When I stepped on the showroom floor in Las Vegas at CES, the largest tech industry trade show in the world, earlier this week, I felt a sense of dread. I’ve been coming to the show, off and on, for a decade, and the story is always the same: The industry made new gadgets for you, and they’re slightly better than the old ones. Despite the hype, it’s not often that there’s anything revolutionary.

But the vibe was slightly different this year.

There was no shortage of new machines on the CES showroom floor that are indeed slightly better than the old ones, and which will make your life easier or more fun — TVs, robotic vacuum cleaners, fancy phone chargers. What really stood out, however, were the growing number of things that are designed to make you — and the planet — healthier.

Everything from advanced fitness trackers to portable solar energy systems show that innovation means more than cramming more pixels into a display or adding AI features to a washing machine. It gives me hope that tech companies, despite the gloom and doom that they sometimes bring out in people, may be guiding us toward a better future after all.

CES, formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show, takes over Las Vegas at the beginning of January, and it’s a big deal. Last year, the show attracted nearly 140,000 people, including industry analysts, buyers from major retailers, venture capitalists, and journalists like me, all of whom gawked at the latest gadgets and wild concepts, like Samsung’s rolling robot that can turn your floor into a screen. This is the show where decisions get made about what kinds of tech you might be able to buy — but only in the near future. It’s about as fun as going to an amusement park where you’re only allowed to look at the rides.

The show started out as a much smaller affair in New York City in the late ’60s and is where, over........

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