"Envisioning Future Daily Life" – CES 2025 Concludes, with Key Highlights Including 'AI Home' and the Emergence of 'Humanoid Robots'
The world's largest consumer electronics and IT exhibition, 'CES 2025,' concluded successfully with around 140,000 attendees. This year, instead of focusing on hardware, AI home technologies integrated into daily life became the central theme, with humanoid robots emerging as a new focal point, showcasing more realistic artificial intelligence (AI) advancements. According to the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the organizer of CES, more than 141,000 people attended CES 2025, held in Las Vegas from January 7 to 10. This marks an increase of about 5% compared to last year's attendance of 135,000. The United States had the largest representation with over 1,500 participants, followed by China with around 1,300 and South Korea with 1,000. For the first time, South Korea had more than 1,000 companies, including major corporations like Samsung, Hyundai, SK, LG, as well as startups, participating in the event. ◆ 'Humanoid Robots' Emerging as a New Growth Business At this year's CES, AI has firmly established itself as an essential element in daily life, spanning across home appliances, mobility, healthcare, and more. In particular, AI-powered 'robots' were introduced as a key new business poised to dominate the market. Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, highlighted AI robots as a growing industry during his keynote speech, with South Korean companies also announcing their participation one after another. At this event, South Korea's two major electronics companies, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, officially announced the release of robot assistants under the theme of hyper-personalization, marking the beginning of humanoid robots. Samsung Electronics surprised attendees by announcing plans to launch its AI assistant robot, "Bolli," in the first half of the year. It is expected to be released in South Korea and the United States around May or June, although the price has not yet been set. Bolli will control Internet of Things (IoT) devices, monitor children and pets, and perform tasks such as acting as a home training mate or serving as an auxiliary screen for remote work, essentially taking on the role of a household assistant. Recently, Samsung Electronics acquired a majority stake in Rainbow Robotics and established the Future Robotics Promotion Team under the leadership of Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee. Rainbow Robotics, founded in 2011 by the KAIST HUBO Lab research team, developed South Korea's first bipedal robot, "HUBO." Samsung Electronics plans to accelerate the development of intelligent advanced humanoid robots by integrating its AI and software technologies with Rainbow Robotics' robotic expertise. LG Electronics also unveiled plans for its humanoid business, with the goal of achieving "liberation from household chores." LG Electronics plans to release its mobile AI home hub product, "Q9," and a software development kit (SDK) to developers in February or March. Additionally, the company is preparing technologies, including humanoid robots, as part of its ongoing research and development (R&D) efforts and is also investing in the robotics business. Last March, LG made a $60 million (approximately 80 billion won) investment in the AI-based autonomous service robot startup Bear Robotics, acquiring a stake in the company. ◆ Advanced AI Home Appliances to Future Mobility Unveiled Both companies unveiled increasingly advanced AI-powered home appliances, showcasing a hyper-personalized smart home experience. Samsung Electronics presented a "Home AI" based on SmartThings, with the theme of "AI for All," offering a personalized home for families. The exhibition featured appliances such as the "Bespoke AI Family Hub," which automatically recognizes ingredients inside the refrigerator and creates a food list, and the "Bespoke AI Steam," which takes care of floor cleaning according to the user's return time. The AI voice assistant "Bixby" integrated into Samsung's home appliances has also been upgraded. It now enables natural and continuous conversations, allowing users to control multiple devices with a single command. Bixby can recognize the voices of family members and provide personalized schedules. It can also identify ingredients nearing their expiration date in the refrigerator and suggest recipes based on available food. Samsung Electronics prioritized security in implementing Home AI. Samsung Knox Matrix, a blockchain-based security technology, allows connected devices to mutually check their security status. If external threats are detected, the affected device's connection is severed, and the system notifies the user, enabling immediate action to be taken. LG Electronics showcased a personalized experience through "empathy intelligence" in various environments such as homes, offices, vehicles, and hobby spaces. In LG Electronics' AI Home Zone, the "LG ThinQ ON" equipped with generative AI and on-device AI-based hub products were showcased. These products use sensors installed throughout the home to detect customers' behaviors and surrounding environments in real-time, optimally controlling IoT devices. For instance, the system can analyze the user's heart rate and breathing patterns to suggest warm water instead of cold, or automatically adjust the home's temperature and humidity. Additionally, LG Electronics showcased an impressive large-scale media art installation using the 77-inch wireless and transparent OLED TV, "LG Signature OLED T." This technology combines wireless transmission and transparent display to maximize space utilization, offering an innovative entertainment experience. In the mobility sector, innovative technologies integrating autonomous driving and electric power stood out. LG Electronics introduced the concept of a "mobile customized space" in the mobility sector. In the Vision AI-based In-Cabin Sensing solution experience zone, attendees could directly experience technology that detects the driver's and the vehicle's internal condition, helping to prevent traffic accidents. This solution analyzes the driver's gaze, facial expressions, and heart rate in real-time to support safety features such as drowsiness detection and seatbelt use detection. ChatGPT를 사용하여 번역한 기사입니다.
