CES 2020: Tech companies unveil glimpse into the homes of the future

Home appliances are ready to serve us in entirely new ways and at a technology event in Las Vegas, we saw exactly how that will work.

Welcome to the home of the future.

If there is a button, a dial, a switch or a lever on any appliance in your home, there is a good chance it is moments away from being superseded.

In 2020 the smart home is well and truly here. We are no longer talking about the internet of Things, that’s done, now we’re focused on the Intelligence of Things. We shouldn’t be spending time learning about technology, technology is now learning about us. The home appliances are ready to serve us in entirely new ways and at CES in Las Vegas, we saw exactly how that will work.

The refrigerator has been evolving in the last few years, both Samsung and LG are trading blows to have the next best thing.

This year Samsung has improved the Family Hub which still features a larger touch display and LG revealed one which is very similar but is not confirmed for Australia.

Samsung’s Family Hub.

Samsung is improving on the Family Hub in 2020 is with artificial intelligence.

The cameras inside your fridge will be able to identify each object and the amount of them. As items are removed it will take stock of this too. You can inform your fridge of the dietary requirements that exist in the family and your fridge will be able to put together meal plans for you or suggest recipes for dinner.

The large touchscreen display can help display the steps to cook the meal or read it out loud to you through the speaker on board. If ingredients are low it will add them to a shopping list that can be ordered when convenient to you.

The Family Hub also acts as a noticeboard for the family, a great spot to display photos and can control the smart home such as viewing who is at the front door or switching off lights. The television experience can also be shifted to the Family Hub when you’re in the middle of watching a game and but also need a drink.

From LG however one innovation that is coming to Australia in one of their latest fridges is the next level of the ice dispenser. Many fridges today have cubed or crushed ice dispensers, sadly they melt quickly and water down a lovely Negroni. LG is adding a third ice option to their fridge, Craft Ice. A perfect 2 inch sphere that melts slowly and sits ideally in an Old Fashioned glass.

The oven has taken minor steps from being a two sectioned appliance with one side for a log fire. Whirlpool have a new oven that has read all the cooking books. The dials are all gone and replaced with a small touch screen. It can be controlled through voice using Google or Amazon’s voice assistants or via an app on your smartphone.

One use case would be placing a pork roast into the oven, selecting “Pork Roast” and closing the door. The Whirlpool can cook at the correct temperature for the item and continually measure the internal temperature of the meal.

Once it is ready, you’ll receive a notification and the oven will keep it warm. Further, you could use the app to scan the barcode on the box of a frozen pizza and just put it in the oven as it is now prepared with the cooking instructions from the food manufacturer.

The home appliances are ready to serve us in entirely new ways and at CES in Las Vegas, we saw exactly how that will work.

LG also took a step towards innovating around the oven with an InstaView function on the door enabling you knock on the glass to see inside, no need to open the oven door again. They’re also adding air fryer capabilities to the oven for a healthier way to fry potato chips with only a teaspoon of oil. Sadly, this oven is not confirmed for sales in Australia yet.

The kitchen sink itself is not about to evolve entirely, but the faucet is. Moen have a new smart faucet which you can talk to. Asking for 150 ml of water will deliver it once you place the cup underneath the faucet. Further, you can ask for a desired temperature too.

This means you could fill a baby bottle with the correct temperature and amount, or when the recipe from your fridge asks for two cups of water you’ll just turn to the faucet and ask for it.

Moen have a new smart faucet which you can talk to.

In the near future the fridge will ask the faucet without your input.

With all of this mess in the kitchen there is some cleaning to be done. The latest robot vacuums on the market have become far more intelligent than ever with the ability to adjust suction based on floor types, able to select rooms to be vacuumed and some with suction that mean it could entirely replace the stick or roller models.

LG went and made the next step robotic, the mopping.

The new CordZero Robotic Mop will be able to clean your hard floors and avoid the carpeted areas, already identified by the vacuum.

The new CordZero Robotic Mop.

Once the vacuum has finished cleaning the house, it informed the mop which then springs into action. A water reservoir and spinning soft pads will gently clean your floors before returning to base. Both could be individually controlled for spot cleaning or the full house while you’re at work or relaxing on the couch.

Moving into the laundry and washing machines. These big lumps have a dial with a bunch of functions and most of us only use one setting every single time.

We guesstimate the amount of detergent required and assume we’re doing the job. We’re actually destroying the fabric in our clothes by stressing them in tough loads and also using more detergent than required.

The new washer and dryer from LG is able to detect each item’s fabric type as it is put into the washer. It then measures the weight of the load and uses the amount of detergent it thinks it needs.

A large reservoir of detergent sits in the machine itself so that you don’t have to measure quantities again. The washer can then perform its job with the correct settings for the load it has been given.

A large reservoir of detergent sits in the machine itself so that you don’t have to measure quantities again.

As clothes move to the dryer, that same knowledge is passed from the washer to the dryer to ensure an appropriate cycle there too. Essentially, anyone who can manage to put clothes inside these machines can now do the perfect load of washing.

Into the bathroom and Kohler have automated and added multiple voice controls to the shower or vanity mirror experience. Setting the shower temperature can be done as soon as you walk into the room and makeup lighting can be turned on with a command. Further, your mirror can play you the news and weather or your shower head can stream music.

But the toilet appears to be the last place we thought we needed anything smart. The Numi 2 from Kohler has Amazon Alexa built-in, ambient lighting that senses you and guides you in the middle of the night, a speaker for listening to music or traffic reports, a heated seat, laser guided bidet and automatically flushes and puts the seat down when you leave.

It will cost upwards of $10,000 in Australia should you be so inclined.

That’s an expensive toilet.

Not many people in 2020 will have all of the above products in their home, but as one appliance moves beyond repair, your replacement will likely have a level of intelligence similar to the above and start finally working for you.

And not the other way around.

Geoff Quattromani travelled to CES as a guest of Jabra, LG, Uber and HERE Technologies. Continue the conversation on Twitter @GQuattromani