Inventions-galleries

Slip on a pair of Mi.Mu gloves, and you can create complex compositions just by waving your hands. The offbeat instrument, which began in the mind of musician Imogen Heap nearly a decade ago, finally became available for any performer this year. Inertial measurement units—essentially a mashup of gyros and accelerometers—track movement, while sensors in the fingers detect minute gestures. Movements create sound loops, produce pitches, and even play audio clips during live performances, and Glover, its custom software, integrates with professional production apps like Ableton.

Two-factor authentication has been backstopping our passwords for years, but even those texted codes can leave you exposed to attacks. Plugged into your phone via a USB-C or Lightning port, the Yubikey 5Ci dongle is a physical “key” to augment or even replace conventional password and six-digit passcode combos. Register it with any of the dozens (and growing) of compatible apps and services—including mainstays like Google, Facebook, and Twitter—and go about your digital life quickly and securely.

The Wyze Cam V2 offers the standard menu of home-security-camera features: high-def video, night vision, two-way audio, and continuous recording onto an SD card. But its $20 price is the fast-casual to the five-star dining of its three-figure competitors. The company’s trick: paper-thin costs and profit margins. The latest update makes the tag even nuttier: Wyze added an artificial intelligence that can differentiate between, say, falling leaves or buzzing bees and people, which minimizes false alarms.