三星的球形机器人Ballie在CES上再次亮相，并宣布将于2025年上市。这款最初在五年前推出的机器人，经过重新设计，具备了更实用的功能。Ballie可以通过语音和地面投影按钮进行交互，能够根据需求将内容投影到墙壁或地面上。它不仅可以播放电影，还能根据场景调整投影大小，内置扬声器音质清晰。此外，Ballie还具备一定的视觉AI能力，可以识别物体并提供建议。它还能够控制智能家居设备。尽管目前展示的仍是受控演示，但Ballie的出现预示着未来智能家居生活的新趋势。

🤖 Ballie是一款球形机器人，它可以通过语音和地面投影按钮进行交互，能够根据需求将内容投影到墙壁或地面上，提供更灵活的视觉体验。

🎬 Ballie具备便携投影仪功能，可以播放电影，并根据场景调整投影大小，内置扬声器音质清晰，但亮度方面表现一般。

🍷 Ballie拥有视觉AI能力，可以识别物体并提供建议，例如在展示中，它能根据用户展示的酒瓶，给出餐酒搭配建议。

🏠 Ballie可以控制智能家居设备，用户可以通过语音指令控制灯光和各种智能家居设备，增强智能家居的便捷性。

Is Samsung’s round robot finally ready to roll out of CES demos and into actual homes?

Ballie, the rolling robot that reemerged at CES last year, will be shipping to consumers as an actual product sometime in 2025. That’s what Samsung is saying at the moment, anyway. We were first introduced to Ballie at CES five years ago. Since then, the robot has undergone a more practical redesign, so maybe it’s really going to happen — but I’m still more skeptical than not.

Am I the only one who thinks those wheels look a bit flimsy? Maybe Samsung is intentionally building in a weak spot and planning ahead for whenever Ballie secretly amasses an army and turns against us.

Either way, Ballie is putting in yet another CES appearance here in Las Vegas. During Samsung’s First Look event last night, I watched the latest canned demo of the round bot. Its operator asked for information about a nearby attraction, The Sphere, which Ballie first projected onto the ground. But when more details and driving directions were requested, Ballie automatically turned around and beamed its image onto a nearby wall instead so that it would have more room to work with.

From there, Ballie was asked to show a movie. It brought up Sony’s Uncharted, and when commanded to make the picture bigger, Ballie was smart enough to look for a wall that could accommodate the enlarged projection. The image wasn’t particularly bright; Ballie does better in that regard when beaming onto the floor immediately in front of itself. Don’t expect any ANSI lumen miracles from this rather small gadget. The built-in speakers were plenty loud, at least, and didn’t sound tinny.

In another interaction, the person demoing Ballie held up a pair of wine bottles and asked the robot which would make a better pairing for his dinner, showing that Ballie has some visual AI powers at its disposal. Responses to most queries came within a couple of seconds without any hiccups. But again, I only saw a very controlled demo, and for all I know, it’s possible that this Ballie already had these answers programmed in. I trust absolutely nothing at this show.

You communicate with Ballie through voice, and at times, the robot also projects virtual buttons onto the floor that can be stepped on to make a selection. (I’m curious as to what its accessibility features might entail.) Samsung has also given Ballie plenty of power over the smart home; you can tell it to control your lights and various routines.

Samsung told outlets including CNET and TechCrunch, that Ballie is indeed rolling out this year. TechRadar got an even more specific “first half of 2025” timeframe. It’s possible Samsung could share more details during its CES keynote later today. As for price, your guess is as good as mine. What’s a fair amount to pay for a robot you’ll insist on showing everyone you know for a few weeks? That is, until you grow to resent Ballie for paling in comparison to the expectations set by BB-8 and WALL-E.

Photography by Chris Welch / The Verge