I.P. Park, CTO of LG addresses the crowd at the LG Press Conference at this year’s CES. Photo by Marcus Siu.

Article and photos by Marcus Siu

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7, 2018  CTO of LG Electronics, I.P. Park, opened up and addressed the early morning crowd at the CES press conference in Las Vegas and announced LG’s global AI brand called “LG ThinQ”.  It represents LG’s commitment to think about “you”, as the user in all that we do.

It is also part of the equation for a smart home and a smart connected lifestyle, with the assistance of Google Assistant that will help bring innovation for a better life for the consumer with LG’s products.

According to Park, the three main characteristics of LG ThinQ  is its ability to evolve with time, the integration of AI into everyday products, and a completely open platform so everyone benefits.

“With ThinQ, the term “live & learn” takes on an exciting new meaning…the more you use our products the better it evolves to meet your specific needs.  The second characteristic of ability of ThinQ is the ability to integrate AI into a diverse portfolio of everyday products.  LG makes many products that you use every single day in the home, on the road, and in the office.  The third characteristic of LG ThinQ is the openness.  So our overall strategy is always to use the most powerful AI solution to the users by utilizing an open platform open partnership and open connectivity.”

Google Assistance no longer just applies to LG cell phones, but in just in a variety of LG products.  With the help of Google Assistance, you can check the status of your LG home appliances or tell your LG OLED TV to control your lighting, air conditioning or air purifier. The possibilities are endless.

David VanderWaal, VP of Marketing, LG Electronics USA demonstrated how LG AI is making people’s lives easier and better, both in the home and outside the home. His first LG AI demonstration was on laundry, which is an everyday task that people are faced with.

Everyday routines, such as laundry are now integrated with LG’s ThinQ AI. Photo by Marcus Siu.

“It’s Saturday morning, I get up, I first like to make sure that everything is ready for the day…so, LG ThinQ has now chose the very best wash cycle for me, based on my personal laundry habits..so, LG washers user frequently used laundry settings and repetitive patterns in everyday life to optimize the clothing management methods.  For example, for instance, things like changes in the weather, air quality…all of this can be incorporated to optimize the washer settings for the clothes.  These are things that the consumer often wasn’t thinking about.  Our new capacity LG Styler identify NFC tags that are embedded inside the clothing and then automatically sets for an optimal setting for the clothing care.  You don’t have to painstakingly examine the tiny tag on the clothing.  Instead smart technology can effortlessly read the NFC tag and refresh the clothes with the power of steam.”

VanderWaal then moved on to the connected kitchen area with its connected AI appliances on the stage.

David VanderWaal, VP of Marketing demonstrates the InstaView ThinQ refrigerator at CES 2018. Photo by Marcus Siu.

“LG smart connected refrigerators, ranges and dishwashers make managing the kitchen easier than ever.   The LG InstaView ThinQ refrigerator is the latest when it comes to smart AI in the kitchen, with a 29” full HD touch screen display that helps you look up recipes, check weather, and even do grocery shopping.”

With a double tap on the refrigerator touch screen display on the refrigerator door, you will see all the items in the fridge through the transparent door, which also takes inventory through tagging, like the washer.  You can magically check what you need before going to the grocery store without even opening the door.  LG not only thinks inside the box, but knows how to tap outside the box to get the information it needs.

VanderWaal then moved toward the living room part of the stage.

“You may wonder why does a television needs AI when we already have so many different intelligent speakers; well there are a few key advantages, the first is having AI on the television is the ability to control the television with just your voice.  The second advantage is that you can now enjoy television with intelligent content information…you can even turn off the TV at the end of the program without having to schedule a particular time…and last but not least, you can get the most out of LG AI TV’s with the Google Assistant integrated right into the product.

AI on the new OLED TV’s are even more informative then ever before.   Photo by Marcus Siu.

“Show my my photos from my vacation” commands David VanderWaal, VP of Marketing at LG Press Conference at CES 2018. Photo by Marcus Siu.

VanderWaal demonstrated how Google Assistant was utilized to show his photo album on the TV with the command… “Show my my photos from my vacation”, and also explained that you could order pizza straight from your television and even book your ride through the TV.

All of LG’s smart TV’s are equipped with LG ThinkQ AI technology.

David VanderWaal at the CES2018 press conference regarding the connected home with Google Assistant showing how to turn the purifier on. Photo by Marcus Siu

Tim Alessi, Senior Director, Home Entertainment Product Marketing, LG Electronics USA explained that there was more to announce than the major enhancements with AI integration and showed off the new proprietary Alpha 9 intelligent processor  that will be featured in this year’s OLED TV’s.  This is an upgrade from the Alpha 7 intelligent processor that was used in last years model.

Alessi compared the 2017 OLED with this years model, and even though last year’s was great; this is even greater.  Utilized by LG’s Alpha 9, the most powerful processor to date, it delivers up to 50% more powerful image and data processing than last years model for overall better control of smart functions and advanced image processing such as more accurate color control.  The bottom line is that viewers will be able to enjoy images with more astonishing color, clarity, and depth.

“First, by minimizing picture noise, the Alpha 9 uses a four-step process to reduce noise artifacts.  Next comes depth and sharpness.  Now, most TV’s use edge based depth enhancement, but LG TV’s use an object based enhancer which can precisely separate main on-screen objects from the background. “

Finally, we come to color…

“Viewers can enjoy more accurate lifelike color thanks to the expanded color look up table, which offers more natural color, expanding the reference color coordinates by over seven times compared to 2017’s processor.  Photo by Marcus Siu

“Viewers can enjoy more accurate lifelike color thanks to the expanded color look up table, which offers more natural color, expanding the reference color coordinates by over seven times compared to 2017’s processor.  Similarly, to 2018 OLED TV lineup, all of the Super UHD sets will offer a new processor for enhanced image processing.  These TV’s will all include 4K Cinema HDR, Dolby Atmos sound, and the gallery mode.”

After last year’s Innovative award winning LG OLED TV came out, I never thought it could be better.  I was wrong.

VanderWaal unveils a new line of LG robots: a serving robot, a porter robot, and a shopping cart robot at CES2018 in Las Vegas. Photo by Marcus Siu

Last but not least, VanderWaal returned back to the stage and unveiled LG’s CLOi robot line, which consists of a serving robot, a porter robot, which will handle various hospitality needs, and a shopping cart robot, which can provide automatic payment and grocery service at supermarkets.

“We’re dedicated at LG to developing new robotic technologies to meet and even exceed consumer needs…and we’re going to keep advancing our robotics hardware along with our AI technologies to propel LG to the forefront of the global market.” 

Whether we live in our living room, our kitchen, our home theater, or in our cars, LG Electronics innovation along with Google and Amazon means a better life for all.

The future is now…and has arrived.