LG Electronics (LG) will introduce the first of a suite of AI technologies for its smartphones at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
The new technology will be featured in the 2018 version of the flagship LG V30.
LG spent more than a year researching how AI should be implemented in smartphones, before announcing LGThinQ at CES 2018. This research focused primarily on making AI-based solutions with the objective to deliver a unique and more intuitive user experience, focusing on the camera and voice recognition.
The result is a suite of AI technologies that is aligned closely with the needs and usage behaviour of today’s users.
On top of a list of camera features that include dual lenses, wide-angle low-distortion lenses, and the all-glass Crystal Clear Lens, Vision AI makes the camera of the LG V30+ even smarter and easier to use.
Vision AI automatically analyses objects and recommends the best shooting mode from among eight modes: portrait, food, pet, landscape, city, flower, sunrise, and sunset.
The angle of view, colour, reflections, backlighting, and saturation levels are all taken into consideration as the phone analyses images in its database to determine what the camera is focusing on in order to recommend the best setting. For example, pointing the camera at a plate of pasta will result in food mode being invoked, resulting in warmer colours and heightened sharpening for the most appetizing shot possible.
LG collaborated with a partner in image recognition to analyse more than 100-million images in order to develop the phone’s image recognition algorithms. Over 1 000 unique image categories were created for more accurate image analysis, resulting in better shooting mode recommendations.
Another feature of Vision AI provides shopping advice through smart image recognition. By simply pointing the camera at an object, LG’s Vision AI can automatically scan QR codes, initiate an image search or provide shopping options including where to purchase the item for the lowest price and other similar products that the customer might find of interest.
A new low-light shooting mode automatically brightens images in dim environments by a factor of two. Instead of conventional methods of measuring external light levels, Vision AI instead measures the brightness of the actual image that will be recorded, resulting in brightness levels that are adjusted much more accurately.
Another new feature is Voice AI that allows users to run apps and change settings through voice commands alone. Working alongside Google Assistant, the 32 LG-exclusive Voice AI commands — up from 23 commands in 2017 — Voice AI eliminates the need to search through menu options and allows for direct selection of specific functions.
LG’s strategy for smartphones is to continue expanding its AI capabilities while also refining existing features to make them more convenient to use. Certain AI features will not be limited to new LG models only, but also to existing LG smartphones via over-the-air updates, taking into consideration various hardware specifications and stability of LG smartphone models for maximum user experience.
“As we communicated last month at CES, the future for LG lies in AI, not just hardware specs and processing speeds,” says Ha Jeung-uk, senior vice-president and business unit leader for LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. “Creating smarter smartphones will be our focus going forward and we are confident that consumers will appreciate the advanced user experience with the enhanced V30+ that many have been asking and waiting for.”