SwitchBot had a few AI-powered gadgets on show at IFA 2025; not only a furry little robotic pet (I picked it up and it’s not cuddly). They included an E Ink AI artwork show, which generates AI artwork on demand, an AI tennis robotic which you could “play” matches in opposition to, and a few robotic vacuums. We’ll get to all of that, however the principle factor that caught my eye was the SwitchBot AI Hub.
It’s not that the others aren’t fascinating—in fact they’re—it’s that I really like good, straightforward automation. The promise of the AI Hub is two-fold: it will probably entry SwitchBot’s Imaginative and prescient Language Mannequin (VLM)—such fashions can interpret visuals and textual content on the identical time—enabling pure language prompts that you should use each for establishing automations and looking out related safety digicam footage for occasions they recorded to its inside storage. It solely helps SwitchBot’s cameras for now, though the corporate says that might change later.
Some examples embrace asking the AI Hub, through the SwitchBot app, if you left your cellphone someplace in your home or when your canine acquired out. You may also set it to set off automations primarily based on occasions it identifies, like alerting you that your canine escaped. As for that native storage, the AI Hub comes with 32GB, however that’s expandable as much as 1TB utilizing a microSD card slot on one aspect or one of many USB-C ports on the again.
Sadly, automations utilizing the AI Hub will price cash as you’ll want a subscription to a cloud plan that the corporate will debut in October, in keeping with a SwitchBot rep. They advised me pricing is but to be set. The AI Hub works with greater than 100 gadgets and helps Matter if in case you have a Matter Bridge machine. It could actually additionally connect with a show and present you the real-time streams from as much as eight 2K-resolution SwitchBot cameras.
Now, in regards to the AI artwork frames. These use E Ink Spectra 6 colour shows, and not less than below the intense lights of the IFA present flooring, they’re very convincing as artwork prints. They arrive in 7.3-inch, 13.3-inch, and 31.5-inch sizes, last as long as two years on a cost, and are suitable with Ikea frames, so that you don’t want to only use those they arrive with.
As for what the show exhibits, it’s, effectively, AI artwork. Which means you’ll be able to describe artwork you’d wish to see, utilizing the SwitchBot app, and it’ll present it on the frames. You’re gonna be artwork that’s an approximation of one thing a human created, which was very apparent after I noticed the frames—each had been clear simulacrums of Vincent van Gogh’s “Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear,” and “The Starry Evening.” Neat, however personally, I’d be much more concerned about paying a subscription to a service that simply places the precise work on my E Ink display screen.
Lastly, the Acemate Tennis Robotic. It’s like a regular tennis ball-firing robotic with a internet so that you can goal at, besides it will probably roll across the courtroom to catch your balls and simulate one other participant returning them by firing one other ball at you. The corporate says this machine “makes use of twin 4K binocular cameras and superior AI algorithms to trace serves, returns, and rallies with centimeter-level accuracy.” It could actually predict the place your ball goes and drive to it at as much as 5 meters per second, responding inside 0.15 seconds.
The demo area the corporate arrange for this was… lower than very best. It was cramped and flanked by unfastened netting that stored catching on the Acemate’s wheels. However even in such an ungainly atmosphere, it did a surprisingly good job swinging across the courtroom to attempt to catch the balls (generally even efficiently!) that had been batted at it by a human tennis demonstrator on the different finish. When every ball reached it, one other ball would fly out of the underside nearly instantly. It was convincing, and I might undoubtedly see utilizing this factor to apply if in case you have no pals to play with.
SwitchBot says the Acemate serves (pun not supposed) as an AI tennis coach, capturing information about ball pace, spin, internet clearance, and placement, then provides you suggestions utilizing the Acemate app for iOS and Android telephones. The corporate even integrates the Apple Watch to check biometrics knowledge to statistics from matches performed with the robotic.
The Acemate can run for as much as three hours at a time and holds 80 tennis balls. You’ll be able to tweak the way it performs, from setting as much as 20 goal zones to adjusting its spin and pace to fit your skill.
SwitchBot didn’t reveal pricing or availability for any of the merchandise. I’ve requested the corporate, and we’ll replace after we know extra.
