The conference that grabbed our attention from the day’s plan was undoubtedly LG’s Life’s Good from Home. Presented by Merlin Wulf (possibly the best name we’ve heard so far at the conference) Dr IP Park and Dr KH Kim, we found out how LG is looking to create a holistic home system that will cater for your convenience, safety and entertainment needs.
This triumvirate form the theme of Life’s Good from Home, because that is the reality we’re facing now and the immediate future. Since travel is limited, LG’s take on the live conference was to introduce Dr Park to the stage in hologram form.
A perfect nest of safety
One of LG’s goals is to create a nest of safety that extends from home to the outside world. The LG Styler is a clothes steamer that kills 99.99% of viruses and is currently in use in homes, hotels and offices alike. It uses their patented True Steam system, operating at 100°C, which is also found in their dishwashers and driers.
Outside of the home, they’ve developed a face mask to aid people with breathing difficulties wear a mask just the same. It’s got a very light, quiet fan that will assist your breathing thanks to a sensor that will change fan operation when exhaling or inhaling.
Medical staff were given priority for these masks, but they will very soon be available to the broader public. Further to this, they’re even developing facial recognition thermal cameras to replace temperature scanners. They will cut down on people using visual identification, as this will be done autonomously through AI.
The Secondary Threat
Of course, the virus and its side effects are nasty enough, but the threat of boredom during the lockdown cannot be underestimated. Keeping yourself occupied all day and evening within the same closed space is also within LG’s remit, and some of their gadgets are the stuff of movies. OLED TV is already great, but it gets better. Along with perfect colour, the next generation of OLED TVs will come with an Alpha 9 Gen3 AI processor that will automatically boost sound and picture quality.
The surround sound systems are also getting an update. Optimal sound requires a fixed spot, but we rarely stay still. Therefore, AI tech will not only increase the size of the sweet spot, but will “follow you around” by optimizing sound levels depending on where you are.
Home Comforts
LG’s outlook is that although we’re no longer stuck at home as much as before, “but that drive for smarter space is something that we’re definitely going to push ahead” affirmed Dr Park. And when he says smart, he means it. Fridges will be able to determine what products you have stored, and which are closer to expiry – that way, healthy diets are easier to become lifestyle choices, than a chore.
The real gamechanger however is the ThinQ app, which will allow users to control all LG appliances in one app. It’s a milestone because when you take this information and learn that there’s an LG ThinQ Home, that’s where it gets interesting. This home is an actual four-storey house in Seoul, Korea, that is furnished with LG smart home products all connected to ThinQ. To help keep track of things at home, is ThinQ Concierge, which is installed in mirrors around the house and has the same functions as the app.
Home is not just residence anymore – it has become work, entertainment, education and more, so we need to update not only our idea of it, but the appliance with which we furnish it. The ThinQ Home is a zero-energy building and even generates more electricity than it uses, but there’s something else to it. It aims to reduce the energy that you expend. We’re always so busy worrying about everything else that we forget that we too need to recharge from time to time.
Head over to the LG virtual exhibition: lg.com/global/exhibition and get ready to be blown away!
