LG announced the new members of their Cloi robot squad for commercial use at a press conference Monday — the porter robot, the serving robot, and the shopping robot. All are larger, rolling versions of the Cloi home robot LG debuted at CES last year. They all have round, flat faces with eyes that blink, and are about three feet tall.
“As an important part of our future growth engine, LG is committed to expanding its portfolio of robots that can deliver real convenience and innovation in our customers’ lives,” said Ryu Hye-jung, head of the smart solution business division for LG’s Home Appliance & Air Solutions Company. “We will continue to develop a wide range of products across commercial and home robots while seeking new opportunities to contribute to the advancement of the robotics industry.”
As you might have guessed already, the porter robot will pull duty at places like hotels, where it won’t just carry your bags for you but also help you check in and out of your room. The serving robot, which is equipped with an enclosed slide-out tray, will bring drinks and food out to people at restaurants and airports before rolling back into the kitchen. The shopping robot is equipped with a — you guessed it — a shopping cart, where shoppers can use a bar code reader on the device to scan items as they place them in the cart. The “face” of the robot displays the items scanned and can assist with checkout.
LG has been creating concept robots for awhile. A multilingual airport robot is currently being tested at South Korea’s Incheon International Airport and is designed to assist travelers by giving information about flights. Regardless, you’ll have to wait a while until you can see them during your stay in Las Vegas or anywhere else — LG has no timeline for when they’ll be available, or for how much.
