After making a comeback at last year's CES, Samsung's rolling robot Ballie is expected to hit the consumer market as a finished product sometime in 2025. This is the current message from Samsung. Five years ago, Ballie made its debut at CES and has since undergone practical redesigns, making its launch seem imminent, though some remain skeptical.
Ballie's wheel design has drawn attention, with some perceiving it as somewhat fragile. Speculations suggest that Samsung may have intentionally introduced this weakness, hinting at potential future scenarios where Ballie could secretly assemble an army against humanity. However, these are mere speculations.
Regardless, Ballie reappeared at CES in Las Vegas. During Samsung's First Look event last night, attendees watched the latest demonstration video of Ballie. In the demo, when asked about nearby attractions like "The Sphere," Ballie projected information onto the ground. When requested for more details and driving directions, Ballie turned automatically to project images on nearby walls for better visibility.
In another segment, Ballie was asked to play a movie. It selected Sony's "Uncharted" and, upon being instructed to enlarge the image, smartly found a wall that could accommodate the enlarged projection. The brightness of the projection wasn't particularly high; Ballie performed better when projecting directly onto the floor in front of it. While the device isn't notable for its brightness, its built-in speakers deliver adequate volume without distortion.
In another demonstration, when presented with two bottles of wine and asked which one paired better with dinner, Ballie showcased its visual AI capabilities. Most queries were responded to within seconds without issues. However, this was a tightly controlled demo, and Ballie might have been pre-programmed with these responses.
Ballie primarily interacts through voice commands but occasionally projects virtual buttons on the ground that users can step on to make selections. It also features robust smart home control abilities, allowing users to command it to manage lighting and various daily routines.
Samsung has informed several media outlets that Ballie will launch this year. TechRadar even provided a more specific timeframe, "first half of 2025." More details might be shared during Samsung's CES keynote today. As for pricing, it remains unclear how much consumers would be willing to pay for such a robot, especially given expectations set by characters like BB-8 and WALL-E, which can be hard to meet.
