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What's the Hottest Concept at CES 2025? AI, of Course!
At CES 2025, the buzzword is undoubtedly AI. Even if your product doesn’t inherently feature AI technology, you’d better claim it can "integrate into smart systems." Even AR and VR glasses are now rebranded as AI glasses. But what’s the hottest carrier for AI? Robots, especially humanoid robots. 2025 marks the first year of mass production for humanoid robots, with models for industrial, service, and home use hitting the market. Robots like Galbot G1, Star1 by Star Era, Expedition A2 by Zhiyuan Robotics, GR-2 by Fourier, H1-2 by Unitree, and Iron by XPeng all made their debut at CES 2025. Notably, AI, chip, home appliance, smartphone, PC, automotive, and specialized robotics companies are all diving into this industry, creating an unprecedented lineup.
Amid the AI and robotics frenzy, one unique product stood out: Samsung’s AI companion robot, Balli AI. Samsung announced at CES that this concept product will launch in 2025. Balli features a built-in laser projector with an auto-switching lens, pushing the boundaries of embedded projection technology.
Embedded Projection Meets Robotics: A Perfect Match
The concept of embedded projection has been around for over 15 years. Early examples included laptops with built-in projectors, like those from ASUS, which offered larger displays. However, limited brightness from light sources and resolution constraints from microchips hindered their popularity.
Today, the primary application of embedded projection is in smart car systems, such as HUDs (Heads-Up Displays) and digital headlights. These systems use embedded projection for visual displays and multi-information output, making them one of the most promising markets for projection technology. With global car sales expected to exceed 100 million units, and each car potentially equipped with multiple projection devices (e.g., HUD + dual headlights), the potential market dwarfs the current 20 million-unit global projection market, even including $50 budget models.
Balli introduces another potential application: service, companion, or home robots. By using projection, Balli can display large visuals beyond its physical size, expanding robot communication from AI voice commands and remote controls to graphical interactions. Plus, it can double as a fun movie screen in consumer and service scenarios.
While sci-fi movies often depict holographic projections, today’s technology isn’t quite there yet. However, embedded projection can already deliver displays ranging from a few inches to over 100 inches, significantly enhancing product information display, interaction, and application value.
Looking ahead, the demand for robots could surpass that of smart cars. While a car serves multiple passengers, a household might need not only service robots but also companion robots for children and the elderly. This suggests that robot-embedded projection could rival the automotive market as a major growth area.
Balli: A Clever Market Concept
The idea of companion electronics isn’t new. Over two decades ago, Sony introduced the AIBO robot dog, a mechanical pet with limited AI capabilities. Today, Sony could leverage advanced AI or even AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) to revive its companion robot lineup.
Another example is the smart speaker, which gained popularity over the past decade for its voice-activated features like storytelling, music playback, and simple queries. However, after peaking in 2019, smart speaker sales have plummeted. In China, for instance, sales dropped from 36.54 million units in 2020 to 21.11 million in 2023, with only 568,000 units sold during the 2024 Singles’ Day shopping festival.
The key difference between robot dogs and smart speakers? Cost. While robots with flexible limbs are impressive, they’re expensive. Smart speakers, on the other hand, can cost as little as a few dollars, making them far more accessible.
Samsung’s Balli strikes a balance: it moves, offers upgraded features, and keeps costs in check. It uses wheels for basic movement, avoiding the high costs of complex joint mechanisms. Balli combines the functions of a smart speaker, home control hub, and projector, integrating AI voice and audiovisual applications with bi-directional machine vision and multiple sensors for spatial awareness. Its compact size and simple design make it more affordable than full-fledged robots.
While Balli’s movement is limited compared to jointed robots, its market positioning is precise. Whether it succeeds remains to be seen after its launch.
Robot-Embedded Projection or a Moving Projector?
Industry experts note that Balli’s core features, aside from its mobility, are already present in existing smart projectors. Essentially, Balli can be seen as a robot with an embedded projector or a moving, battery-powered smart projector developed by Samsung.
Traditional smart projectors already offer AI voice interaction, auto-focus, and smart home integration. The decline in smart speaker sales isn’t due to disappearing demand but rather the rise of alternatives like TVs and smart projectors, which offer similar functionalities.
If future animal or humanoid robots incorporate projection screens, it would represent a new application for embedded projection. However, Balli, with its wheeled movement and bi-directional machine vision, feels more like a traditional smart projector that moves. Still, it’s a clever and innovative design that carves out a new niche.
From a technical perspective, Balli isn’t without innovation. Its projection capabilities extend beyond movies, including small 10-inch displays underfoot, 100-inch maps on the floor, or 100-inch movies on walls. Its optical system must handle varying focus distances, screen sizes, brightness levels, and projection angles, all while integrating with pointing devices for interactive applications.
To address these challenges, Balli introduces a switchable lens system, a first in projection history. It likely features both short and medium-focus lenses, automatically switching to meet different needs. This innovation is particularly significant given the difficulty of covering both short and long focal lengths in a compact, cost-effective design.
Conclusion
From its prototype debut in 2020 to its 2025 launch, Balli AI has made significant strides in AI, sensors, and functionality. One of its most notable advancements is the addition of projection capabilities. How Balli’s innovations will shape the future of embedded projection and impact the broader robotics and consumer electronics industries is a story worth watching.
At CES 2025, the buzzword is undoubtedly AI. Even if your product doesn’t inherently feature AI technology, you’d better claim it can "integrate into smart systems." Even AR and VR glasses are now rebranded as AI glasses. But what’s the hottest carrier for AI? Robots, especially humanoid robots. 2025 marks the first year of mass production for humanoid robots, with models for industrial, service, and home use hitting the market. Robots like Galbot G1, Star1 by Star Era, Expedition A2 by Zhiyuan Robotics, GR-2 by Fourier, H1-2 by Unitree, and Iron by XPeng all made their debut at CES 2025. Notably, AI, chip, home appliance, smartphone, PC, automotive, and specialized robotics companies are all diving into this industry, creating an unprecedented lineup.
Amid the AI and robotics frenzy, one unique product stood out: Samsung’s AI companion robot, Balli AI. Samsung announced at CES that this concept product will launch in 2025. Balli features a built-in laser projector with an auto-switching lens, pushing the boundaries of embedded projection technology.
Embedded Projection Meets Robotics: A Perfect Match
The concept of embedded projection has been around for over 15 years. Early examples included laptops with built-in projectors, like those from ASUS, which offered larger displays. However, limited brightness from light sources and resolution constraints from microchips hindered their popularity.
Today, the primary application of embedded projection is in smart car systems, such as HUDs (Heads-Up Displays) and digital headlights. These systems use embedded projection for visual displays and multi-information output, making them one of the most promising markets for projection technology. With global car sales expected to exceed 100 million units, and each car potentially equipped with multiple projection devices (e.g., HUD + dual headlights), the potential market dwarfs the current 20 million-unit global projection market, even including $50 budget models.
Balli introduces another potential application: service, companion, or home robots. By using projection, Balli can display large visuals beyond its physical size, expanding robot communication from AI voice commands and remote controls to graphical interactions. Plus, it can double as a fun movie screen in consumer and service scenarios.
While sci-fi movies often depict holographic projections, today’s technology isn’t quite there yet. However, embedded projection can already deliver displays ranging from a few inches to over 100 inches, significantly enhancing product information display, interaction, and application value.
Looking ahead, the demand for robots could surpass that of smart cars. While a car serves multiple passengers, a household might need not only service robots but also companion robots for children and the elderly. This suggests that robot-embedded projection could rival the automotive market as a major growth area.
Balli: A Clever Market Concept
The idea of companion electronics isn’t new. Over two decades ago, Sony introduced the AIBO robot dog, a mechanical pet with limited AI capabilities. Today, Sony could leverage advanced AI or even AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) to revive its companion robot lineup.
Another example is the smart speaker, which gained popularity over the past decade for its voice-activated features like storytelling, music playback, and simple queries. However, after peaking in 2019, smart speaker sales have plummeted. In China, for instance, sales dropped from 36.54 million units in 2020 to 21.11 million in 2023, with only 568,000 units sold during the 2024 Singles’ Day shopping festival.
The key difference between robot dogs and smart speakers? Cost. While robots with flexible limbs are impressive, they’re expensive. Smart speakers, on the other hand, can cost as little as a few dollars, making them far more accessible.
Samsung’s Balli strikes a balance: it moves, offers upgraded features, and keeps costs in check. It uses wheels for basic movement, avoiding the high costs of complex joint mechanisms. Balli combines the functions of a smart speaker, home control hub, and projector, integrating AI voice and audiovisual applications with bi-directional machine vision and multiple sensors for spatial awareness. Its compact size and simple design make it more affordable than full-fledged robots.
While Balli’s movement is limited compared to jointed robots, its market positioning is precise. Whether it succeeds remains to be seen after its launch.
Robot-Embedded Projection or a Moving Projector?
Industry experts note that Balli’s core features, aside from its mobility, are already present in existing smart projectors. Essentially, Balli can be seen as a robot with an embedded projector or a moving, battery-powered smart projector developed by Samsung.
Traditional smart projectors already offer AI voice interaction, auto-focus, and smart home integration. The decline in smart speaker sales isn’t due to disappearing demand but rather the rise of alternatives like TVs and smart projectors, which offer similar functionalities.
If future animal or humanoid robots incorporate projection screens, it would represent a new application for embedded projection. However, Balli, with its wheeled movement and bi-directional machine vision, feels more like a traditional smart projector that moves. Still, it’s a clever and innovative design that carves out a new niche.
From a technical perspective, Balli isn’t without innovation. Its projection capabilities extend beyond movies, including small 10-inch displays underfoot, 100-inch maps on the floor, or 100-inch movies on walls. Its optical system must handle varying focus distances, screen sizes, brightness levels, and projection angles, all while integrating with pointing devices for interactive applications.
To address these challenges, Balli introduces a switchable lens system, a first in projection history. It likely features both short and medium-focus lenses, automatically switching to meet different needs. This innovation is particularly significant given the difficulty of covering both short and long focal lengths in a compact, cost-effective design.
Conclusion
From its prototype debut in 2020 to its 2025 launch, Balli AI has made significant strides in AI, sensors, and functionality. One of its most notable advancements is the addition of projection capabilities. How Balli’s innovations will shape the future of embedded projection and impact the broader robotics and consumer electronics industries is a story worth watching.
