KT, the second-largest mobile carrier in South Korea, on Tuesday unveiled an artificial intelligence-based Internet Protocol television set-top box with an aim to realize smart home system centering on TV.

Named “GiGA Genie,” the AI platform looks like an ordinary speaker. The 28-centimeter-tall device resembling a spaceship is equipped with Harman Kardon’s 20-watt woofer and 15-watt tweeter. It also has a 6-megapixel camera that will help maximize the sound effect with visual images and better execute users’ commands.

“It is the world’s first AI platform that combines audio and visual effects,” said Lim Heon-moon, chief marketing officer of KT at a press conference.

SK Telecom, an archrival of KT, has launched a voice recognition-based 21.2-centimeter-tall cylindrical device acting as a speaker and light-emitting diode lamp, dubbed “Nugu” last August.

KT believes the idea of a smart home can be realized starting with the TV in the living room of an ordinary household.

The GiGA Genie linked to a TV not only controls the TV, but also other linked devices based on the Internet of Things technology. It can control up to 11 IoT devices including the door lock, air cleaner and gas valve.

The KT platform provides four main services: media (KT-provided Olleh IPTV and Genie Music), daily assistance (scheduling), home IoT hub service and voice/video calls.

A user just needs to call “Genie” and give an order, for example, “Put Guardian Episode 13.” While watching the TV drama, the user can check his or her daily schedule. If there is an incoming call, the TV screen shows a message and can display a video call.

“We are still using too many remote controllers at home, which is still far from a true smart home,” Lim said. “KT’s goal was to reduce the number of remote controllers, replacing them with this single unique set-top box that can control every device at home.”

Partnering with Kakao Taxi, Genie can call a taxi and provide traffic information about a destination by showing a map and audio explanation.

“KT has applied the country’s best voice recognition technology to Genie,” said Baek Gyu-tae, senior vice president at Institute of Convergence Technology at KT. “Our technology has nearly 90 percent accuracy recognizing natural language, if it’s Korean.”

The more data the platform accumulates, it will become much smarter based on the big data principle, he said.

KT plans to expand the Genie service to the fields of energy, finance, medicine and driving in the near future.

“We soon plan to upgrade the platform to a higher level of information processing and then expand it to various fields beyond home based on our upcoming 5G and IoT technologies,” Lim said.  

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)