Parents will soon be able to spy on their children through their television after Samsung unveiled new technology that will allow families to keep “a watchful eye on loved ones”.
Using artificial intelligence (AI), Samsung said its new television range will detect “unusual behaviour in both pets and family members” by linking to smart home devices such as robot vacuum cleaners and even fridges.
At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Samsung said its new “Neo” televisions will act as “intelligent companions” that intend to “simplify and enrich everyday living”.
The company said: “It enhances comfort by automatically adjusting room settings, like dimming the lights when a child falls asleep, while providing real-time updates and recorded events through TVs.”
The televisions will also link up to Samsung’s “Family Care” service, currently available on its smartphones in the US, which provide users with alerts about older relatives. The service can be used to check if a vulnerable family member has got up that morning or gone to a planned doctor’s appointment.
When a family member comes home, it will provide a summary of visitors to the house on the TV while nobody was in.
Its televisions will also have the capability to alert homeowners to suspicious activity by intruders through a connection to security cameras including video doorbells.
SW Yong of Samsung said the new devices were “intelligent partners that adapt to your needs”.
As many as 150,000 people are expected to attend CES, the world’s biggest technology trade show, this year with thousands of exhibitors in halls and booths throughout Las Vegas’s hotels, casinos and conference centres.
Television giants have been bombarding consumers with AI-powered updates to their screens amid a push to integrate chatbots similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT into their products.
Samsung said its TVs would feature AI-powered “recommendations” of the latest blockbusters or shows and offer automatic translations of subtitles. Its new range will also be able to automatically look up recipes shown on cooking programmes and relay that information to a connected smart fridge.
LG, meanwhile, announced an AI-powered remote control that can recognise different viewers’ voices and tailor the settings to their preferences.
Tech companies have also sought to give consumers more smart home controls from their televisions – devices that are typically linked up to smartphone apps.
In December, Roku promised to add “more notifications on your TV” from smart home gadgets and cameras, “whether it’s your cat causing mischief or your baby waking up from a nap”.
Elsewhere at CES, technology start-ups showed off bizarre gadgets such as an electric spoon that can boost the saltiness of food, body-scanning smart mirrors and a six-legged, walking coffee table.
Japan’s Jizai unveiled an AI-powered coffee table tat can move around autonomously – Patrick T. Fallon/AFP
Japanese company Kirin said its smart spoon uses an electrical current to intensify the salt flavours in every mouthful, encouraging users to reduce the amount of salt they add to their food. It added that the gadget could help “realise a society in which people can improve their lifestyle in a delicious way”.
Kirin’s electric salt spoon allows consumers to reduce their sodium intake by stimulating the perception of saltiness with electric currents – AP Photo/Jack Dempsey
Japan’s Jizai, meanwhile, showed off its six-legged robot, which looks similar to a coffee or side-table with a lamp. The technology company described the gadget as a “customisable general-purpose AI robot”, which is designed to look like a piece of furniture.
Health-technology company Withings announced a concept design for a smart mirror that can display data such as heart-rate, activity tracking and blood pressure – although the gadget is not currently in production.
More established technology companies have sought to insert AI-powered gimmicks into their TVs, phones, fridges and bathrooms.
Ben Wood, an analyst at CCS Insight, said: “AI will also undoubtedly be an omnipresent theme of all the major keynotes and press conferences, as well as a topic that spans the show floor. However, we are reaching a point where AI is now just an expected talking point rather than a real major story.
“We’ve been saying for a while that ‘AI fatigue’ is a risk and that it is harder than ever for companies to deliver a genuinely compelling story around AI.”
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