Wellness robotics brand NAMUHX held a showcase at the Walkerhill Hotel & Resort in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, on the 23rd, revealing a wellness robot set to be launched in July.
The event began with congratulatory videos from speakers. Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, noted in the congratulatory video, "We are living in an era of great transformation centered on artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics," and added, "I hope NAMUHX, which aims for innovation in wellness, will write a new milestone of innovation for humanity."
In the first session, Choi Sung-hwan, president of SK Networks and permanent advisor of NAMUHX, unveiled the wellness robot and shared the brand philosophy.
Choi noted that "recently, robots are headed in the direction of replacing humans, but technology should be directed towards people." He introduced the brand name by adding an X representing infinite innovation to NAMUH, which is HUMAN arranged in reverse.
He then presented the establishment of an open ecosystem as NAMUHX's key entry strategy and stated that SK Networks plans to collaborate with various promising global companies based on its accumulated global innovation network, Hicosystem, developed over the past seven years.
Next, Jeong Han-jong, head of NAMUHX, took the stage to demonstrate the product. The demonstration showcased key features of the wellness robot, including Air-Solution and Vital sign check technologies.
"Air-Solution technology" is designed to autonomously move to the location of detected pollutants through sensors and purify the air. Professor Kim Tae-yeon from Yonsei University's Department of Architectural Engineering came on stage to introduce the performance of the Air-Solution.
Jeong then demonstrated the "Vital sign check" function. When he sat in front of the wellness robot, the robot attempted facial recognition and, in about three minutes, measured and displayed key biometric information such as stress index, pulse, and oxygen saturation solely through facial recognition.
"Vital sign check" is conducted based on an on-device method, and users can receive biometric information through the NAMUHX app if desired. However, reflecting customer concerns about personal information, facial photos are not stored separately.
In the second session, the theme of "design and technological innovation" was introduced regarding design philosophy. The story of collaboration with artist Choi Young-wook, whose work inspired the product design, was also revealed. Choi stated in the video that he focused on "creating designs that harmonize with everyday spaces."
The following panel discussion featured Chey, Professor Kim Sang-bae from MIT, Ilya Poluskin, co-founder and CEO of NEAR Protocol, and artist Choi Young-wook discussing the topic of "wellness innovation through robotics."
Finally, the future business direction and business roadmap were disclosed. NAMUHX plans to start pre-orders in June, officially launch the product in July in the country, and expand its market overseas.
CEO Kim Wan-sung expressed, "We will grow together with many partners who resonate with NAMUHX's philosophy within the open ecosystem."