'Brainless' robot biz to be making money for Naver from 2023
Published: 08 Jun. 2022, 16:27
Updated: 08 Jun. 2022, 17:10
Naver Labs CEO Seok Sang-ok
Naver hopes to make money from "brainless" robot software and services from next year.
Naver held a press conference Wednesday at a Naver Cloud office in Gangnam, southern Seoul, to outline its plan to market its AI-Robot-Cloud (ARC). The ARC system controls autonomous delivery robots at Naver 1784, a new building in Seongnam, Gyeonggi.
“Naver Labs believes that the ARC system will lead the popularization of robots,” said Naver Labs CEO Seok Sang-ok. Naver Labs is a research and development subsidiary wholly owned by Naver.
The ARC system powers cloud-controlled robots at the Naver 1784. The robots are described as "brainless," meaning that they don't need built-in operating systems because they are connected to the ARC system, a central brain in the cloud.
The ARC system has three key components: the ARC Eye, which serves as the eye of the autonomous robots; the ARC Brain, the main control center that oversees the operation; and the high-performance 5G network that connects the robots to the control system in the cloud.
Naver will begin to sell the ARC Eye system in the latter half of 2023. The ARC Brain will be test run as a beta service next year. Airports, hospitals, smart factories and logistics centers are possible customers.
Naver Cloud CEO Park Weon-gi
Naver Cloud plans to sell its 5G cloud services, offering cloud services powered by a private 5G network to enterprise customers. The services will be made available this year, said Naver Cloud.
A private 5G network is an independent system with dedicated bandwidth in a limited area such as in a factory or a building. Organizations that want to set up the private 5G network must get a license from the Ministry of Science and ICT.
Naver Cloud explained that it will support customers in getting the license, building the infrastructure for the 5G network, and managing the network operation. It will offer a subscription plan for its cloud services as well.
"Naver made several programs and tools for developing creative new services using robots, but in order to be able to use such programs through cloud database, high-speed connectivity is a must," said Naver Cloud CEO Park Weon-gi. "That is why we, as a cloud service provider, enhanced our understanding of 5G technologies and are trying to build a platform where users can use the 5G technologies with cloud services."
Naver recently deployed Korea’s first private 5G network at its 1784 headquarters building, after applying for the license last November.
BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)