Las Vegas -- LG Electronics used its press conference to roll out is vision and plans for ThinQ, an artificial intelligence platform that will be “open” and work with partners such as Google and Amazon.
A key characteristic for ThinQ is for the platform to evolve over time as the products become smarter as they learn the behaviors and usage patterns of the consumer. For example, a robot vacuum cleaner will be able to navigate the user’s home and detect if an object is a piece of furniture, or the family pet.
LG will integrate its A.I. platform across its full product lines, including smart TVs, refrigerators, washers, dryers, ovens and other home appliances, as well as systems for connected cars. That will also be extended to LG’s products for the hospitality industry.
On the openness front, LG said its platform is being integrated with digital assistants from both Amazon and Google.
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That integration will “create a conversational experience” across devices, Scott Huffman, VP of engineering, Google Assistant, explained.
LG focused a portion of its presser on a new line of OLED TVs with ThinQ on board. Users, LG said, will let viewers use their voice to pull up info about actors on screen, weather forecasts, stream music and set timers for when the TV is to be turned off, and implement other TV-controlling functions. That will be added to new LG OLED TVs this year.
LG also touted the use of Alpha9, a new proprietary process for OLED TVs that, it says, is 50% more powerful (in terms of image and data processing) than the chip in the 2017 models. Those chips will also support a four-step process for picture noise reduction and an object-based picture enhancement feature that will help to separate the main object from the background images. Those TVs will also support up to 120 frames per second, 4K and multiple HDR standards.
Back to A.I., LG also trotted out a trio of “concept robots:
-A Serving Robot that can serve meals to a guest of a hotel or an airport lounge, for example.
-A Porter Robot that can take luggage to a hotel room and help visitors check in and check out.
-A Shopper Robot that carries grocery items and includes a built-in barcode scanner that can also complete the customer’s purchase.
