the training shooter after this exercise than before. But that doesn't mean the data was useless. My colleague's performance improved by about a third after focusing. With such a small sample size, there could be any number of reasons, including simple anxiety. The company even noted that "failure" under such conditions can also be a learning experience.

I was more interested in a plugin for streamers that allows viewers to see their concentration level on the screen. It's not hard to imagine a community goading their favorite streamer, trying to break their focus.

However, this headset isn't available for purchase yet. It's still a concept, with no price or release date.

A Lenovo laptop that nods in response to questions

At CES, Lenovo unveiled a laptop with a motorized hinge that can automatically open, close, and even rotate from side to side. It will be released this summer. During the demonstration, the company showed off a prototype chatbot created specifically for this model. It currently uses ChatGPT, remains purely conceptual, and won't ship with the laptop. But it looked cute.

During conversations, the app displayed a pair of animated eyes on the screen, and the laptop, using its hinge, nodded or shook its "head" in response to questions. It responded to some queries with additional animations, such as displaying an umbrella when I asked about the weather.

It's still in the early stages of development, but I'm impressed that the device can recognize an affirmative answer and physically respond to it.

Lenovo's AI-powered gaming monitor is a bit of a cheater.

Another new product at CES, the Lenovo AI Frame gaming monitor, is perhaps the most practical item on this list. The idea is that the ultra-wide 21:9 display takes up most of the screen space for a standard 16:9 image, while the remaining space is used by the AI ​​to zoom in on key gameplay information.

In a demo of a MOBA game, something like League of Legends, the monitor zoomed in on the map. In the Counter-Strike 2 demo, it focused on the crosshair. Personally, I didn't find the zoomed-in map all that useful, but the zoomed-in crosshair (essentially a universal sniper scope for any weapon) was truly helpful—it made target acquisition noticeably easier.

I don't rule out the possibility that Counter-Strike 2 developer Valve might ultimately ban such a device if it makes it to market—such measures have been taken before. While this is just an idea for now, it clearly shows that companies are starting to find concrete ways to use AI in games, rather than simply dispensing useless advice to players.

New XREAL AR glasses turn any 2D video into 3D

Finally, my favorite AI invention at CES this year was XREAL's REAL 3D technology. It's built into the company's latest AR glasses and has already been added to one of its existing models via a firmware update. Using AI, the system automatically detects depth in any 2D video signal and converts it into 3D.

When I played Mario Kart World, it was easy to believe Nintendo had added this mode themselves. It also worked perfectly with James Cameron's Avatar, requiring no preparation, no delays when turning it on or off, and no blurriness as can happen with autostereoscopic displays like the Nintendo 3DS.

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This is a good option for those who enjoy 3D games and movies, but are finding that these formats are becoming increasingly rare as 3D TVs and 3DS systems become obsolete. Now you can watch regular 2D files, but in 3D.

Problems arise only with content that lacks depth. For example, XREAL representative Ralph Jodice explained that the system would randomly highlight certain characters when launching the original 8-bit Super Mario Bros. game. However, the illusion of depth is still possible. Super Mario Bros. is a completely flat game, but when I watched the hand-drawn cartoon Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the technology correctly separated the foreground characters from the background.

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