What is going to the house of the longer term appear to be? At CES, Samsung outlined how your entire home equipment will speak to one another, and, because of AI, will assist anticipate your wants, resembling recommending you reorder that gallon of milk if it sees you’re working low.
Other than its new home equipment — together with a brand new robotic vacuum, washer/dryer combo, and an AirDresser — Samsung introduced that it was incorporating Google Gemini into the corporate’s Household Hub fridges, in order that its AI Imaginative and prescient will higher be capable of acknowledge meals you place in — and even be capable of learn labels.
At CES 2026, Hyoung Min Park, Samsung’s Vice President for Digital Home equipment, sat down with Tom’s Information and some different journalists to search out out extra about Samsung’s imaginative and prescient for its dwelling home equipment. Guess what? Meaning extra AI.
Samsung’s vision
“Our appliances are no longer mere equipment or devices that perform functions, but actually have a deep understanding of the user, the user’s life, and the user’s living environment,” Park said. “This helps reduce the time, effort, and money they spend on household chores and assignments, and also helps users take care of their loved ones.”
“When you look at the process of cooking — before cooking, during cooking, and after cooking — we find that consumers experience the most stress in the “before cooking” stage, where they have to decide on the menu and decide how they’re going to use the food ingredients.
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“I believe the largest change that we’re going to see is AI Imaginative and prescient constructed with Google Gemini for the Bespoke AI fridge Household Hub,” Park continued. “Earlier than, our on-device system’s digital camera must attempt to match meals objects with the info that was contained within the database. However now, with this 2026 AI Imaginative and prescient, the AI Imaginative and prescient is taking a look at information that’s saved within the cloud. It’s in a position to match the meals objects, and likewise it’s in a position to extract textual content and it will probably learn labels. This helps us to enormously develop the size in addition to the scope of the meals objects that we will match and establish, making customers’ lives extra handy.”
“So, with this generative AI-based AI Imaginative and prescient, we’re in a position to extra precisely replace meals lists and supply far more assist to shoppers. One instance could be the Meals Word characteristic. Primarily based on the record of meals components a person has, the AI system will have a look at which sort of meals objects have been used essentially the most throughout the previous week, will give you a historical past of those meals objects, and suggest repurchasing.”
“Additionally, the Bespoke AI fridge Household Hub is ready to suggest widespread recipe movies and really convert these movies into textual content,” added Park. “You may retailer these recipes in SmartThings Meals or truly ship the recipe on to your oven or induction or cooking equipment. This makes your entire cooking course of far more straightforward and handy and improves the person expertise all through your entire meals preparation course of.”
With Gemini now powering AI Imaginative and prescient, there’s going to be three AIs now on the Household Hub fridge: Alexa, Bixby, and now Gemini. How do you envision them working collectively, or are you fearful that there is likely to be confusion amongst shoppers? — Tom’s Information
You requested a really tough query. With Samsung AI techniques, principally we’re presently pursuing a hybrid system. We’re creating our personal AI system, which is on-device-based, however we’re additionally working with exterior companions and attempting to make the most of the perfect agentic AI that’s on the market available in the market. Our objective is to offer shoppers with the perfect service and attempt to meet their wants, no matter the place the AI or the expertise is coming from. If it is the perfect and it will probably truly meet the buyer wants, then that is what we are going to go for. So, we’re very open to totally different applied sciences so long as it satisfies and meets the wants of our shoppers.
I believe with the totally different agentic AIs, every might need their very own type of energy. Bixby is aware of Samsung merchandise and capabilities the perfect. So, for those who’re attempting to regulate or use Samsung merchandise, then Bixby could be the agentic AI to go to. With Household Hub, earlier than we had the on-device-based meals recognition system, however now that we’ve got constructed it with Gemini, it is serving to shoppers to find many extra meals objects. As a result of there are such a lot of meals objects on the market, Gemini is likely to be a greater agentic AI to do that job than Bixby. So, it is about discovering the AI or agentic AI that most accurately fits or greatest meets the wants of the buyer and offering our shoppers with the absolute best service.
The tempo at which AI is progressing is big, and issues are altering each six months or a 12 months. How lengthy can customers hold a fridge? Can we nonetheless maintain onto a fridge for seven or eight years? — The Telegraph, India
In line with our coverage, shoppers can obtain software program updates for seven years. So, after all, {hardware} capabilities can even evolve and develop, however we’re in a position to present software program updates for seven years, which helps shoppers proceed to make use of their merchandise. Our software program updates are primarily based on the precise shopper utilization information that we accumulate, and so we’re in a position to present optimum capabilities or options for seven years with the software program replace. In an effort to make the most of these options and revel in the advantages, you needn’t purchase a brand new product. You simply must get updates on-line.
Does 2026 really feel like a selected 12 months the place issues will attain the subsequent stage? Or how do you see this 12 months within the context of the sensible kitchen? — Sydney Morning Herald
With the cloud-based system, not solely can we acknowledge meals objects, however it’s additionally in a position to acknowledge textual content, bringing extra advantages to shoppers. Once they use our AI Imaginative and prescient, I am positive that they are going to actually really feel the tangible advantages of their each day lives, they usually’ll be capable of see that it is an enchancment from the previous.
As expertise evolves, the scope of the advantages that the expertise supplies to shoppers continues to develop, particularly with the meals expertise. We’re trying to present the technological foundation to permit extra customers to take pleasure in the advantages and revel in our expertise in lots of various kinds of eventualities and contexts. So, I believe 2026 might be a tipping level as a result of will probably be a 12 months when our shoppers will be capable of actually tangibly really feel the advantages and expertise the advantages of our expertise. This might result in adjustments not solely within the business but in addition in shopper conduct as nicely.
What’s the roadmap for say, if somebody has a Samsung smartwatch and desires to create a food plan plan with train, after which additionally embrace higher selections in terms of meals preparation? What’s the plan for integrating Samsung Well being? — Tom’s Information
I believe I can in all probability share extra particulars with you afterward, however up till now, we have been specializing in the meals companies by means of our digital home equipment. However transferring ahead, we’re additionally going to embody cell units as nicely. So, it is about combining not solely meals information but in addition well being information such as you talked about. Internally, we’re attempting to create a platform that brings collectively information relating to meals in addition to cell well being information. So, it will be built-in into type of a single database the place you’ve gotten details about meals, well being, train, sleep patterns, and so forth. It is about creating this type of whole platform and offering the perfect advantages to our shoppers primarily based on the totally different companies.
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