CES 2026 marked a clear turning point for digital health. After years of pilots and proofs of concept, the sector showed concrete signs of maturity, with solutions designed to work at scale. Across the Digital Health Summit, Innovation Award showcases and exhibition floor, companies focused on real operational challenges, including access, prevention, workforce pressure, and long‑term care delivery.
Rather than introducing isolated devices, exhibitors presented connected systems built to integrate into homes, workplaces, hospitals, and public spaces.
AI in Execution: From Screening to Recovery
A standout example of this shift is the Clinical One Entry System by Ceragem (a 2026 Innovation Award Honoree). This isn’t just a “contactless checkpoint”; it’s a sophisticated platform that uses facial recognition to monitor core vitals—temperature, heart rate, and oxygen saturation—in real-time. What makes it a game-changer is the workflow automation: it can trigger air showers for disinfection or activate isolation protocols in nursing homes and clinics without adding a single task to the staff’s workload.
AI is also redefining recovery. NeuroAnimation Therapy has emerged as a leader in neuroplasticity. Unlike traditional tools that simply track movement, this platform uses biomechanical precision and immersive virtual environments to stimulate specific brain regions. By having patients control lifelike virtual avatars, it drives measurable gains in processing speed and motor recovery—turning “gaming” into a validated clinical intervention.
Wearables: Moving Beyond the Step Count
The wearable market at CES 2026 signals the end of the “wellness gadget” era. Devices like the Garmin Venu® 4 (launched in late 2025 and a current CES Honoree) are now true health endpoints. With new features like lifestyle logging and integrated health status scoring, these devices help users understand the why behind their data, moving toward predictive health.
The real “quiet revolution,” however, is happening in ambient sensing. Companies like Xandar Kardian are leading the way with FDA-cleared radar sensors. These systems monitor heart and respiratory rates without any body contact, providing a non-invasive safety net for elder care that preserves privacy while delivering hospital-grade accuracy.
A New Phase for Rehabilitation and Mobility
Rehabilitation has moved from “episodic” to “longitudinal.”
- Cosmo Robotics’ Bambini Kids is the first overground powered exoskeleton specifically designed for preschoolers. Its 8-motor configuration, including a dedicated ankle motor, allows for a physiologically accurate gait, which is crucial for early intervention in cerebral palsy or TBI.
- EverEx MORA Care (2026 Innovation Award Honoree) is bridging the gap between the clinic and the home. By using computer vision and AI-based motion analysis via a mobile app, it provides personalized musculoskeletal recovery that is now being integrated into US insurance reimbursement models (Remote Therapeutic Monitoring).
The Mainstreaming of Women’s Health and Longevity
Women’s health is no longer a “niche” track; it is now core to the digital health agenda. Innovations like Vivoo’s smart menstrual pads, which measure FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone) to track fertility and menopause transitions, show that clinical diagnostics are moving into everyday consumer products.
In the AgeTech space, the AARP AgeTech Collaborative booth showcased how AI usage among adults over 50 has nearly doubled in the last two years. The focus has shifted to “Aging Without Limits,” where technology like passive fall detection and smart-home integrations (from partners like Samsung Health and TOTO) are designed to support independence rather than just manage decline.
The Outlook: Digital Health as a Horizontal Layer
The strongest signal from CES 2026 is convergence. Digital health is no longer a standalone sector; it is a horizontal layer intersecting with smart homes, enterprise IT, and public spaces.
As we look ahead, the challenge is no longer technological readiness—it is execution. We must now align regulation, reimbursement models, and clinical adoption to ensure these innovations don’t just exist, but actually reshape the global care system.
