I watched LG’s new CLOiD home robot do laundry but I have questions

CES is always full of robots, and this year, electronics giant LG announced a new robot, called CLOiD, that it claims will revolutionize household chores (you won’t have to do them anymore).

CLOiD is described as an AI-powered home robot, designed to help its user with a wide variety of household tasks – from folding laundry to making breakfast to patrolling a home looking for signs of trouble. The company says thatUltimately, he envisions the device “evolving into an ambient care agent that supports daily life.”

The robot was announced during LG’s keynote earlier this week, but it was also available for inspection via ongoing presentations in the convention hall. I went to check one out, where I saw the robot, alongside a human presenter, performing various tasks for an enthusiastic audience.

CLOiD has autonomous movement, which allows it to move on its own and is equipped with a variety of cameras and sensors which, when paired with LG devices ThinQ smart home appcan leverage situational and environmental data to make proactive suggestions on how to improve the lives of its users, LG says.

The bot also has speakers to be able to communicate with its user. LG says CLOiD uses a vision language model that converts “images and videos into structured, language-based understanding” and a vision language action program that can convert verbal commands into action (you know, like Siri).

Recent years have seen the emergence of a number of domestic robots, including Amazon Astro And Enabot EBO. CLOiD follows in their footsteps but seems designed for a wider range of household tasks than its predecessors. Unlike Astro and EBO (which are little more than crouching and rolling automatons), CLOiD has a broad upper body and two arms – a physicality clearly designed for lifting objects and interacting with its environment.

You’d think this would lead to impressive results, right? Unfortunately, in the presentation I saw, CLOiD didn’t do much. I saw the robot very carefully take a shirt out of a basket and place it in a dryer. I also saw him pick up a croissant and (again, very carefully) place it in an oven. In addition to the robot’s live performance, the presentation was interspersed with highly produced videos of the robot in a number of hypothetical scenarios where it could prove useful to potential users.

CLOiD was cute and seemed affable enough, but the most important thing you notice is how slow It is. During Tuesday’s presentation, when its human counterpart asked CLOiD to make it breakfast, the robot walked over to the refrigerator, waited for the automatic door to open, then stared into the depths of the refrigerator for an uncomfortably long period before finally selecting the milk.

Yes, even the most lethargic human would probably win in a race against CLOiD. However, speed isn’t really the issue here. The idea is to ensure that the robot’s human companion doesn’t have to do any work. This is part of what LG calls its “Home Zero Work“, where automation takes care of all those boring but essential household tasks. You can brush your teeth or take a call from your boss while the robot is in the next room, making pancakes. At least that’s the idea.

From the available presentation, it is not really clear when this idea will become reality. I couldn’t find out if and when the bot would actually be available to the public. A disclaimer at the bottom of the presentation videos read: “The products and solutions shown in this video are under development and have not been released to market, so specifications may vary.” »

An LG communications manager on site told me that CLOiD would be available in the future, but she didn’t know when. I contacted LG’s Home Solutions team for more information.

So, like many of the other robots on display at CES, CLOiD felt a little more like an advertisement for its company’s potential than an accurate representation of what it currently offers. The robot also appears well-positioned to help market LG’s new AI home ecosystem, which represents a broader range of impressive smart home products, most of which appear to be easier for consumers to carry around than a new robot in their home.

I had a brief overview of some of the latest editions of these products. In addition to the return of LG wallpaper (after spending a few minutes gazing at its incredibly thin yet beautifully hypnotic surface, I can safely say I want one), the company had a variety of devices featured this week, including an AI-powered oven that can identify particular ingredients and recommend recipes, as well as an AI refrigerator that you can talk to. All of these devices are supposed to sync with CLOiD and are controllable through the company’s operating system. ThinQ app.