Remember Ballie, Samsung’s spherical home robot from CES 2020? I sure didn’t – until Samsung brought it back to this year’s keynote with some updated AI upgrades.
The new and improved Ballie, which Samsung previewed during its CES 2024 press conference in Las Vegas today, is about the size of a bowling ball, with a battery designed to last two to three hours. Ballie has a spatial lidar sensor that helps it navigate rooms and obstacles, as well as a dual-lens 1080p projector that allows the robot to show movies and video calls, and even act as a second computer monitor.
“Use [Ballie] for projecting images and streaming content on walls and can automatically adjust the image based on wall distance and lighting conditions,” Samsung writes in the press release. “The [can] automatically detects people’s posture and face angle and adjusts the optimal viewing angle for you.”
Ballie can project content onto a wall or other surface, adjusting the angle of the image as needed. Image Credits: Samsung
Ballie can be controlled by voice commands or, curiously, by requests sent via text message (eg “play a movie on the nearest wall”). In the latter case, Ballie will respond with the help of a chatbot to confirm requests before taking action.
Like other home robots in its class, Ballie can automatically turn on smart lights and, thanks to a built-in infrared transmitter, “non-smart” devices like air conditioners and older TVs. And the robot can map a floor plan, identifying where smart devices might be located within a home.
Samsung promises a lot beyond these basics, such as automatic reminders to water plants around the house, access to remote medical services (for older members of the household), and personalization based on who the robot senses nearby. “With its built-in facade [and] rear camera, [Ballie] it can detect and analyze its environment and learn repeated user patterns,” Samsung continues in the press release.
But the details of these – as well as the Ballie’s availability and pricing – have yet to be confirmed.
The question is, will any of these features compel homeowners to buy the Ballie when — or rather if — it hits the market? Home robots have never been a slam-dunk, as Amazon’s effort recently proved. Another promising effort in recent years, Mayfield Robotics, which had hoped to sell a home robot in partnership with Bosch, went out of business before shipping a unit to early customers.
Maybe Samsung will do better. We will have to wait and see.
