It’s the holiday season, which means a frenzy of holiday shopping.  Whether you’re shopping for friends, for your kids or treating yourself, the prospect of figuring out what to buy can get a little overwhelming.  It’s especially hard to narrow down the choices when it comes to cool tech for your engineering and tech-savvy giftees—there are so many great options, how can you decide?

Well, we’re here to help.  We’ve looked around and found some of the coolest, most useful and most fun and entertaining gifts for the technologically inclined.

Robotic Pets for Your Family

Full-service home robots aren’t available on the market just yet – or at least, they aren’t particularly affordable.  However, you can get a taste of what it’s like to have a robot companion with a robotic pet.  While the idea isn’t new, these days there are lots of options to choose from that offer some combination of awesome high-tech capabilities, such as sensor-based autonomous movement, camera and voice recognition so that your robot-pet can recognize and interact with you, and artificial intelligence systems that enable them to develop a “personality” based on how you interact with it.

Drones, Big and Small

One of the hottest toys the last few years have been drones, and this year is no exception.  Every new model is a little bit cooler—easier to fly, longer battery life or more additional components like cameras. 

This year, the mini-drone is leading the pack for popularity, with lots of the tiny flyers on the market.  Great for beginners, mini-drones are an affordable entry into the hobby drone space.  Most of these are in the $50 to $100 range, and come ready to fly with controllers and instructions, making them a great way to introduce yourself or your kids to drone flying without breaking the bank.

The GoolRD WiFi FPV Mini Drone is one example.  This tiny quadcopter drone has a high-resolution video camera that streams live video to your smartphone or other mobile device, a single-key return to bring the drone back and prevent losing it, and multiple speed modes for different types of flying.  The controller even has space to store the mini-drone when you’re not using it.

If you’re looking for something a little less entry level, there are plenty of full-size quadcopter drones on the market.  Larger and more advanced—with a commensurate price tag—these offer extra capabilities such as 4K cameras, foldable structures for portability and storage, video stabilization and precision controls.

DJI is one of the leading drone manufacturers, and tops more drone recommendation lists with relatively affordable models starting around $400, such as the DJI Spark, up to more advanced models reaching $2,000 or more, such as the DJI Mavic Air or Mavic Pro series.  Parrot Bebop 2 is another drone in this upper price range, and it offers extras like a WiFi extender to increase connectivity range, and a flight time of 25 minutes.

Experience the Virtual World with AR/VR Headsets

Virtual reality headsets are increasingly advanced, and increasingly popular as they become more affordable.  Techies who love high-tech toys will have a great time playing the ever-expanding roster of games available, or watching movies and enjoying other interactive entertainment experiences.  There’s even an argument to make for the educational value (if you need to do some convincing) with virtual tours of museums and historical sites becoming available.

There are lots of brands manufacturing their own headsets and content these days, which means there is also a range of prices and capabilities—so there’s sure to be something just right for the tech-lover in your life.

HTC Vive tops many lists thanks to its affordable price tag for what you get in the box -- $500 for a complete kit including the headset and controllers, 1080p resolution and excellent room-scale tracking for a space approximately 4.5m x 4.5m that allows movement within that space. HTC Vive Pro is a bit of a step up, with a 78 percent increase in dots per inch in the display and built-in audio, but it also has a higher price tag and doesn’t come with controllers and sensors included.

For videogame players, the Sony PlayStation VR offers the best library of games and runs off a regular PS4, rather than requiring a gaming PC.  The system is available for prices ranging from $600 to $800, depending on the accessory and system bundle options.

And of course, there’s Oculus Rift, the original foray into VR tech at the consumer level.  These days, the Rift has seen enough upgrades and additional accessories to keep it on par with some of the newer systems, at a price point a little less than $500.

3D Printing at Home

The last few years have seen an explosion of affordable desktop 3D printers that are easy to learn and start printing replacement parts, toys and other fun objects right in the home.  This puts 3D printers at the top of the list for many engineers and techies who want to pursue DIY projects, repair machines and equipment, or prototype their latest and greatest invention. They are also a great way to get kids and teens interested in technical exploration, because they can create a design and then see it built right in front of their eyes.

Like many tech toys where there are lots of options from lots of companies, there is a range of prices enabling everyone to find a printer that fits their budget, from a few hundred to over a thousand dollars.  

Which printer you choose will depend on what you have to spend and what you want to do with it, but there are lots of options available—too many to get into in-depth here—but brands such as MakerBot, Ultimaker, Flashforge, LulzBot and Formlabs all have multiple options at different price points. 

For a slightly different—and arguably more challenging—take on 3D printing, there are also 3D printer pens that let you “draw” in 3D with melted plastic filament similar to what’s used in conventional 3D printers. Like everything else, there are lots of brands to choose from.  The Leo Evo 3D Doodler Pen, and 3Doodler brand pens are affordable and suitable for both kids and adults, with lots of colourful filament options to choose from and options for temperature adjustment.

The LIX Pen UV is a more professional model, with a slimmer profile and sleeker appearance.  Priced under $100, the most recent version has an improved heating element, smooth filament flow, and reduced clogging thanks to a reconfigured evacuation system that prevents plastic dust from getting into the internal components.

More Interested in Food than Filament?

For a fun take on 3D printing, the PancakeBot is features a cooking surface and the ability to “print” with pancake batter to create works of edible art.  While not able to create truly three-dimensional height, it’s still a fun way to liven up breakfast time.

Projectors in the Palm of Your Hand

Whether you like to have movie night at home with the family, put on a presentation, or share a demonstration video, sometimes you just want to watch on a screen bigger than your laptop or television.  Instead of messing around with complicated projector equipment, the engineer in your life can use a mini projector to play video and slideshows when and where they need it.  These projector cubes fit in the palm of your hand, making them easy to take wherever you go, and are easy to set up and use. 

Called pico or palmtop projectors, these devices tend to be a bit larger than a smartphone and extremely lightweight, have internal memory storage as well as wireless, HDMI, USB and SD card options. Some models even come with a rechargeable battery so you don’t need to find a power outlet in order to use them.

There are a few different brands offering these hand-sized devices, such as the RIF6 CUBE Pico Projector, which offers 20,000 hours of LED light projection and the ability to project images up to ten feet in size, perfect for that blank wall at your home or office.  

Phillips and Sony also offer options slim enough to fit in a pocket: the Phillips Pocket Projector PPX4350, and the Sony MP-CD1 Mobile Projector.

Build-Your-Own, DIY Electronics Kits

Electronics and programming have never been more accessible than with the availability of kits like Raspberry Pi or Arduino.  While these are a great way to introduce someone to the concepts of electronic design and computer programming thanks to a wide range of kits and accessories as well as a vibrant community of users, they can also be a lot of fun for the experienced engineer or technically-minded adult to play around with. 

Raspberry Pi is known for it’s ease of use and innovative user community, and all it takes to get started is a Raspberry Pi board and a few extra components.  After that, only the sky and your available components are the limit.  Thankfully, it’s easy to get a wide variety of accessories directly from Raspberry Pi or through third party kits.

For example, the Crowpi Raspberry Pi Accessories Kit comes with a motor, buttons, a receiver and other components to complement a Raspberry Pi board, and there are many other kits available for projects including robots and smart home devices. 

Another option is an Arduino Starter Kit, which comes with all the components and instructions needed for building a range of different electronics projects, such as a color mixing lamp, light theramin, digital hourglass and touch-sensitive lamp.

With both Raspberry Pi and Arduino, it’s easy to keep innovating by picking up new kits and components, and joining in the maker and DIY communities.

Robotic Arms

Nothing says “high tech” like robotics, and a relatively recent entry into the tech gift market are build-your-own robotic arm kits.  While many of the kits are suitable for kids and teens to explore robotics and electronics, these robotic arms make for an enjoyable activity for engineers of all ages.  Admittedly the kits may not be challenging for the adult engineer to put together, between sharing the activity with family and adding more advanced accessories, there are projects such as opening doors, gripping and lifting objects, working with multiple axis movement or programming actions with CNC code.

Top of many favourites lists is the OWI Robotic Arm Edge kit, which includes everything needed to build the arm with outer casing, motors, gears and a wired controller.  For a more advanced option, the SainSmart 6-Axis Robotic Arm kit uses CNC and a computer to control movement, or the HEXBUG VEX Motorized Robotic Arm that comes with 350+ parts and can be built into the robotic arm arrangement, or two alternate builds: a helicopter, and a scorpion.

Model Rocket Kits

Model rockets are a classic gift for kids and adults with an interest in rocketry, aeronautics, and space exploration.  While these consumer-level rocket kits won’t make it to outer space, they are a great way for young techies—and the young at heart—to have some fun launching a rocket to the skies.

The Estes brand of model rocket kits span a range of prices and capabilities, for everyone from the beginner to the experienced rocket enthusiast.  The Estes Majestic Pro Series II can reach altitudes of 2000 ft, and is easy to put together and operate, making it a good introductory kit.  

The Estes Tandem-X is a dual-rocket set-up, both with different constructions, which makes for double the enjoyment.  Lastly, the Estes Magician is meant for experience rocket enthusiasts, able to fly up to 1,600 ft and requiring several days to assemble and set up.