SoftBank, Haier team up to connect Pepper robot, smart appliances

Japan-based robotics company SoftBank is now collaborating with home products giant Haier to integrate smart robots and home appliances for the China market. The partnership was announced by Haier ahead of this year’s Appliances & Electronics World Expo (AWE).

The two big names in their respective industries are reportedly starting their major move with Pepper, Softbank’s popular humanoid service robot. The upgraded Pepper will be able to work with Haier’s U+OS open platform to control intelligent China home appliances the way its owners want it. Customizability and adaptive settings can be expected to be among the most interesting features for buyers.

Haier is eyeing more smart service robots to work with its smart home offerings in the near future, expressing its goal of having its own industry-leading service robot division. Haier and SoftBank’s optimism in this partnership is likely to be rewarded with big gains for the service robot market, according to Research and Markets, is expected to boom through 2022, by a threefold increase from its $7 billion value in 2016. Service robots for professional and household use are enjoying a high demand due to growing awareness, interest in automation, bigger industry investments, and spiraling labor costs.

The industry is already on that path as a few manufacturers have jumped into the trend. Makers are offering importers smart robots that can control home appliances and do other things. Some interactive models can listen to voice commands or pair with a mobile app for that function.