Latest news with #CES2020
The Irish Sun
3 days ago
- Automotive
- The Irish Sun
Top secret residents prepare to move into £8billion robot ‘city of the future' with driverless cars & AI-powered homes
RESIDENTS are preparing to move into Toyota's futuristic robot city, where everything is connected with driverless cars and AI-powered homes. While just the seed of an idea a decade ago, the Advertisement 6 Toyota, which builds robots as well as cars, has been building up the 175-acre site for he past five years Credit: Toyota UK 6 It is set to welcome its first 100 residents this autumn Credit: Toyota UK 6 The self-contained metropolis aims to be a beacon for future mobility, smart infrastructure and sustainable living Credit: Toyota UK And it is set to welcome its first 100 residents this autumn. Residents will have a few months of tranquility before the city opens to tourists - dubbed 'Weavers' - from 2026 "or later", according to Toyota. These individuals will mostly be Toyota staff and their families, before branching out to include "external inventors" and their loved ones. The total population is expected to reach around 2,000. Advertisement READ MORE ON FUTURE TECH At the base of the Mount Fuji volcano in Japan, the development will host a range of top-secret tests for new technologies, according to reports. While normal civilians will also call this robot city home, so shall Toyota's employees - who will be conducting experiments for some of the company's more hushed ideas. Toyota, which builds robots as well as cars, has been building up the 175-acre site for the past five years. The self-contained metropolis aims to be a beacon for future mobility, smart infrastructure and sustainable living. Advertisement Most read in Tech First announced at CES 2020, the Woven City is now just months away from accepting its first residents. The futuristic city will act as a "living laboratory" for the company to test its renewable and energy-efficient self-driving cars dubbed 'E-palettes'. Toyota's E-palettes, an autonomous electric vehicle platform initially developed for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, will be at the core of the project. Self-driving cars will be the main form of transport inside the Woven City, according to Toyota, supported by an underground network for autonomous logistics and goods delivery vehicles. Advertisement The autonomous vehicles feed into a wider network led by artificial intelligence (AI). AI robot nurse with creepy 'face' taking over hospital jobs as it patrols halls, delivers meds and tracks patient vitals "We are building a city where everything, people, buildings, vehicles, is connected through sensors and AI," Akio Toyoda, Chairman of Toyota's Board of Directors, has said previously. "It's a unique opportunity to create a living digital operating system for urban life." Streets will be split into three types, pedestrian-only areas, roads for fast-moving traffic and streets for a mix of lower-speed vehicles. Advertisement Only zero-emissions motors will be allowed with special vehicles for the elderly and support for wheelchair users. Smart homes will be designed to incorporate robotics and AI to monitor health and manage energy use. It echoes The stunning new "smart homes" will run almost entirely on hydrogen, making the city as eco-friendly as possible. Advertisement Houses, made mostly from wood, will include in-home robotics to "assist with daily living" helping residents to be more independent, according to the company. 6 The autonomous vehicles feed into a wider network led by artificial intelligence (AI) Credit: Woven by Toyota 6 Smart homes will be designed to incorporate robotics and AI to monitor health and manage energy use Credit: Toyota UK 6 Houses, made mostly from wood, will include in-home robotics to "assist with daily living" helping residents to be more independent, according to the company Credit: Toyota UK Advertisement
Forbes
14-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Samsung's Cute Robot Ballie Ball Is Rolling In With Gemini AI Smarts
05 January 2025, USA, Las Vegas: Samsung demonstrates the Ballie AI household robot at the CES ... More technology trade fair. It can communicate with people and has a projector. Photo: Andrej Sokolow/dpa (Photo by Andrej Sokolow/picture alliance via Getty Images) After years of demos - it was actually shown off over 5 years ago at CES 2020 - Samsung's bright yellow, BB8-esque, home robot is finally going on sale. The Korean company confirmed that Ballie will roll into homes in the US and Korea this summer, with a juicy AI upgrade courtesy of Google Gemini. Pre-registration is already live on Samsung's website, so it looks as if, finally, Samsung is serious about turning this longtime prototype into a product you can actually buy. I've actually seen Ballie rolling around at various CES and IFA expos over the years and it's never really struck me as more than a glorified projector on wheels. However, thanks to a newly announced partnership between Samsung and Google, Ballie will be infused with Google Cloud's generative AI technology, Gemini. Combined with Samsung's own LLMs, Samsung informs us that Ballie will be able to 'bring personalized interactions and proactive home assistance to users.' This means the ability to understand voice, visuals, and environmental data, so it can do more than just roll around and look cute and beam the 2nd season of The Last of Us on to your wall. It will, we're promised, be a mobile smart home assistant that can interact conversationally, offer things like styling advice, and helping you to create tailored environments in your home. 'Through this partnership, Samsung and Google Cloud are redefining the role of AI in the home,' said Yongjae Kim, Executive Vice President of the Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. 'By pairing Gemini's powerful multimodal reasoning with Samsung's AI capabilities in Ballie, we're leveraging the power of open collaboration to unlock a new era of personalized AI companion - one that moves with users, anticipates their needs and interacts in more dynamic and meaningful ways than ever before.' On paper, it sounds like a blend between a smart display home hub, a life coach, a fashion consultant… and still a projector too, of course. Ballie includes a built-in projector, microphone, and speaker, so it can beam visuals onto nearby surfaces and respond to voice prompts, even when you're across the room. It will integrate with Samsung's SmartThings home platform, so things like controlling your lights, thermostat, or robot vacuum should all be on board. Samsung's been steadily working AI into its broader ecosystem, with the Galaxy S24 series already tapping into Gemini through Google Cloud. Samsung says this is all part of a 'new era of personalized AI companion,' which sounds ambitious, but also not totally out of sync with what other big tech players are exploring. LG showed off its own take on a roving home assistant earlier this year, while Apple, Meta, and Google are all reportedly tinkering with robotics behind closed doors as well. Amazon already has a bit of a robo-fail with Astro but is, of course, pimping AI for the smart home by way of the just-launched Alexa+. The launch timing may be locked in for the summer but we're still yet to learn the price which could, of course, make or break Ballie's success.
