LG Electronics’ AI Home testbed “ThinQ Real” at LG Science Park in Gangseo-gu, Seoul. Reporter Kim Yoon-soo
LG Electronics’ AI Home testbed “ThinQ Real” at LG Science Park in Gangseo-gu, Seoul. Reporter Kim Yoon-soo
When an oven was activated in the kitchen, curtains parted and windows swung open in the living room across the way. The home artificial intelligence (AI) had detected that cooking had begun and started ventilation on its own. As one researcher watched, he commented, “On days with heavy fine dust outside, opening the windows might actually be worse.” Another researcher then modified the AI settings so that when fine dust levels are “bad,” the air purifier runs at a higher setting instead of opening the windows, and ran the test again.
On the 27th, at LG Electronics’ (066570.KS) AI Home testbed “ThinQ Real,” located at LG Science Park in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, researchers were busy testing new AI appliance technologies and products. The 100-square-meter space, the size of what is called the “standard apartment unit” in Korea, replicated not only a kitchen and living room but also an entryway, bedroom, bathroom, and dressing room. Dozens of appliances, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and sensors were linked together, with performance optimization and launch preparations underway.
“Development teams can conduct real-environment testing here on products developed in the lab,” an LG Electronics official explained. “Planning teams can also go beyond desk work and actually live here, learning daily routines to plan new products more efficiently.” ThinQ Real, which had been operated as two separate spaces since 2022, was reorganized to integrate them into the standard-sized unit tailored to actual four-person household living, and reopened last month.
In one demonstration, an employee gave voice commands to the AI Home hub “ThinQ ON,” such as “It’s hot, please turn on the air conditioner” and “Just dehumidify so it doesn’t get cold,” while observing how the new “AI Cold-Free Air Conditioner” mounted on the ceiling responded. The AI Cold-Free Air Conditioner, which features the ability to dehumidify without lowering the temperature, is set for release soon. Tests are underway to link it with ThinQ ON, a palm-sized toggle device that allows voice-based management of LG Electronics’ entire range of AI appliances. Notably, ThinQ ON, equipped with a large language model (LLM), can deliver customized responses—such as suggesting that the air conditioner be turned on—even when users speak indirectly, simply saying “It’s hot,” without issuing direct commands.
Throughout the interior, simultaneous demonstrations of new AI technologies could also be observed. Representative examples include a cinema mode that closes the curtains when the TV is turned on to create a cozy, theater-like atmosphere, and a healing mode that dims the lights and plays soothing music when someone sits in the massage chair. The bathroom was equipped with a “smart faucet” that maintains a constant water temperature during showers and detects how full the bathtub is to alert the user, as well as a “Bath Air System” that detects temperature and humidity in real time and automatically turns warm air, ventilation, and air circulation on and off as needed to remove moisture and odors—both also being prepared for release or further performance refinement.
AI Home can recognize family members individually and provide functions tailored to each person’s lifestyle patterns. This is done through ThinQ ON together with the entryway door lock. The door lock identifies who has entered the home by checking registered fingerprints or authentication information from smartphones or watches. Lighting, music, curtains, and appliance settings are then automatically adjusted accordingly. The wall pad integrates a wide range of functions, from controlling devices in the home to calling the elevator, checking parking locations, reviewing visitor history, and reserving community facilities.
LG Electronics plans to use ThinQ Real as a showroom for business-to-business (B2B) customers such as construction companies and developers, expanding its AI Home solutions business. “AI Home has secured 320,000 newly built apartment units as customers,” an LG Electronics official said. “In preparation for the decline in new apartment sales, we plan to newly target the 4 to 5 million existing apartment units built since 2018 that support wall pads.”