In New York this past month, NRF invited you to a special area on the trade show floor to "see, touch and experience some of the most interesting and 
innovative products finding their way into the marketplace and some that are still on the drawing board. The (NRF) iLab features the products that inspire customers to buy and the brands to innovate."
Following is a partial list of some of the innovative products on display.
Hello Barbie Doll "Play" Innovation
Using Wi-Fi and speech recognition technology, Hello Barbie can interact uniquely with each child by telling stories, playing games, and even laughing at jokes. With more than 8,000 phrases, Hello Barbie enables enhanced play experiences never before possible with a fashion doll.
Rebecca Minkoff Notification Bracelet Fashion & Design Innovation
The bracelet silently notifies you of important texts or calls through a Bluetooth pairing with your iPhone. You can program up to 25 contacts so that when they call or text, the bracelet will vibrate.
Playmation Marvels Avengers Pack "Play" Innovation
Combine digital play with your child's imagination to explore the world of Avengers. New missions can be downloaded from the App. Video games meet the wearables to intensify the experience.
Retail Robots Innovation - Bring Your Online Intelligence Into the Store
At NRF 2016, I had the pleasure of meeting Pepper, a friendly and retail focused robot assistant from RobotLAB. Seven thousand Pepper like robots are deployed across multiple verticals including retail. Do not be surprised if you run into Pepper at a retail store in France or Hong Kong. This friendly robot is also available to negotiate your next car deal at an auto dealership. Up to half of jobs could be replaced by robots and automation in 20 years.
4moms Child Safety Car Seat Design Innovation
4moms has created products that delight babies and parents alike from mamaRoo and infant tub to the BounceRoo, to name only a few. And what parent hasn't struggled with installing a car seat properly? Their self-installing child safety seat aims to solve the challenge. Meet the baby car seat connected to your smartphone.
SuperMax The Turtle Health & Wellness Innovation
Inspired by 8 year old Max Wilford, an incredible boy who is battling brain cancer, Super Max, the Turtle nightlight soothes children and promotes the healing process. It projects a starry night sky and features a 45 minute automatic shutoff to ensure complete darkness during a child's deep sleep.
Polotech Shirt Health & Wellness Innovation
The PoloTech shirt, designed by Ralph Lauren works with an iPhone or the Apple iWatch. Silver fibers woven directly into the fabric read hear and breathing depth and balance as well as key metrics which are streamed via a detachable Bluetooth-enabled black box. The PoloTech app offers live biometrics, and adaptive workouts.
Coolhaus Ice Cream Food Innovation
Coolhaus architecturally inspired Ice Cream is sold in trucks in New York City, Los Angeles, and Dallas. Delectable sweets such as Fried Chicken Caramel Milk Chocolate and Dark Chocolate Dirty Peppermint Paddy bars are available online. Other flavors include Brown Butter Candied Bacon, Balsamic Fig & Mascarpone, and Cuban Cigar.
Oregon Scientific Dream Science WS683 Personal Health Innovation
Fall asleep easier, stay asleep, and reach even deeper levels of restful sleep. DreamScience lets you reset your sleep routine, helping you reduce stress, restore energy, and improve your focus.
Iris van Herpen Top Made of 3-D Printed Material Fashion & Design Innovation
Iris van Herpen works with computer programmers, nanorobotics scientists, and biologists to create her designs. She is best known for her work with 3-D printers to realize concepts that don't look like clothes at all. Her clothing is worn by Lady Gaga, and Beyonce.
Sengled Boost Light Bulb Home Design Innovation
Say goodbye to internet black holes in your home with the world's first Wi-Fi extending LE lightbulb. They're great at illumination too. The lightbulb meets the iPhone.
Sphero App-Enabled BB-8 Droid "Play" Innovation
Meet the adorable Star Wars BB-8 Droid that's as authentic as it is advanced - with an adaptive personality that changes as you play. The smartphone meets the future of play.
Qkr by MasterCard Technology Innovation
This mobile app allows you to pay for food, drinks, and much more from your IOS or Android smart device. One more example of the smartphone as your wallet.
The varieties of products presented in the NRF iLab reinforce the ideas discussed in the last post "NRF 2016: The Nine Retail Disruption Takeaways" including robots being here, the smartphone as the center of the retail universe, and the intensive focus on innovation.
Now about that cool Cuban Cigar flavored ice cream?
