Samsung Electronics reintroduced its spherical home robot from CES 2020 with upgraded features. The enhanced Ballie now features artificial intelligence (AI) upgrades at CES 2024.

During the press conference, Samsung shared its vision of enhancing user-device interaction through AI technology, collaborating with partners to showcase the underlying technology and how new products leverage AI for enhanced convenience and intuitive experiences.

Latest Consumer Technology Products On Display At Annual CES In Las Vegas
(Photo : David Becker/Getty Images)
Samsung Electric President and CEO of Consumer Electronics Division H.S. Kim displays Ballie, an AI enable companion robot, during a Samsung press event for CES 2020 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center on January 6, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Samsung's Upgraded Ballie: Advanced Features and Ambitious Plans for the Spherical Home Robot

During CES 2024, Samsung presented the upgraded Ballie, approximately the size of a bowling ball and equipped with a two to three-hour battery life.

Notable features include a spatial lidar sensor for navigation and a 1080p projector with dual lenses, enabling the projection of movies, and video calls, and functioning as a secondary PC monitor. Control options encompass voice commands and, uniquely, text messages, with a chatbot confirming requests.

Samsung envisions Ballie offering advanced capabilities such as automatically adjusting projected images based on wall distance and lighting conditions. The robot, featuring front and rear cameras, is designed to provide automatic reminders for household tasks, facilitate access to remote medical services, and offer personalized interactions based on user patterns.

While Samsung has outlined these ambitious plans, specific details, including Ballie's features, availability, and pricing, are yet to be finalized.

The success of Ballie in the market remains uncertain, with the history of home robots, including challenges faced by Amazon and Mayfield Robotics, reflecting a cautious consumer landscape. Samsung's ability to address skepticism and persuade potential buyers hinges on the eventual unveiling of Ballie and its practicality when it reaches the market, leaving the outcome to unfold with time.

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Samsung's CES 2024: Diverse Tech Unveilings Beyond Ballie

Samsung unveiled a range of tech at CES 2024 not just its enhanced spherical robot, Ballie. Other technologies the South Korean company unveiled include an 8K projector, an AI refrigerator, a musical frame, and a transparent TV. However, these technologies still raise some questions, especially regarding their practicality compared to being mere gimmicks.

Here's a summary of what these other technologies could offer the public;

  • Musical Picture Frame: "Music Frame" is a photo frame with music playback capabilities, devoid of a digital screen, requiring users to manually insert physical photos. Featuring two tweeters, two woofers, and two mid-range drivers, it offers support for Dolby Atmos audio.
  • AI-Enhanced Refrigerator-  Samsung introduced the Bespoke 4-Door Flex Refrigerator, equipped with a 32-inch screen incorporating "AI Vision" technology. This AI Vision system can identify 33 various food items through an internal camera, allowing the refrigerator to propose recipes based on the stored ingredients.
  • Transparent TV- Samsung unveiled a transparent TV, emphasizing its futuristic and glass-like attributes. Limited details were provided during the press conference, but Samsung identified it as a microLED TV, with further information accessible in a "First Look" video.
  • Wireless 8K Projector- Samsung's Neo QLED 8K projector is the first wireless 8K transition globally. It employs the NQ8 AI Gen 3 processor to enhance the image quality of low-resolution pictures to 8K. Additionally, it integrates the Active Voice Amplifier Pro to enhance the listening experience through background noise analysis.

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