Thanks to the development of smart technology, the era of simply pressing a few buttons on a home appliance and having that be that is long gone. Smart personal assistants, powered by AI (artificial intelligence) and IoT (the Internet of Things), have become an integral part of our daily lives – two-thirds of Europeans states that this smart technology would help make their lives easier and more enjoyable. Recognizing this, Samsung is committed to delivering AI-based solutions at home that can learn from user behaviour to provide personalized recommendations. The seamless integration of these intelligent home appliances promises to open consumers’ minds to the full potential of smart innovation in their lives.
Transforming the Home Life: Laundromat Lab with QuickDrive
The tour begins in the Laundromat Lab, which showcases the latest of Samsung’s laundry innovations, the QuickDrive washing machine. Launched here at IFA just last year, the QuickDrive washer is already paving the way and has notably transformed people’s home lives for the better. QuickDrive achieved the highest growth among the top 10 brands in the European washing machine market in the first half of this year compared to same period of 2017.
QuickDrive can wash clothes in half the time of conventional machines without compromising on washing performance, freeing up consumers’ time. The QuickDrive washer includes the unique Q-Drum, which features a drum and a backplate that rotate independently so that loads are moved dynamically in opposite directions – resulting in a full clean.
In order to best control each and every wash cycle, Samsung has integrated three key smart functions into QuickDrive machines through its AI-powered laundry care solution “Q-rator” for more intelligent and personalised control over laundry cycles. Firstly, the Laundry Recipe function recommends the best cycle for you based on the fabric and colour of the specific load you select. Secondly, Laundry Planner allows you to designate a desired wash end time which the machine will automatically work back from, minimizing the time you spend on washing clothes and allowing you to stop and start laundry according to your schedule. Thirdly, HomeCare Wizard monitors the machine itself to provide diagnostic feedback on the machine’s cycle, energy and use pattern data – so that this is one less thing for you to have to think about. More intelligent than ever, QuickDrive can even detect when your washing detergent will run out, and will automatically order more on a contract basis.
Home appliances have never been more helpful or easy to navigate, and according to recent surveys, consumer feedback shows that their lives are truly being transformed by the new ‘QuickDrive approach’ to doing laundry. On top of this, it has garnered a slew of recognition from leading industry peers, with the 2018 Which? Awards announcing Samsung as the leading Large Appliance brand and KBIS awarding QuickDrive the ‘Best of KBIS’ award for its leading innovation in Smart Home Technology.
Home Bistro Assistant: Dual Cook Flex Oven
Moving across to the Cooking section of the Cooking zone, visitors are getting to know Samsung’s industry-leading Dual Cook Flex Oven, in which consumers can cook several dishes simultaneously at different temperatures and cooking times. The freedom that this offers users is no small feat – Samsung has created an oven that allows you to take advantage of the dual cook feature with ease, with the specially designed oven door allowing you the flexibility to either cook two different dishes at once or use the entire oven for one dish with a larger cooking space.
Visitors to the Zone are being treated to demonstrations of the SmartThings app. With the Cooking Guide feature, the Dual Cook Flex Oven offers the most appropriate oven settings based on the ingredients of the dish you are preparing. Whether you are baking a cake or cooking a lasagna, Cooking Guide can suggest the best oven mode, temperature and time for optimum results. The oven’s intelligent features can even go one step beyond this, as well, featuring the capacity to save preferred recipe settings and notes using My Recipe and Scrapbook for even smoother cooking experiences. Perusing the Dual Cook Flex Oven’s handy intelligent settings, you can get a real sense of the convenience these smart features offer – along with providing the ultimate in cooking personalisation.
The Centre of Home Communication: Family Hub
This part of the tour ends in the Smart Kitchen booth, which is showcasing the latest version of the innovative Family Hub fridge. The kitchen has become the epicentre of a global shift in how people utilise their home spaces. Recent studies show that almost half (46%) of Europeans now spend most of their leisure time in the kitchen. As a result, Samsung Electronics has broadened the scope of its products for the kitchen, the centre of everyday home life, through this year’s more evolved Family Hub.
The Family Hub has been designed with the understanding that convenience and personalisation in food preparation is a priority for families, and so the Meal Planner capabilities suggest recipes based on your family’s food preferences, dietary restrictions and even food expiration dates for convenient weekly and monthly tailored meal plans – based on the ingredients already stored in the fridge and users’ taste. Visitors can get a feeling for just how hands-on this smart appliance is by interacting with the Family Hub’s dedicated touch-screen tablet.
With Bixby and Voice ID, the 2018 Family Hub does more than just react intelligently, and IFA attendees are experiencing the tailored responses Family Hub and Bixby can provide. Family Hub can recognize individual voices and match them to each family member’s profile. Users can start off their day just by asking “Hi Bixby, what’s new today?” and full, personalized information relevant to that user will appear instantly.
Family Hub not only offers you a personalised experience with just the one device but thanks to SmartThings, consumers can also enjoy a connected living experience across Samsung appliances as well as other devices. You can control your robot vacuum cleaner, washing machine, and even your air conditioner, all from the Hub’s screen. With features such as this, Samsung and Family Hub endeavour to build technology geared towards making a real difference in consumers’ everyday home lives.
Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
