Watching a live Ballie demonstration at CES was like watching a concert by your favorite artist in the pit, with a group of people crowding around the stage to see the circular robot in action. After seeing Ballie “step” on stage, I’m happy to have been part of that audience.
Samsung unveiled its home assistant, Ballie, in 2020. With the massive interest in AI around the world, Samsung decided to bring an upgraded version of Ballie at CES, which has evolved into a robot companion for AI for the home.
The robot’s “advanced artificial intelligence” allows it to assist you in your home
Ballie kept the same appearance and movement as the original version, a round and cute little rolling robot. Samsung’s demo and teaser video both showed a yellow Ballie, but I also saw a white version on display at the event.
Although it looks the same as the 2020 Ballie, the tasks it is capable of performing have been expanded.
Samsung said the robot’s “advanced artificial intelligence” allows it to assist you around your home and perform tasks such as greeting you at the door and following you around the house.
Control all your connected devices
By moving around the home, Ballie is able to control all your connected devices and make sure everything is working properly, managing the temperature, lights, washing machines and more.
A major improvement over the original is its projector. It can display anything when asked, including recipe videos, a view of the inside of your oven or refrigerator, your calendar, a video call or even a routine. ‘training.
The on-stage demonstration showed a person going about their day and the different ways Ballie could help them. To start, Ballie pulled up her calendar, reminded her of her birthday, and called the florist.
A pet monitor
Then Ballie helped the person prepare dinner, projecting recipes on the wall and what was in the oven, and relaying the view from the front door camera when the flower delivery arrived.
Because Ballie’s projector can automatically detect a person’s posture and facial angle to adjust the projection angle, a first according to Samsung, Ballie was also able to project a workout video on the ceiling while the person lay on the floor to do sit-ups.
The online video Samsung posted of Ballie presents it as a pet monitor: it sends a video of the dog to its owner, then entertains the dog by showing a video and even controlling the dog food dispenser from him drop his ration.
Samsung plans to bring Ballie to market in 2024
This feature reminds me of a CES award-winning robot, Oro, which acts as a pet babysitter, performing similar activities to Ballie, including feeding, recording, and playing music.
Ballie can therefore replace several smart devices in your home, including a projector, a connected home hub, a robot dog, surveillance cameras and much more, all in a device the size of a basketball.
Although the price and release date were not disclosed, Kang-il Chung, vice president of Samsung, revealed that the company plans to release Ballie in 2024.
Robotic assistants in homes are coming sooner than you think
Of course, with high-tech launches, a year-long release date might mean it will take a lot longer before hitting the market, but that could be a good indicator that the concept of assistants robotics in homes is coming sooner than you think.
The demo gave me a concrete idea of the usefulness of a robotic home assistant. Ballie seems an attempt at a robotic assistant that is both serious and without excessive ambition.
Source: “ZDNet.com”