Smarter and more connected: LG’s ThinQ system presents the future of home technolo-gy

Have you ever wondered what life would be like if your home ran on AI or artificial intelligence? This home would understand you. It would know to put on the news as soon as you wake up. It would cool your living room to your desired temperature at a certain time each night. It would put your washing machine on the "soiled clothes" setting because it knows, based on your calendar, that you’ve been to the gym.

Your home would be doing this, not because you had asked it to but because it had been learning from your behavioral patterns, understanding your needs and then automating your home based on your habits. Like an efficient assistant, it can predict what you want even before you ask for it.

This is the future of the home. More efficient, more customized, more intelligent. AI-enabled gadgets and appliances are bringing true intelligence into the house, and paving the way for more connected living. In such a short amount of time, we have seen significant advancements in technologies such as machine learning, deep learning and voice print identification. All of these have paved the way for features that weren’t feasible a few years ago such as automatic speech recognition, natural language understanding and voice biometrics.

The continued growth of AI represents the next frontier for smart technology and we can see some of the most exciting AI innovations in LG’s appliance lineup for 2018 and beyond. LG has invested heavily in its AI-ready platform called ThinQ, which allows LG’s devices and appliance to use deep learning to evolve over time, and understand consumer patterns and needs.

In the latest range of LG OLED and SuperUHD TVs, ThinQ acts as a personal assistant working within the TV. Just press and hold a microphone button on the remote and ask the TV to do things like turn the volume up or down, change picture mode settings, change inputs and so on (the TVs are each equipped with over 800 commands that work even without internet connectivity). You can also search for content on Netflix or get weather updates from the internet. In some countries, these AI-powered TVs are able to use natural language understanding and biometrics not only to understand fixed voice commands but to predict the intent of query before providing a search result. 

AI-powered operational and creative features are also available on the new LG G7ThinQ. A single tap of a button on the phone launches Google Assistant, which will allow the user to search the internet, open applications and remotely use the phone on voice command (LG has worked with Google to come up 32 new Google Assistant commands).  Two quick taps activates Google Lens, a photography feature that allows the phone camera to recognize an object and automatically customize settings according to what it sees, allowing the user to just focus on what’s in the frame, not on the settings.

ThinQ AI also has implementations in other parts of the home. In the kitchen, the latest LG InstaView Refrigerator’s touch panel shows what you have in the refrigerator. It can also put items on a shopping list and show expiration dates for food in the fridge, although this function is not yet available in the Philippines. AI-equipped LG washing machines can eventually learn how you like to wash certain types of clothing and automatically apply those settings. Over in the living room, LG air conditioners with ThinQ can pick up who is in the room and adjust the temperature based on their preferences.

Artificial intelligence, combined with machine learning, can now enable a new generation of gadgets and home devices to constantly develop and improve over time, gradually adapt to user behavior, and continuously process real-time information gleaned from homeowners’ lives. Eventually, AI and machine learning will be able to help consumers make decisions and take action, helping free up their time from mundane tasks and leaving them to pursue activities that enrich their lives.