Making sense of an explosion of AI-ready devices may well go down as one of the dominant themes of CES 2024 in Las Vegas.
LG Electronics, for example, introduced a number of new products on Monday that pounce on the theme of coordinating across AI-ready technologies. For the smart home, the company described the Smart Home AI Agent, first revealed in December, with robotic, AI and multi-mode technologies to help; it will move, learn, comprehend and engage in complex conversations.
The AI agent connects to smart home appliances and household IoT devices in a collaboration with Qualcomm’s Robotics RB5 Platform, which supports face and user recognition. Camera, speaker and various sensors gather real-time data, including temperature, humidity and indoor air quality. LG’s AI analyzes this data, which means it can act as a pet monitor or a security guard, according to LG.
Connecting and coordinating AI devices is key, under this approach, coming after years now of problems getting smart home devices to talk to one another. “Thousands of devices don’t make your home smart. They are just tools,” said June Ki-hyun, vice president of LG’s platform business center, in a briefing with hundreds of reporters one day before the official launch of CES 2024
Keeping with this larger theme, LG CEO William Cho redefined AI as “Affectionate Intelligence” based on LG’s commitment to make AI more caring, empathetic and attentive. Affectionate Intelligence will be incorporated into what LG calls its ThinQ platform. ThinQ operates as on-device AI to keep a person’s data inside their home. “Privacy should not be the price for convenience,” June said.
One example of how it might work: AI in a home might actually notice that a dish being prepared on the stove is cooking so hot that heat and smoke could harm the air filtration system, so a chatbot could suggest a homeowner remove an expensive air filter during the preparation.
LG also introduced its LG Appliance AI Chipset, the LG8211, to help in with smart home functions for on-device AI.
Separately, Bosch also focused on home products that can rely on more electrification for greater energy efficiency. The company announced an electric-powered IDS Ultra Heat Pump, developed for North America, to provide heating capacity down to 5 degrees F. and still provide cooling in summer. Also, the company has a higher efficiency water heater, a hybrid of an electric storage water heat and heat pump that is up to four times more efficient than a traditional water heater.
Bosch also announced a My Schedule function for dishwashers that automatically schedules the start of a dish washing cycle with periods when electricity prices are low. Bosch also said it has partnerships with 30 power tool companies that will rely on Bosch’s AMPShare power tool battery platform.
Like LG, Bosch makes products across a wide array of sectors. In addition to home products, Bosch introduced automated valet charging that will work in a garage with a valet parking system. A driver will park in a charging spot and activate a robot with a smartphone to charge the car. When done, the car will be moved to another space automatically to allow room for another car to be charged.
Bosch reiterated its commitment to semiconductors made of silicon carbide and will start SiC production in the US by 2026. The company is investing $1.5 billion to future wafer fab in Roseville, Calif.
And long term, Bosch sees hydrogen as a valuable resource for energy for trucks and other vehicles and has begun production of a mobile fuel cell at a plant in Stuttgart, Germany. The company says it already has orders from truck makers in Europe, US and China. The US is investing $7 billion in construction of hydrogen hubs, that Bosch sees as critical to support of the resource.
Similar to LG, Samsung also introduced a second generation of its AI companion for the home, Ballie. The spherical robot can roll around the floor and function in several ways as a home assistant that learns from user patterns and habits.
Ballie can send video updates of pets or loved ones, and would be able to alert someone if a loved one has fallen, for example. It can even be used as a projector for home viewing, and Samsung released a video depicting its many home uses, including projecting a film on the floor to entertain a house dog. Pet care in itself has become a mini-theme at CES 2024, just another way that AI is being developed into a variety of new uses. A startup called Ogmen Robotics introduced Oro, a robot that can play with family pets.
RELATED: CES 2024 has gone to the dogs—and birds
RELATED: CES: Nvidia spotlights AI impact on gaming, automotive, robotics