Inventor Jeri Ellsworth and programmer Rick Johnson present a novel means of augmenting boring old reality-- the castAR, a pair of goggles with a clip-on accessory promising a full virtual reality experience.

Initially a project at Valve (of Half Life and Steam Box fame) before Ellsworth and Johnson left the company to form Technical Illusions, the castAR consists of a relatively slim and lightweight (100g) 3D glasses-style frames packing 2 tiny LCD projectors, a camera module and active shutter lenses. The projectors beam images (at 720p resolution and 120Hz refresh rate) on a special retroreflective surface, with the camera tracking the position infrared LED markers so the system adjusts images accordingly.

The result? A "holographic" 3D image one can interact with using a special wand peripheral. Users wanting to play virtual Dungeons & Dragons can also get an RFID tracking grid for the tracking of figurines and the like.

Not even the humble kettle is safe from the advances brought about by the Internet of Things-- customers can soon get the iKettle, a wifi-connected kettle one can control via iOS or Android app.

Described as "the world's first wifi kettle," the iKettle does exactly what it says on the box. It boils water, with the magic of app control allowing functionality such as remote control and a Wake mode (switches the kettle on together with a morning alarm).

As the likes of the Oculus Rift reignite interest in augmented and virtual reality headsets, companies start thinking of controllers complementing such equipment-- such as Singapore-based Intellect Motion with the iMotion device.

Reminiscent of the control gloves donned by Tom Cruise in science fiction film Minority Report (an unsurprising inspiration for the 9-strong team), the iMotion controllers allow for what Intellect Motion claims is "pinpoint-accurate 3D motion control" complete with haptic feedback, creating what amounts to a virtual touchscreen (or "giant motion sensitive space") in front of the user.

The system itself consists of a pair of mouse-sized devices users straps to their palms via velcro. Each device establishes user hand position within 3D space via combination of gyroscope, accelerometer and 3 LED lights feeding x, y and z coordinates to a regular webcam.

Omate believes it is on the cusp of ushering the "smartwatch 2.0" era of wearable electronics with the TrueSmart-- a smartwatch able to operate independently without need of a smartphone via microSIM slot.

The microSIM slot hopefully lets the TrueSmart to fulfill the Dick Tracy promise, allowing users to make calls and send text messages directly from the device without need for tethering to a mobile device.

It is not the first smartwatch with standalone call-making capabilities, mind. The Burg 17 features a SIM card slot, as does the Neptune Pine.

However the TrueSmart hopes to impress further in the internals department-- running on Android 4.2, the device promises a 1.54-inch multitouch display, dual-core 1.3GHz Cortex A7 CPU, GPS, Bluetooth, audio speaker and microphone, 600mAh battery, 512MB RAM, 4GB internal storage and a 5MP camera.