The development of refrigerator intelligentization development misunderstanding, AI empowerment should be around three major directions

An era of Internet of Everything is coming, and Kevin Kelly, the founding editor of Wired, further stated that the most widely used application scenario for the Internet of Everything will be smart home. And as AI is integrated as a basic capability and other technologies, intelligence gradually becomes active, and humanization is considered to be the destination of intelligence.

The wave of intelligence and the convergence of AI capabilities are sweeping the home appliance market, refrigerators, as a mature product form, with the disappearance of the popularity dividend, it is urgent to experience deep changes led by new technologies, intelligent products, standard AI, and gradually become manufacturers. consensus. However, in the view of Nail Technology, there is still a misunderstanding of the intelligentization of refrigerators today. The empowerment of AI in the refrigerator industry should be centered around the core pain points of users.

During the AWE2018, Midea released the AI ​​smart refrigerator BCD-750WGPZV, the product configuration 5M remote speech recognition, millisecond image recognition, the world's first 21.5-inch invisible touch screen, with full space and AI smart food steward two core functions. Whether in technology, products or service, Midea refrigerators are an industry model.

Refrigerator intelligent error zone

Continued negative growth should be the deepest helplessness in the refrigerator market in recent years. According to relevant data released by Aowei.com, the national refrigerator sales in 2016 was 33.95 million units, down 0.6% year-on-year, with sales of 90.3 billion yuan, down 1.9% year-on-year, and reappearing 0.6% in 2017, with sales of 33.76 million units. . The market trend in 2018 is still not optimistic. Aowei Cloud expects that the refrigerator market will reach 33.96 million units in 2018, which is basically the same as 2016.

At the same time, small and medium-sized brands may have fallen into almost unsolved anxiety: public data shows that as of October 2017, top3 brand share reached 54.4%, up 6.1% year-on-year; top5 brand share reached 73.3%, up 8% year-on-year; top10 The brand share reached 90%, up 3.7% year-on-year. The increase in the concentration of the head brand has accelerated the elimination of small and medium-sized brands. In 2017, the number of refrigerator brands decreased by 50 to 70.

Intelligent, basically out of the original functional dimension of the refrigerator product, can be said to be a product upgrade, it is regarded as a good strategy to break through the growth bottleneck by the mainstream brand, but for the overall suppressed small and medium-sized brands, it is worth a straw. However, in the process of intelligentization, some enterprises are interested in gimmicks and flowing into concepts, and there are misunderstandings of product ideas:

First, it ignores the concern about the user's core pain points. By ignoring the user's core pain points, the product cannot highlight the core value. The core value of color TV is audio-visual. The core value of air-conditioning lies in the environmental adjustment in a certain space... The core value of the refrigerator lies in the preservation of food, not the audio-visual entertainment after adding a large screen, and it may not be a boring voice chat. The core value of the product evolves, and it is difficult to achieve a true product upgrade by simply superimposing the functions of other products on the refrigerator.

Second, the intelligent use of the user's real use scenarios. To dilute the core value and impose functions, the product will be separated from the user's real use scene, and the scene will be removed. The representative will forcefully change the user's habits, and the discomfort that comes with it is actually the most influential user experience. Take audio-visual entertainment as an example. The fixed scenes on the home side are basically provided by TV and computer, while the mobile scenes when going out are mobile phones and Pads. It is necessary to change the drama and play games in the kitchen in the kitchen. It is tantamount to change. The user's entire lifestyle.

The detachment of the user's real use scene, in addition to the idea, may also be related to technical ability. For example, even if the preparation is in the early stage, the user may still have the need to query the recipe during the cooking process, and this kind of inquiry may need to be completed through voice interaction. This requires solving two main problems. First, whether the product can be realized. Far-field speech, the second is whether it can achieve good noise reduction and accurate recognition. The user needs to derive the scenario, and the force that meets the user's needs is also the separation of the usage scenario.

The three major directions of AI empowerment

It is not advisable to ignore the user's core pain points and the product that is out of the real use scene. In the view of Nail Technology, from the integration of passive intelligent functions to the empowerment of AI to the refrigerator, the following three directions cannot be separated:

First, around the core pain points, the main attack on food preservation. Fresh food, as the reason for the birth and purchase of the refrigerator, is naturally the core appeal of consumers, AI empowerment, in fact, there is much to do in the preservation of food.

On the one hand, through the built-in camera, you can identify the ingredients, record the best taste period, the data will be learned by artificial intelligence, and then through the active warning reminder, the user can easily manage the ingredients, so as to get better in the best time limit. The taste experience and health guarantee; on the other hand, with the various types of sensors, the refrigerator itself may also make appropriate temperature adjustment judgments to give the food a better preservation environment.

Second, expand the use of scenarios and implement interconnection services. The expansion of the usage scenario actually means that the extended service is reasonably superimposed.

For example, the addition of the recipe function is still limited to the noise behind the screen when the screen is located behind the user or the voice broadcasts the cooking, but it can still play a role at this stage, and may even recommend the cooking method according to the existing ingredients in the refrigerator; Open the food supply chain service, and at the same time remind users of the lack of ingredients according to user habits; for example, whether the refrigerator will recommend the accumulation of the purchase funds to the wealth management account, buy lottery tickets or use for public welfare. When it is necessary to aggregate a variety of services, the refrigerator has also changed from an electrical appliance to a "network device", becoming an interconnection portal.

Third, integrate into the smart family and achieve self-evolution. The so-called "lone wood is not a forest", to maximize the intelligent experience, enjoy a convenient life, intelligent refrigerator also needs to integrate into the smart family.

AI needs to learn and evolve in order to better meet the needs of users. What is needed for learning and evolution is huge data. These data may be unrelated in simple terms, but user habits may be included. Incorporating into a smart family, on the one hand, through the flow of data, refrigerator AI can achieve self-evolution; on the other hand, when smart home Unicom builds a smart home, user needs can be better satisfied.

Beautiful refrigerator AI model

As a mainstream first-line brand oriented to user needs, Midea’s insistence on the intelligent core of the refrigerator is to focus on the user’s core pain points and fit the real use scene. The AI ​​refrigerator released during the AWE2018 is also the main attack and preservation. Expanding the scene and integrating into the system, providing the industry with a AI model of the refrigerator in terms of technology, products and services.

The technical side, around the user's core pain points and real scenes, specifically "3+1":

In response to the core pain point of the user of fresh-keeping food, Midea has upgraded its original “micro-crystal fresh” technology, and integrates the three major preservation technologies of intelligent moisture control, PST sterilization and quick-locking, as the core of food preservation. Provide better protection. Midea's smart refrigerators have a new "3+1" layout.

"3", that is, three major sections: 5M far-field speech recognition, liberating both hands; intelligent image recognition technology upgrade, let HD anti-fog camera clearly identify ingredients, obtain food information and manage recommended ingredients; invisible large screen enhances practicality and fun The new UI interface optimizes visual effects and interactive experiences, simplifies the operation steps and fits the user's usage habits. “1” is data support, including user data and refrigerator data, and the database is fully upgraded to achieve breakthroughs in data application and security.

As mentioned above, the user needs derivative scenes, 5M far-field speech recognition, the solution is that the users who are busy cooking and cooking do not have the pain of querying the required information by touching the visual operation. Of course, the far-field speech recognition brings The free and convenient experience is not limited to this. The user may inadvertently produce the idea of ​​inquiring about the state of the ingredients or purchasing the ingredients while watching TV and organizing the room. It can be operated by the original voice, which may also be regarded as the linkage of the scene. .

The invisible big screen is more reflected in the acceptance of new products. After all, the screen "destroyed" the integrity of the traditional image of the refrigerator, the possible discomfort on the look and feel, perhaps mainly from the "split" of the fuselage and the screen, and the invisible big screen, undoubtedly alleviated this "split feeling." The combination of intelligent image recognition and invisible large screen or voice, similar to the effect achieved by far-field speech, is to enhance the experience and convenient operation, and the user can view the state of the food without opening the refrigerator. As for data support, the main role is to learn from AI, thus providing a more targeted and user-friendly operating experience.

On the product side, according to different family preferences, launch targeted smart products:

AIization also represents the decentralization and pertinence of products to a certain extent. Midea refrigerators use AI intelligent technology to structure user scenarios and intelligent solutions: for urban ladies who are pursuing fine management of life, through "full fresh space", fine storage Full fresh space, ingredients for many days, long-term preservation; for large families with orderly management of large-scale storage, through image recognition, intelligent food management and recommendation, it pays attention to diet freshness and nutrition; through intelligent sterilization, technology preservation Mom group eats fresher and safer...

Of course, this kind of pertinence is also manifested as providing products with different core abilities according to different needs: for a family of two, the US intelligent AI refrigerator, focusing on remote voice, emotion recognition, invisible big screen, voice interaction, etc.; for three Home, the United States intelligent fresh-keeping refrigerator, the main micro-crystal fresh, intelligent moisture control, intelligent sterilization and other functions; for the family of five, the United States smart gourmet refrigerator, the main large volume, large storage, food management and other functions ..... .

Server, open aggregate resources, and build a smart ecological alliance:

"The solitary people are hard to come by, and the walkers are easy to move." In the era of all things connected, even in a certain vertical field, "thousands of thousands of people" will bring a huge demand, and these needs will be externalized into massive subdivision functions. Or service, this process will run through a large number of fragmented micro-innovations, and rely on the internalization of ecological capabilities and their own advantages to achieve "concentricization" extension, and establish contacts with more partners, only open, in order to achieve win-win, especially wisdom The family needs to provide the user with a complete experience. Instead of relying solely on one type of home appliance, it needs to build a complete system.

Relying on the high integration and maximization of relevant resources, Midea's smart refrigerators, together with Baidu, Ali, Box Horse Fresh, Chef, Sohu, and the original life, build a smart food ecological alliance, and work together with the whole industry and the whole industry to promote The development of smart refrigerators creates more value for consumers.

The rationality of the ecological alliance structure lies in respect for the value of data. AI capabilities depend on three key elements, computational power, algorithms, and data, and are user-centric, meeting a variety of existing or potential needs, and relying on data to sustain "education" of artificial intelligence is key. Through the open intelligent ecology, if we can promote the exchange of data between the parties and break the “data island”, it will greatly promote the development of artificial intelligence related technologies and applications. In addition, the “flow” of data is similar to the “flow” of money, which can generate value. This is not necessarily the opportunity and starting point for re-innovation. Accurate to the word "gourmet", after the data is opened, through reasonable analysis of the user's needs, Midea and its partners can provide management from purchase to preservation to gourmet recipes to cooking and entertainment.

In the 1990s, when Negroponte published "Digital Survival," the digital wave has begun to sweep the entire human society. The digitization of terminal products is mainly reflected in the function from intelligence to intelligence, additional networking to interconnection and system formation. The intelligent path of home appliances is irreversible. Artificial intelligence is also gradually being applied as a basic capability, and intelligent initiative is also irreversible. And the intelligentization of refrigerator products, has a good model, like the United States around the core pain points, launch targeted programs, build an open ecosystem, in order to comply with the trend of the times, and ultimately break through the growth bottleneck.