Artificial intelligence today invades every aspect of technologies that until a few years ago had never been related to it. There is no manufacturer worth their salt attending the IFA fair in Berlin, the most important consumer electronics show in Europe, without AI being present among the functions of their devices, a way to optimally automate multiple functions without the user having to learn new things every time they acquire a device. For that, in most cases, it is necessary for the algorithms to analyze in some detail what they have in front of them. The solution is cameras, which are beginning to be present in practically all types of devices. Eyes for AI.
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How can a washing machine know the color and fabric of the clothes in the drum? With a camera inside, of course. That allows it to automatically define the most suitable program for washing. It is a functionality appreciated by those who have suffered the experience of damaging some of their garments by not correctly choosing the temperature, washing program, or whether spinning is appropriate.
The use of a lens in a Miele dishwasher decides which washing program it carries out
Cameras are present to know what food we have put in the oven and suggest to the user the most suitable cooking program. For example, to roast a chicken. The camera detects the product and the AI decides temperature, time, and cooking method or whether it needs steam or not, one of the trends in recent years among appliance manufacturers.
There are obvious things about the presence of cameras to help the user, but others are not so obvious. We go to the supermarket and do not remember if we have a certain product. From the mobile app, we only need to ask the manufacturer’s app if we have it in the fridge. At a glance, AI responds, thanks to its camera, whether the food is in the refrigerator and how long it has been stored, in case it is approaching its recommended expiration date and it is necessary to consider replacing it.
A Dyson toothbrush and oral irrigator analyzes 28 images per second of the inside of the mouth
The most sophisticated AI features are in premium models. The Haier ID Ultimate Series 6 oven, for example, uses its camera so that artificial intelligence not only detects what food is cooking and what is the most suitable setting to prepare it, but also constantly monitors the cooking progress to stop it at the most appropriate moment. The user can also follow the images from a mobile app. Goodbye (supposedly) to burnt food.
One of the products that best demonstrates how to take AI further in appliances is the Miele G8 Diamond dishwasher. The internal camera inside allows artificial intelligence to make crucial decisions about washing. First, it analyzes the degree of occupancy inside. If it detects the presence of pots and pans, it increases the washing intensity. If there are plastic materials, it programs a special drying. The images are what guide the decisions the machine makes.
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In this edition of IFA, the AI functions presented by manufacturers are becoming increasingly sophisticated. If until now everything was based on instant vision for decision-making, they can now also analyze past records. Samsung’s Bespoke AI Family Hub refrigerator, which uses these technologies to recognize the foods that are placed or removed from inside, keeps a complete inventory to track product expiration dates and even offer recipe recommendations.
Robots remain the promise that has yet to reach the home
Year after year, the extensive fairgrounds in Berlin host countless robot exhibits at IFA. It is one of the big attractions of the event, which even has its own pavilion dedicated to automatons, but time passes and the promise of a robot that does household chores remains unresolved, despite the remarkable advances achieved in recent years. It is the tool that AI lacks to fully interact in the human world, although for now it will have to wait.
One of the robotics companies present at the Berlin fair has been the Chinese Unitree, which periodically amazes the world with the acrobatics their robots can perform. In this edition of IFA, their humanoids showed a boxing match between machines that was one of the points of public attraction and video recording with mobile phones at the fairgrounds.
One of the trends in the sector is pets, whether life-size or small, to roam the house and perform surveillance and companionship functions for real animal pets that they can feed remotely by user command.
The most spectacular humanoid at IFA 2026 is the EngineAI T800 – the name of the robot model embodied by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Terminator movie series –. It is a machine with an intimidating presence that in demonstrations simulates a bare-knuckle fight inside a ring. It costs almost 33,000 euros and can already be purchased to take home. It can punch and deliver spectacular martial arts kicks but is not designed to do laundry or cook lunch.
With the arrival at advanced ages of the populous baby boom generation, one of the trends at IFA, halfway through robotics, is leg-worn exoskeletons that help with walking and climbing slopes and stairs. It is a type of product designed to assist people with reduced mobility. Even appliance companies like Haier have developed their own model with a view to soon commercializing it.
One of the companies that has presented the most novelties at IFA is Dyson, among which stands out for its originality the CameraJet electric toothbrush, a product developed over the last six years. It also has a camera with a 100,000-pixel macro lens with light. Its artificial intelligence system analyzes 28 images per second during brushing. It detects interdental spaces in a tenth of a second and has a mouthwash jet that targets the appropriate space at each moment to clean it as if it were dental floss.
This function may seem strange or difficult to market. None of that. It has just been launched. It costs 479 euros and is already sold out for purchase.
