Samsung is bringing its next-generation Family Hub refrigerators at CES 2020, with the fresh lineup promising a slew of new AI capabilities. After years of gathering consumer feedback, Samsung concluded that one of the most beneficial upgrades to the Family Hub refrigerators would be the addition of AI-powered cameras for better meal planning.
Previous Family Hub refrigerators have been equipped with interior cameras, allowing users to check their food inventory via the embedded touchscreen instead of having to open the door. Now, with the next-generation Family Hub refrigerators, these internal cameras have become much smarter by adopting AI image recognition.
2020 Family Hub ViewInside AI cameras are a game-changer
The new Family Hub ViewInside cameras coupled with AI image recognition technologies open up a world of possibilities. The cameras are now able to scan your food inventory and send you updates on items that have been added or removed. Therefore, the Meal Planner has become smarter and automatically takes into account your food inventory before preparing shopping lists, while Quick Plan can now recommend week's worth recipes.
Samsung also integrates technology from Whisk into the next-gen Family Hub refrigerators. Whisk is a food AI startup that was acquired by Samsung NEXT, and the AI tech is capable of planning meals and creating shopping lists based on the number of guests you are expecting.
In other words, the new AI features lift a few responsibilities off your shoulders with smart alerts and automated inventory-keeping, allowing you to focus on more important things, spend less time creating lists, and worry less about what items might be missing from your fridge.
Family Board and Smart Home get better too
While the new AI features are the highlight of the 2020 Family Hub refrigerator lineup, Samsung is also improving other existing non-AI features including Family Board, which now supports video playback.
Likewise, SmartThings on Family Hub refrigerators gives users the ability to monitor and control more than 1,000 SmartThings-compatible IoT products, ranging from smart lights to thermostats. The system is further enhanced with a new SmartThings Video widget which lets you check your security cameras without leaving your kitchen.
(At least) some of these features are coming to existing Family Hub fridges
With the launch of a new generation of Family Hub refrigerators, Samsung also confirmed that it will improve the existing lineup by adding at least some of the aforementioned software features through a future firmware update scheduled to launch this spring.
It's not entirely clear which – or if all – of these new features will be made available via updates, but the improvements to Family Board and SmartThings are fairly safe bets. The AI-based improvements, however, might remain exclusive to the newer generation Family Hub.
Whatever the case may be, it looks like AI is going to play an important role in Samsung's CES 2020 presentation. The company is expected to unveil improved AI for TVs at CES 2020, and it even teased a brand new mysterious AI product called NEON ahead of its official unveiling in Las Vegas.
