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PARIS – Three events at the same time – in Seoul, Paris and New York – to reiterate its vision of the connected home and present over a dozen new models of household appliances (only some of which will arrive in Italy in the coming months) from the Bespoke AI family. Artificial intelligence, and not since yesterday, is a cornerstone of Samsung’s strategy for the smart home and highlights an approach according to which the analysis and self-learning capabilities of algorithms can significantly improve the performance of refrigerators, washing machines and robot vacuum cleaners and consequently guarantee a further leap forward in the quality of the overall user experience of these devices in the home. The common thread that linked the three events was held by Jong-Hee Han, Vice President as well as CEO and head of the Device eXperience division of the Korean company, who recalled some key elements of a journey that began five years ago (the the debut of the Bespoke brand dates back to 2019), focusing in particular on two aspects: the possibility of customizing appliances to adapt them to the user’s home and lifestyle and the new potential made possible by integration with AI.
The refrigerator that catalogs food
The event in Europe took place yesterday, Tuesday 3 April, at the Pavillon des étangs, in the greenery of the Bois de Boulogne, not far from the Eiffel Tower: here both the new devices announced and the experimental “prototypes” intended for to soon become products destined for marketing. Among the former, the French Door refrigerator with AI Family Hub, the Infinite Induction Line hobs, the Laundry Combo washing machines and the Jet Bot Combo robot stood out, while among the latter the great protagonist was Bespoke AI Hybrid, a line of refrigerators that will on sale in Europe from 2025.
What characterizes it?
The fact of optimizing, thanks to artificial intelligence, the operation of the Peltier cooling system to reduce the activity of the electric compressor, constantly rationalizing the refrigeration level of the appliance and increasing (this is the final objective) efficiency energy. Ready to land in Italy over the next few weeks, with a list price in the order of 4 thousand euros, the new 4-door refrigerator with AI Family Hub comes with the label intelligent food control center thanks to the presence of an 21.5-inch touchscreen LCD screen positioned on the front right panel: the display, as Samsung explains, is the key to the intuitive AI experience and the interface through which to manage a whole series of activities, from viewing recipes recommended for streaming music and videos. The gem of this device is called AI Vision Inside, which is a system that combines an internal camera with software powered by algorithms to identify and catalog up to 33 fresh foods (fruit and vegetables) that enter and exit the refrigerator, making it easier to control them. directly from the Family Hub display or via the SmartThings app. Instead, the new combined F1rst 75 AI focuses entirely on energy efficiency (it reaches class A and is the first in its category to boast this title on the European market), with a new 75 cm format and integrated Wi-Fi connectivity to take advantage of all the advantages in terms of consumption reduction made available by the SmartThings Energy platform.
Samsung, the Bespoke AI family of appliances
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Dust and dirt easier to remove thanks to algorithms
An absolute first is Jet Bot Combo AI, a robot vacuum cleaner and floor cleaner that leverages artificial intelligence to ensure superior levels of cleanliness. The machine, essentially, recognizes with the camera the various objects present in the house (from people to pets up to thin telephone cables, carpets or mats) using a special neural network and again thanks to the AI ”feels” the type of floor to be cleaned to decide the most appropriate (and least energy-intensive) vacuuming or washing methods. And finally, Samsung’s latest announcements fall into the washing category, starting with the “all in one” Laundry Combo washer-dryer which combines two appliances in one and uses AI to remember users’ periodic and seasonal needs and recommend the optimal cycle for each load, automatically dispensing the ideal quantity of water and detergent needed based on the weight of the laundry. His other qualities? It monitors the level of residual dirt during the cycle, varying the washing time if necessary, and adjusts the drying process based on the type of fabric, recording the amount of energy and water consumed in a report that can be consulted via the SmartThings app.
Touch display everywhere, automatic software updates and Gen AI
A feature like all the new features admired during the Paris event is the presence of touch screens integrated into the body of the appliance: why this abundance of displays? The intent, confirmed by Samsung, is twofold and responds to the desire to transform refrigerators and other appliances into entertainment platforms and control hubs for other Samsung appliances connected via SmartThings. Even on the new Bespoke AI induction hobs, for example, we find a 7-inch LCD panel, called AI Hub and connected via WiFi, which provides intuitive access to the device’s functions, various entertainment services and tools for controlling the entire home smart device ecosystem. Furthermore, a function has been integrated into AI Hub, Map View, which provides a complete 3D view of the home, allowing you to easily locate all the devices connected to the network and control them just as simply. The applications of this “add on” are the most varied: if while you are preparing lunch or dinner you feel the temperature in your home is too high, through the AI Hub integrated into the induction hob you can turn on the air conditioning in other rooms without leaving pans unattended. Or again: while doing laundry, you can use the washing machine display to start the robot vacuum cleaner in the living room, without having to move from the room. Inconspicuous but potentially very important is another new service presented at the Parisian event, namely Smart Forward. What is it about? A system that regularly and automatically sends software updates to all compatible Bespoke devices regarding features, security options and the latest operating systems, so as to extend the life of household appliances and reduce the frequency of their replacement. Could generative AI finally be missing? Of course not, but although Samsung is among the first manufacturers in the world to have integrated this technology into household appliances, the opportunity to distribute it almost everywhere does not seem to be a priority at the moment. Or better. The Bixby voice assistant is considered by the Korean company to be a key element in this context and the LLM models will allow further evolution in terms of its ability to understand complex sentences and requests (for example “turn on the air conditioner in WindFree mode and let me know how the weather is”) and to memorize the context of the interactions that gradually took place. In short, with new generation artificial intelligence, it will be easier for the various devices in the connected home to interpret the tasks we assign to them, providing increasingly accurate answers. But the real priority for Samsung, as we said, appears to be another, that of exploiting AI to make its household appliances work better (and with less energy waste).