Samsung Flaunts ‘Ballie’ Robot Who Rolls Convenience—And A Projector—Into Homes

Image via Samsung

Samsung rolled out an upgrade to a familiar face—or should we say, sphere?—at CES 2024. Meet the new and improved Ballie, the South Korean tech giant’s artificial intelligence-powered home robot, now equipped with a built-in projector and a suite of advanced features designed to make life at home a little easier and a lot more high-tech.

Image via Samsung

Ballie, first introduced at CES 2020, captured imaginations as a small, autonomous ball-shaped robot, primarily intended to be a personal assistant and an integrator for smart home devices. Since its debut, Samsung has been fine-tuning Ballie, injecting it with more responsive AI capabilities tailored for everyday home use.

This year’s CES showcased a significantly enhanced Ballie. Still compact and unobtrusive in design, the droid has grown in functionality and is now the size of a standard bowling ball. The notable addition is its built-in projector, which allows Ballie to project movies, host video calls, and even serve as an extended PC monitor.

Image via Samsung

Image via Samsung

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Ballie has evolved into a full-fledged home assistant. Equipped with a spatial LiDAR sensor and improved AI, it can navigate through your home, avoiding obstacles and efficiently executing tasks.

Image via Samsung

Whether it’s projecting workout routines on your wall, managing home appliances, or providing video updates of your pets while you’re out, Ballie aims to be the go-to companion for a range of home activities.

Image via Samsung

Image via Samsung

Beyond entertainment, Ballie’s practical applications are extensive. It can set the mood for various activities, from exercising to relaxing, playing music, answering calls, or even dimming the lights for movie time. All these are powered by a battery that lasts between two to three hours, making it a suitable aide for several tasks.

Image via Samsung

Image via Samsung

Furthermore, its dual-lens 1080p projector enables Ballie to adapt its projections to different surfaces and angles for work and play.

Image via Samsung

Ballie is a glimpse into a future where smart technology seamlessly integrates into our daily lives. While the widespread adoption of home robots remains a work in progress, the latest iteration is a significant step forward in this emerging field.

Image via Samsung

At the moment, Samsung has not disclosed Ballie’s availability or pricing, leaving homebodies eagerly anticipating when they can bring this spherical helper into their abodes.

[via TheStreet, Tom’s Guide, TechCrunch, images via Samsung]