I’ve seen LG’s new CLOid home robot doing laundry but I have questions

CES is always full of robots, and electronics giant LG this year announced a new robot, dubbed CLOid, which it claims will revolutionize household chores (meaning you won’t have to do them anymore).

Described as an AI-powered home robot, CLOid is designed to assist its user with a wide range of household tasks – from folding laundry to making breakfast to patrolling the house for signs of trouble. The company says that, eventually, it envisions the device “evolving into a peripheral care agent that supports daily life.”

The robot was announced during LG’s keynote earlier this week, but was also available for inspection through presentations circulating on the conference room floor. I went to check out one of these robots, where I saw the robot, along with a human presenter, performing a variety of tasks for an enthusiastic audience.

The CLOid has autonomous movement, so it can move on its own, and comes equipped with a variety of cameras and sensors that, when paired with LG’s ThinQ smart home app, can leverage situational and environmental data to make proactive suggestions on how to make a user’s life better, LG says.

The robot also has speakers so it can communicate with its user. LG says CLOid runs a vision language model that turns “images and video into structured, language-based understanding” and a vision language action program that can turn verbal commands into action (you know, like Siri).

The past few years have seen the introduction of a number of domestic robots, including Amazon’s Astro and Enabot’s EBO X. CLOid follows in its footsteps but appears to be designed for a broader range of household tasks than its predecessors. Unlike Astro and EBO (which are little more than rolling robots), CLOid has a large upper body and arms – a physical ability explicitly designed to lift objects and interact with its environment.

You’d think that would produce some impressive results, right? Unfortunately, in the demo I saw, CLOid didn’t do much. I saw the robot gingerly take a shirt out of the basket and put it in the dryer. I also saw him pick up the croissants and put them (again, very carefully) in the oven. In addition to the live performance of the robot, the presentation was intercut with highly produced videos of the robot in a number of hypothetical scenarios where it might be useful to potential users.

CLOid was nice, and looked nice enough, but the most important thing I noticed was how slow that it. During Tuesday’s presentation, when its human counterpart asked CLOid to make him some breakfast, the robot headed to the refrigerator, waited for the automatic door to open, then stared into the depths of the refrigerator for an uncomfortably long time before finally selecting the milk.

Yes, even the most inactive human will likely win the race against CLOid. However, speed is not really the issue here. The idea is to ensure that the robot’s human companion does not have to do any work at all. It’s part of what LG refers to as the “laborless home” model, where automation takes care of all those boring but essential household chores. You can be out brushing your teeth or taking a call from your boss while the robot is in the next room, making pancakes. At least that’s the idea.

From the presentation available, it’s a bit unclear when this idea will become a reality. I haven’t been able to find out if and when the bot will actually be available to the public. The disclaimer below the presentation videos states: “The products and solutions shown in this video are under development and have not been released for commercial use, so specifications may vary.”

An LG communications person on site told me that CLOid would be available in the future, but she didn’t know when. I’ve reached out to the LG Home Solutions team for more information.

Thus, like many of the other robots on display at CES, CLOid seemed more like an advertisement for his company’s potential than an accurate representation of what it currently offers. The robot also seems well-positioned to help market LG’s new AI-powered home ecosystem, which represents a wide range of great smart home products, the bulk of which appear to be easier lifts for consumers than the new robot into their homes.

I got a short tour of some of the latest versions of these products. In addition to the return of the LG Wallpaper (after spending a few minutes staring at its insanely thin but beautifully hypnotic surface, I can safely say I want one), the company had a variety of appliances on display this week, including an AI-powered oven that can identify certain ingredients and recommend recipes for you, and an AI-powered refrigerator that you can talk to. All of these devices are supposed to be synced with CLOid and can be controlled via the company’s ThinQ app.