Samsung's going all-in on home robots

Samsung has released a new range of home robots that can do everything from help people take their medicine, purifying air, posture training, and retail shopping.

Samsung says that CES 2019 is a starting point to see how it can develop custom robots for people based on a shared platform.

"Our plan is to gauge consumers' demand for robots, consider ways to create solutions for societal challenges, and accelerate our development efforts," says Samsung Research deputy head Seung Hwan Cho.

Samsung Bot, which comes in four different varieties, puts Samsung's artificial intelligence platform Bixby at the heart of the robots. They also feature cutting-edge advancements in hardware, software, and user experience design.

Samsung thinks its new robots present an exciting vision for the future of AI in many different applications.

The first of these bots is Samsung Bot Care, which is designed to help users manage their daily health routine. It can measure blood pressure, hard rate, breathing, remind people when to take their medication, and can notify family members when an elderly user is having a medical emergency.

What's more, it supports video calls, tracks sleep patterns, plays music and shows the weather forecast.

Samsung GEMS (Gait Enhancing - Motivating System) can help people who have trouble walking, running, or standing up by preventing muscles from being overworked.

"General users can also use Samsung GEMS to correct their posture or enhance their exercise capabilities. According to their individual needs, users can select any of Samsung GEMS' three available devices, designed for hips, knees, and ankles.

There's also Samsung Bot Air, an air-purifying robot. Why? Why not! The robot uses sensors located across different areas of the user's house, including one on an electronic appliance.  The robot then assesses air quality. If it detects an area where air quality is low, it moves to that area and starts purifying the air.

Finally, Samsung Bot Retail is an enterprise-focused robot that allows stores to offer customers a personalised retail experience.

Samsung Bot Retail helps customers find what they're looking for by registering their facial expressions and voices. Its awareness of surroundings allows it to navigate environment – even when it's crowded – and guide customers to the area or items they're looking for.

The front-facing display can also display menus or store details, and the more adventurous types may want to trial the robot for product or food delivery.

"People can look forward to the future that Samsung Bots will help create," Seung Hwan Cho concludes.