Consumer technology is at its best when it’s solving problems that exist outside of the tech world. This year’s honorees include better ways to clean your floors, put on your shoes, hear the conversation around you, and practice music effectively. There’s also a less-intrusive smart lock, a refreshingly simple microwave oven, and—if you’ll allow one solution to a problem caused by technology itself—a way to spare your smartphone screen from prying eyes.

JBL/Harman
For giving guitar practice an AI upgrade
While the modern musician will find no shortage of backing tracks on YouTube for practice purposes, they’re seldom as fun to jam with as the original material. JBL’s BandBox Solo and Trio guitar amplifiers can play music from streaming services over Bluetooth but with AI audio separation that controls the volume of individual instruments. Users can mute a song’s guitar track while playing along themselves, or turn down the vocals and drums to better hear the notes in a tricky solo. Software tools such as LALAL.AI and Moises have long allowed aspiring musicians to create backing tracks from recorded music, but by building this capability directly into the hardware, JBL is adding a new layer of convenience.

Kizik For making footwear hands-free For nearly a decade, Kizik has been making shoes you can squeeze your heels into without having to use your hands. But while the company has expanded into new categories such as snow boots, running shoes have always been a major challenge because of the need for a stable fit with no performance compromises.

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