Robots are taking center stage at this year’s CES, and you’ll want to look at LG’s adorable offering before stressing out about the prospect of humankind-destroying machines.
The South Korean company unveiled an entire lineup of robots, and unlike its Roomba-eque Hom-Bot vacuum, these actually appear life-like.
The Hub Robot is LG’s response to the Amazon Echo and Google Home voice-guided personal assistants. Looking like the child of Big Hero 6 and Eve, the Hub is an attempt to bring a more human feel to the market’s lifeless speakers.
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The device acts as a smart home gateway for communication between other smart devices. Complete with captivating blue eyes and a silly Russian doll-like frame, the assistant is able to show off a range of emotions on its display. Its vocal cords are made of Amazon’s Alexa, the AI assistant that allows it to perform tasks like changing the temperature of a room or displaying the contents of a user’s refrigerator.
The robotic butler is also aware of when family members leave the house, return home, and go to bed—features that should ease the mind of a worried parent.
LG also announced two other highly specialized AI, including a grass mowing robot and the Airport Guide Robot. The latter will offer assistance to travelers at Seoul’s Incheon International Airport, providing users boarding times, gate locations, and weather information. It can also escort late traveler to the appropriate gate.
LG is continuing the trend of putting a face to AI. We prefer the company’s Pixar-like approach to Asus’ nightmare-inducing offering, but fear of retaliation would probably keep us from making the switch.
H/T ZDNet