We've been dreaming of this for 100 years. Now a new wave of innovation promises to put an end to housework once and for all. All it took was a mix of robotization, automation and connectivity to leave the cleaning, laundry and even home security to its digital assistants. Really ?
It was the Korean company LG Electronics that set the tone in early January by promising its vision of a “home for the unemployed.” The visibility is still very thin. Currently it is a small bipedal robot that is connected to the Internet and acts as the “brain” of the connected home.
Most of the time, he follows his master around the house and responds to his various instructions: turning on the lights in the garage, adjusting the heating throughout the house, playing music in the living room, etc. His sensors include a camera and a microphone, as well as various other accessories , with which it analyzes ambient temperature, humidity and air quality in general.
The small robot, which LG calls an artificial intelligence agent (“AI agent”), can also move autonomously from one room to another as long as it doesn’t encounter stairs, providing surveillance like a mobile Wi-Fi camera or even entertain pets that are left alone during outdoor time.
LG's small mobile agent greets the owner when he returns from work. Its artificial intelligence (AI) analyzes facial features to determine mood and adjusts its greeting accordingly by playing music or personalizing its breaking news report.
“Our AI agent will help our customers do their household chores thanks to its communication capabilities and autonomous mobility,” said LG Home Appliances Division President Lyu when introducing the small robot. Jae-cheol.
Interoperability first
Admittedly, this push towards the so-called smart home is still very tentative. We can even speak of a step backwards if we compare it with a prototype of a household robot that Samsung presented exactly a year ago and which promised to talk less and do more. In particular, it was equipped with articulated arms that made it possible to place dirty dishes in the dishwasher, then remove them and put them away. This is a more concrete promise that housework will be done by robots…
But for now, the end of domestic duties remains just that: a promise. The big new home automation features of 2024 are currently less ambitious. The former could still have a positive impact on our daily lives. In fact, another term was phased out earlier this year: interoperability.
It's a concept that shouldn't be the case because it's so obvious: basically, it suggests that identical electronic devices offer the same compatibilities with their environment. Regardless of whether a phone is from Apple, Samsung or another manufacturer, it should be connected to the same charger, act as a webcam for a PC regardless of its operating system, and so on.
Therefore, it is still too early to talk about the end of domestic tasks, but the desire to make the home more autonomous is forcing manufacturers to take small steps towards better interaction between the various connected devices that they offer for sale company.
Again, we're building on something new that was introduced last year, an interoperability protocol between connected home devices called Matter. This should ultimately allow Wi-Fi light bulbs, connected thermostats and even smart speakers from different brands to be controlled from the same control point.
For now, this interoperability is leading to new partnerships. Samsung and LG, as well as Frigidaire, GE and Electrolux, to name a few, have come together to form the Home Connectivity Alliance, an organization whose sole mission will be to provide all of these home devices with a longer-lasting Wi-Fi connection because they are easier to connect with each other.
The owner of a home can more easily entrust their robotic AI agent with certain tasks or even have it handle certain automations according to their daily routine.
The emergence of robots
So the invasion of household robots is not planned for tomorrow, but it is coming. Proof of this are the numerous manufacturers of robotic lawnmowers (Aiper, Husqvarna, Segway), vacuum cleaners and automatic mops (iRobot, eufy, Narwal) and even autonomous snow blowers (Yarbo), which have updated their product catalog for 2024 with more efficient devices that will eventually be in the You will be able to chat with this little robot that will follow you everywhere to determine the best time to do its job.
We see it less here, but there is a concern that has existed for several years in Asian countries such as Japan and Korea regarding loneliness among older people. In countries where the youngest are not enough to care for the oldest, we believe that a small household robot can entertain, if not help, people who have limited mobility or ability to perform certain tasks on their own. Homework is no longer than it used to be.
This doesn't mean the end of housework, but it's another step in that direction…