samsung reveals AI robot 'ballie' at CES 2024

Samsung’s Ballie the AI robot rolls around CES 2024

Along with its new transparent MICROLED Display, Samsung unveils Ballie at CES 2024, its ball-shaped AI robot that plays videos anywhere at home using its built-in projector. It also looks like LG’s two-legged robot’s sibling. More than flashing movies on surfaces, Ballie is an all-around home manager and assistant. It roams around the house autonomously, monitors the surroundings to make sure there are no smart appliances or devices left switched on, and guards the people and pets by sending alerts to the owners running errands outside.

Samsung says that its AI robot Ballie can be connected to these smart devices and appliances at home, so owners can take some household chores off their workload and share them with the robot. As routines and patterns recur, Ballie remembers them so the next time the owner wants to do something, say, switch on a lamp at a specific hour, the AI robot is already ahead of the user and turns it on or off for them. The continuous learning of the AI robot is one of the features that make it tailored to the user’s needs.

video stills courtesy of Samsung, via Youtube

Ball-shaped AI robot that controls smart appliances

At CES 2024, Samsung introduces Ballie’s other features. The AI robot that glides on the floor on its own greets the owners when they open the front door and can project a welcome message for them on the floor as a replacement for doormats. Ballie can also set the mood for any home activity, whether the owners are exercising, working, or relaxing by playing the music that suits the atmosphere and increasing or decreasing the brightness of the lights based on how it learns the users’ patterns.

The AI robot can also automatically answer phone calls when the owners are too busy to pick up the phone. It rolls close to them so the owners can converse with the caller, and they can hear their responses through the built-in speakers. Ballie can also display current news and events, including weather updates, on any surfaces the owners wish, and because of its installed projector, sensors, and cameras, Samsung’s AI robot can also become a sizeable monitor screen for work or school.

Samsung’s AI robot Ballie can project and play movies on any surface

Taking work calls using projected screen

As seen in the video, it is enough to place Ballie on a desired surface, and it can extend the computer screen of the users on the wall, floor, and more. The users then can continue working on their sketches, surfing the internet, and even switching between work calls and meetings using its projector. It was in 2020 when Samsung first introduced the rolling AI robot during CES 2020, but since then, it has evolved into a home manager and AI companion with a given name Ballie.

Samsung’s vision for how it plans to integrate and keep using artificial intelligence for its future electronics, including Ballie, is what makes up its presentation during CES 2024. Jong-Hee (JH) Han, Vice Chairman, CEO, and Head of Samsung’s Device eXperience (DX) Division, opened the press conference by describing how AI will enable connected technologies to improve people’s daily lives while always remaining nonintrusive and in the background. As of publishing the story, Samsung has yet to pin down the mass production timeline of the ball-shaped AI robot and its other features.

Ballie the AI robot also doubles as a computer’s extended or mirrored screen