LG Unveils AI-Powered Washing Machine in Kenya

Consumer Electronics provider LG has announced the introduction of a new Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered 2021 Vivace 950 (V950) Washing machine into the Kenyan Market.

“This follows a rise in demand for home appliances in the country attributed to the adoption of the work-from-home model brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic,” read a statement from LG to newsrooms. “This is besides a significant growth in the working women population that is driving the demand for appliances such as Washing Machine and Refrigerators that assists women with household chores.”

Commenting on the launch, LG Electronics East Africa Managing Director Sa Nyuong Kim said the V950 machine is aimed at making it easier for everyone from professionals to working mothers to maintain a happier, healthier home as they attempt to balance work and family life.

Data from research firm GFK shows that the global market for small and large household appliances recorded an excellent first half of 2021, with sales of small appliances up 21 per cent and large appliances up 31 per cent compared to the same period last year, which was impacted by lockdowns. Internal data from LG reveals that uptake from washing machines has gone up by 37% compared to last year while that for AI Direct Drive (AI DD) has increased by 219%.

“At the Centre of our mission is to help consumers embrace life and prepare them for its greatest moments. From where I sit, no better washing machine would have delivered this objective better than the LG AI Direct Drive (DD) V950 washer. To us, life’s about more than having the latest technology. It’s about the experiences technology creates”. Said Kim

The 12Kg, AI DD washer can not only detect the weight but also senses the softness of fabric, and it chooses the optimal motions for the fabric by itself. This means the washer can detect a mixed load of t-shirts and pants (different from bedding, delicate and other fabric combinations) and program the wash cycle to use customized motions, temperatures and times for the optimal wash.

It is the latest upgrade from the AI DD line-up of washing machines with the last model (2020) being the V900 and previous models V500 and V300. In terms of capacity, the previous models could only handle between 7 and 10.5Kg on a standard cotton washing cycle.

Besides, the Artificial Intelligence Direct Drive – AI DD feature and deep learning technology, the machine is optimized to offer intelligent care and perfectly enhance washing performance by not only detecting the volume and weight of each unique laundry load but also using AI and advanced sensors to identify fabric types in each load hence delivering both effectiveness and efficiency.