Switchbot Launches Three Ai-powered Smart Home Products — Including A Pair Of Robots

Niko and Noa are AI-powered pets.

It was inevitable that AI would beryllium everyplace astatine IFA this year, but nan smart location is wherever we’re really seeing action. SwitchBot, known for its quirky and clever location gadgets, launched 3 caller AI-powered products this week: a smart location AI Hub, a colorful E Ink AI Art Frame, and 2 animated AI pets named Niko and Noa.

All-seeing AI

The SwitchBot AI Hub is simply a souped-up type of SwitchBot’s existing smart location hubs, which are designed to link and power its Bluetooth devices, specified arsenic smart shades, locks, and lights. This exemplary adds some on-device and cloud-based AI, moving pinch SwitchBot’s cameras and sensors to capture, process, and construe what’s happening successful your home.

For example, SwitchBot says nan hub could observe an arena for illustration “an aged personification falling” and usage that arsenic a trigger for an automation. This “event comprehension” uses a imagination connection exemplary (VLM), which requires a unreality relationship and a subscription.  Meanwhile, nan on-device AI tin place faces, pets, vehicles, furniture, and much — helping you support way of things. The institution says you tin moreover inquire it things like, “Show maine wherever I near my phone,” and it will propulsion up applicable footage.

Specs-wise, nan AI Hub is simply a large upgrade complete the Hub 3, featuring dual-band Wi-Fi, extended Bluetooth, and 32GB of built-in retention (expandable to 1TB). It tin negociate up to 8 2K cameras, watercourse locally via RTSP, and show footage connected a monitor. The hub tin support much than 100 SwitchBot devices and bridges up to 30 products into a Matter ecosystem. It’s powered by a 6T AI chip.

E-paper meets AI 

SwitchBot is besides entering a caller class pinch nan AI Art Frame, a colorful E Ink Spectra 6 show that blends location decor pinch AI creativity. You tin upload your ain photos aliases make artwork utilizing prompts successful nan SwitchBot app, powered by nan company’s locally trained AI model.

Available successful 7.3-, 13.3-, and 31.5-inch sizes, nan framework fits into modular Ikea frames and runs connected artillery power, allowing for elastic placement. SwitchBot says it tin past up to 2 years connected a azygous charge.

Cuddly pinch a broadside of AI

And finally, SwitchBot is bringing an existent robot to IFA — well, two. 

Noa and Niko are SwitchBot’s caller AI pets, portion of its Kata friends series. Described arsenic soft-bodied family robots “designed for companionship,” videos of Noa and Niko show them flapping their arms and blinking their glowy bluish eyes. They lucifer fluffy penguins and, according to SwitchBot, they characteristic mini wheels that let them to move independently. 

The institution besides says that nan AI-powered bots tin “recognize family members, respond to gestures and emotions, and show feelings specified arsenic happiness, sadness, aliases jealousy,” arsenic good arsenic study your family routines.

SwitchBot has not announced pricing aliases a merchandise day for immoderate of these products. However, fixed nan company’s way grounds of turning eager prototypes — specified arsenic its multitasking CES robot — into existent products, these gadgets person a precocious likelihood of making it to market. I’ll beryllium getting hands-on clip pinch each of them astatine IFA this week.