LG HomeChat™ incorporates the popular LINE application to allow users to receive recommendations and control settings when away from home. (image: LG Elecs)
SEOUL, May 7 (Korea Bizwire) – LG Electronics (LG) announced the launch of its premium smart appliances with revolutionary HomeChat™ messaging service in South Korea. HomeChat™ employs Natural Language Processing (NLP) and LINE, the popular mobile messenger app with over 300 million users, to let homeowners communicate, control, monitor and share content with LG’s latest smart appliances.
Introducing a whole new level of convenience, the company’s premium smart appliance lineup includes a camera-equipped refrigerator, a washing machine that allows users to start and download washing cycles remotely via HomeChat™ and a Lightwave oven that supports NFC and WiFi for convenient control from any location.
LG HomeChat™ incorporates the popular LINE application to allow users to receive recommendations and control settings when away from home. With an intuitive interface, HomeChat™ makes communicating with LG’s smart refrigerator, washing machine or oven much like chatting with a close friend.
For extra convenience, the Quick Button feature enables fast and easy access to each appliance’s most commonly used functions. HomeChat™ also gives users the choice of three different modes: Vacation, Away and Return-home. LG’s new service even brings an element of fun to appliances, offering a selection of over 40 unique LINE stickers to add an enjoyable, personal component to conversations.
“Today’s intelligent home appliances offer a variety of useful functions but many consumers still find setting them up an extremely complicated process.” said Seong-jin Jo, president and CEO of the LG Electronics Home Appliance Company. “Not only does LG HomeChat help simplify and enhance our products, they also deliver a unique user experience, adding even more value to our customers’ lives.”
LG Smart Refrigerator
LG’s most advanced smart refrigerator incorporates several breakthrough innovations, such as the Smart View feature. Using the industry’s first built-in internal refrigerator camera positioned at the top of the main compartment, users can monitor exactly what’s inside their refrigerator on their smartphones or tablets.
The wide angle camera can show content not only in the upper shelves, but also food items on the bottom-most shelf. The built-in camera detects the opening and closing of the refrigerator, capturing images of the food items stored inside when last opened. Using HomeChat™, users can immediately see exactly what they need to buy when they’re at the grocery store or supermarket.
And LG’s Smart Manager feature transforms the refrigerator into a complete food management system. Using the built-in LCD panel or LG Smart Refrigerator smartphone app, users can check the content of their refrigerator without opening the door.
The Smart Manager’s Freshness Tracker makes it possible to input a wide range of foods and beverages to keep track of expiration dates. Smart Manager can also recommend meal options based on the ingredients stored in the refrigerator.
LG’s unique Health Manager can make recipe recommendations as well as daily and weekly meal plans based on the user’s personal profile. Age, gender, weight and height information are used to determine body mass index (BMI), which is then used to create an appropriate, personalized meal plan.
LG Smart Washing Machine
With HomeChat™, consumers can remotely control and monitor their LG smart washing machine from outside the home. By texting start washing cycle and providing an estimated time of arrival, LG’s smart washing machine will ensure that the laundry is finished by the time they get home.
And by texting What are you doing? users can receive real time updates on the washer’s progress. LG’s smart washing machine is equipped with an intuitive smart touch display that makes it easy to select or download appropriate wash cycles via a WiFi connection.
LG Smart Lightwave Oven
With HomeChat™ and Recipe Search, homeowners can converse with their smart LG oven to recommend recipes for specific dishes. Select Return-home using HomeChat™ and the smart oven will ask What dish would you like to make today? and open the Recipe Search window.
When ready to cook, the oven will automatically set the oven’s temperature and cooking time for the particular dish. Users can receive alerts on their smartphones when new recipes are available, encouraging family members to try new and interesting dishes.
After its successful launch in Korea, LG plans to introduce the HomeChat™-compatible smart refrigerator, washing machine and oven in other markets including the United States.
Source: LG Electronics
These are great ideas, but as others point out rather niche’y, high end, expensive.
Either LG, Samsung, GE or Siemens, I think, will sooner or later realize they have a more credible opportunity today to take leadership in N.America market by adding some low-cost, integrated energy storage capability directly in appliances.
Li-Ion battery prices are falling (and both LG/Samsung have strong in-house production) to where a battery capable of running the refrigerator (or washer or dryer or even AC unit) for 1-2 hours is well under US$100, maybe under US$50 factory cost.
Adding just a battery ready dock or port, and minimum communications (or better yet simply tying in to existing smart appliance communication schemes), allows incredible value:
1) Global power backup, very helpful in some GEOs, but in N.America it’s more about Demand Response (DR) and Smart Grid opportunities….
DR is the need/opportunity US utilities are leading to minimize electricity consumption during peak hours (for example hot August afternoons). This is a huge emerging market already, and today startups are facing big infrastructure and cost challenges to convince any customers to put big battery systems in the home or business.
But appliances account for a majority of electricity usage in homes, and appliance OEMs have a huge opportunity to bypass all the “smart home management” hardware and offer a smart appliance with a small Li-Ion battery dock.
FOB cost for a such a dock tied into a wi-fi transceiver might be well under US$10…low risk, and utilities/gbvernment in US would immediately be advocates, helping market the benefits and praise the leadership this would bring. Using a docking mechanism for the battery allows the actual battery cost to be subsidized anywhere downstream, taking advantage of existing battery storage and general demand response incentives from utilities and muincipalities.
I know of other smaller companies pursuing something like this already, but the first big appliance OEM who launches a suite of battery capable appliances (whether LG, Samsung, or Bosch, Whirlpool, etc.) will gain a huge amount of visibility and leadership in the energy/smart grid business segment. It is a very timely opportunity and one a major appliance OEM will wake up to soon I think.
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