Samsung, LG show off futuristic kitchens

A model holds up wine next to LG Electronics’ built-in wine cellar, left, while Samsung Electronics’ robotic arm chef holds up a smartphone displaying a recipe. [LG ELECTRONICS, SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS]

Samsung and LG Electronics offered a glimpse into the kitchen of the future at The Kitchen & Bath Industry Show that opened Tuesday in Las Vegas.

The annual event is one of the largest trade shows for kitchen and bath equipment in the world.

At a booth twice the size of its space last year, Samsung organized a “Connected Living Zone” that showcased its artificial intelligence-powered Galaxy Home speaker working with appliances in the kitchen, living room and bedrooms.

For example, the speaker in the living room can answer questions about the contents of the refrigerator. Connected refrigerators will even enable people to answer their phone when it’s not in the same room.

More high-tech features were introduced in a separately organized, 400-square-meter show room in the nearby Encore Resort Monday.

Among them was the Samsung Bot Chef, a robot arm that assists people cooking in the kitchen. Powered by the Samsung Bot technology that the company introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show last month, the arm can perform sophisticated tasks with tools in its hands, such as cutting food and seasoning dishes. It can also work through downloaded recipes.

A robot vacuum cleaner, the Samsung Bot Clean, and a moving air purifier were also on display in the room. The Samsung Bot Air works with sensors attached to many parts of the house and moves around on its own to control air quality.

LG Electronics concentrated its latest technology on kitchen electronics, showing off its Signature Kitchen Suite, a premium built-in kitchen range, at its showroom on Tuesday.

One newly added item in the lineup was a built-in wine cellar that works with an AI mobile app. The product was developed to realize an environment close to a cave, minimizing the refrigerator’s vibrations, temperature change and exposure to light that could affect the stored wines.

“The technology was motivated by an old legacy winery in Napa Valley, Calif.,” the company said.

A compatible AI app collects information of the wine stacked inside the cellar and analyzes the customers’ preferences. Users can immediately know where specific bottles are placed inside or receive recommendations on which bottles go best with particular dishes.

Another notable feature of LG’s showcase this year was the expanded partnership with its U.S. partners. This is in line with LG’s drive for open innovation when it comes to connectivity of home appliances.

One of its partners is Amazon. All of LG’s dishwashers, washing machines and drying machines released after 2018 will work with Amazon Dash, a service that automatically orders refills of household items - in this case detergents and conditioners.

The company also recently signed a partnership with meal kit maker Tovala. Meal kits come with uncooked ingredients and sauce packaged in the right quantities to make one meal. LG’s mobile app can read the bar codes on the meal kit and automatically adjust the heat of the company’s Smart Oven accordingly.

“We plan to expand our foothold in the global built-in market with premium products and a wide array of partners,” said Song Dae-hyun, LG’s president in charge of the home appliance division.

BY SONG KYOUNG-SON [song.kyoungson@joongang.co.kr]