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| A SoftBank Robotics official introduces the company's Whiz robot vacuum during a press conference in Seoul, Tuesday. / Korea Times photo by Baek Byung-yeul |
By Baek Byung-yeul
SoftBank Robotics, an affiliate of Japanese tech giant SoftBank, has announced its bid to enter the Korean market with its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered robot vacuums, its Korean unit said Tuesday.
SoftBank Robotics Korea had a press preview for its Whiz robot vacuum in Seoul. It said it plans to sell the products in the country's business-to-business (B2B) market to commercial enterprises such as offices, hotels and airports.
Following the outbreak of COVID-19, the company also expects there will be a need for its vacuum cleaning robot in hospitals due to the growing demand for unmanned cleaning systems.
"Today, we held a press conference to announce our bid to enter the Korean market and introduce the Whiz," Kim Dong-hyup, business development director at SoftBank Robotics, told reporters. "We don't think we can replace human labor with our Whiz robot vacuum. Instead, we are aiming to lessen the human workload."
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| SoftBank Robotics' robot vacuum Whiz is on display during a press conference held in Seoul, Tuesday. / Korea Times photo by Baek Byung-yeul |
Featuring a light detection and ranging (LiDar) sensor, the company calls the Whiz a fully autonomous vacuum cleaner as the product can detect objects and determine how far away they are. It is powered by BrainOS, an operating system developed by SoftBank-funded Brain Corp, so the product can record different kinds of cleaning routes. Once users teach the Whiz the initial cleaning route on first use, the vacuum robot can repeat the cleaning route autonomously.
SoftBank Robotics launched the Whiz robot vacuum in Japan in May 2019 and other countries such as the United States, China, Singapore, Australia and Europe. The company said worldwide sales of the AI-powered vacuum cleaning robot surpassed the 10,000 mark recently to become a global leader in the B2B robot vacuum cleaner market.
SoftBank Robotics has developed various robots including the Pepper, the world's first "social humanoid robot," but decided to launch the Whiz here first considering market conditions and needs, the company added.
Though the company didn't decide when it will officially launch the product here, its Korean unit has conducted test operations in commercial places such as offices, hotels and shopping malls.
"We've conducted 67 proof-of-concept cases in commercial premises including 36 offices, 18 hotels, six shopping malls and three hospitals over the past six months. Most feedback we received from these places was positive as they could allocate human resources more efficiently," the director said.
The Whiz robots are expected to be rented to B2B customers on a fixed-price subscription basis, but SoftBank Robotics Korea didn't unveil a detailed price policy yet, saying it will make a further announcement on that no later than September.
The Whiz is currently available in some countries for rental at a monthly fee of around $500. Kim said the price plan depends on the market situation of each country. "The price policy will depend on the market situation of each country because we include maintenance in the monthly rental fee in some countries," Kim said.
