CES 2025: Samsung’s AI Robot Ball With a Projector Is Real and Ready to Roll in 2025 – CNET
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Ballie, a little robotic smart home ball that made waves in previous shows, is becoming a real product.
Samsung’s yellow Ballie home robot is going to ship this year. Samsung’s Ballie made waves at CES 2020 as a home robot concept that could one day roam your home. Last year, Samsung brought it back to the tech show to say that it was giving the device a projector that can stream information and content onto different surfaces. At CES 2025 here in Las Vegas, it’s taking things a step further and announcing that it will ship the rolling robot this year in the US. We don’t have the price or a release date yet, but during one presentation, the Wall-E-like robot was able to share information about Las Vegas attractions, turn on lights and various smart home products by voice command and project the movie Uncharted onto a nearby wall. When Ballie was asked to “make the screen bigger,” the circular robot turned around to find a different wall that it could project a larger image onto. The device has built-in speakers for sound. Read more: We Spent Hours Watching a Robot Vacuum Pick Up Socks. It’s a Dream Come TrueIn addition to voice controls, Ballie also recognizes your “foot presses” onto a virtual button to complete a task, like saying OK or “show me more.” An array of cameras and sensors makes this virtual interaction possible. After being presented two wines and being asked which would pair better with steak, Ballie was able to use your “foot presses” to ask follow-up questions and eventually provide a recommendation. Samsung isn’t the first company to try to bring robots into the home. For the last couple of years, Amazon has sold the Astro home robot, which is powered by Alexa and can move around the home, but today it is only selling the $1,600 device by “exclusive invitation.” LG has similarly shown off ambitions for home robots at previous CES shows, but it’s unclear when or if those products will ever be available. Even Apple has been rumored to expand into the smart home, with a report last year suggesting that it was looking into the space. More recent rumors have claimed that Apple might share news about new smart home products as soon as March. For more from CES 2025, check out the most innovative products from the show that you can actually buy now.
