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10 health gadgets that we can’t wait to buy

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The giant Consumer Electronics Show, held last month in Las Vegas, dazzled the world with inch-thick, flat-screen TVs and driverless cars. The cutting-edge wellness gear on display at the event may have been less glamorous but was no less amazing. If you swim, run, play basketball, cycle, fish or golf, you’ll be impressed by these high-tech innovations coming your way:

Dribble like Steph Curry

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No court. No hoop. For a monster handling-skills workout — and a fun way to sweat — bring a basketball, turn on the Handle Fitness Lazer and try to keep up with the on-screen player dribbling through the legs, behind the back and around traffic cones. Your versions of these moves, used by NBA icons like Stephen Curry and compiled by inventor and former Texas Southern University star Curtis R. Smith, are recorded by a motion sensor that gives you a score. Includes adjustable speed and hundreds of drills. Stand-alone, portable and home-TV-linked models run $2,499 to $4,999. handlefitness.com

Paddle smarter

How’s my stroke? Stand-up paddleboarders who want more power from their pulls get real-time feedback about entry angle, side comparison, cadence, stroke efficiency and calories burned. Smart Paddle, which bills itself as the world’s first “connected” paddle, combines a microchip-embedded, adjustable-length fiberglass paddle with GPS from Costa Mesa-based Quickblade and a virtual-coaching motion-sensor app from Israel-based Motionize on a board-mounted cellphone. Starting at $299. quickbladepaddles.com

Fish finder

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Do you fish to relax and get away from it all? Well, here’s a way to reel in a big one: The Deeper Smart Fishfinder 3.0, a tennis-ball-sized plastic sphere you cast into the water. Your phone displays data about fish concentration in the area, as well as depth, temperature, vegetation and topography. It has a 130-foot casting and depth range. Starting at $180. deeper.eu

Eyes on the road

It’s dangerous to look down at your handlebar-mounted bike computer at 25 mph. That’s why the Kopin Solos Smart Sunglasses, tested on the U.S. cycling team training for Rio, gives you speed, cadence, heart rate and other metrics in a small pod positioned just outside the glass. An imperceptible, split-second flick of the iris reveals your data and input from smartphone cycling apps like Strava and Training Peaks. $499. solos-wearables.com

Tri-geek dream

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“Why not put the GPS sensors on your head?” asked endurance runner and triathlete Cheong Yui Wong, frustrated that he couldn’t get his speed, distance and route data from his smartwatch in the pool. GPS signals don’t travel through water and are unreadable while swimming, so Wong’s Marlin GPS swim tracker stuffs GPS and bone-conduction speakers into pods affixed to your goggles, letting you hear your data. You can create guided swims too. $130. www.platysens.com

A coach in your running shoes

Under Armour’s sensor-equipped UA Speedform running shoes not only provide GPS tracking and real-time stats (time, cadence, duration, distance, splits), but tell you how hard or easy to work out that day. A “jump-around” test consisting of six rapid pre-workout jumps in a row, measures your average air time in milliseconds, then provides a “muscle-fatigue score” that indicates your “neuromuscular readiness” to run. Starting at $140. underarmour.com

Brainy golf clubs

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Dissatisfied with the clip-on motion sensors recently available to golfers, equipment maker Krone Golf figured out how to embed shockproof sensors in the club head and grip. The titanium Sensor Smart Club identifies five key metrics critical to hitting the ball long and straight. An app instantly detects inefficiencies in a player’s swing and provides user-specific coaching and drills. Scheduled to be available in the fall, no pricing available at this time. krone-golf.com

Built-in super bike

The sleek, carbon-fiber SpeedX Unicorn bike offers a stunning value with two built-in features unavailable on high-end road bikes: a crank-integrated, rechargeable power meter and a built-in handlebar/stem bike computer. Moreover, models come with electronic shifting and a cutting-edge frame that absorbs bumps by allowing the seat tube to flex fore and aft. Starting at $3,199. speedx.com

Midnight trail magic

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If you like to hike, bike or ski at night, this is one to consider. It’s like night vision for your cellphone. BlazeTorch flip-down goggles and BlazeSpark smartphone module use near-military-grade NIR light-collection sensors to let you see, record and upload high-def stills and video on starlight alone. They’re good for three hours on a full charge. Your cellphone slides into the latter’s dock. BlazeSpark $300; BlazeTorch $999. blazethenight.com

Heart rate with hands

Merging classic style and digital tech, the Withings Steel HR bills itself as the first analog watch with heart rate, activity tracking and sleep-cycle analysis notifications. In other words, it measures your pulse without a chest strap. Battery life is 25 hours on a single charge. A motion sensor automatically initiates heart rate monitoring as you begin picking up the pace. Use your cellphone to view and store the data. Starting at $189. withings.com

health@latimes.com


UPDATES:

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4:43 p.m. Feb. 3: An earlier version of this story failed to name the app that works with the Smart Paddle. It comes from Israel-based Motionize.

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