At the 2026 IFA in Berlin, major appliance manufacturers presented concepts in which home devices do much more of the routine work for users. Hisense, TCL and LG centered their stands on the same idea: devices that not only communicate with each other but learn occupants’ habits and context to proactively meet individual needs.
What the companies demonstrated: concrete scenarios
Hisense highlighted its V AIOS home operating system, saying devices can learn household routines and moods and attempt to infer users’ goals rather than merely execute single commands. One demo scenario described a big sports event: in the morning the system displays a reminder on the TV, prepares the first coffee, optimizes home energy use by switching off unnecessary lights and the air conditioner, and suggests ordering food early because delivery times typically increase around games. Shortly before kickoff the TV switches to sport mode, lights and temperature adjust for viewing comfort, and after the match the system may start charging an electric car during a cheaper electricity period. It also plans the washing cycle so laundry is ready by morning and presents a personalized highlights summary on the TV the next day.
Hisense also showed a use case for an older person: if the system sees a deviation from a known routine (for example the usual morning coffee hasn’t been made), it displays a message on the TV and, if there is no response, notifies a designated relative.
TCL advertised similar functionality through its NXTHOME platform, and LG presented comparable features with its ThinQ Claw platform — all promising device collaboration and context-aware personalization.
Preconditions and limitations
Several practical constraints emerged. First is ecosystem lock-in: these systems work best when a household’s devices come from the same brand. Mixing an LG TV, a Hisense fridge and a TCL air conditioner for price reasons will not produce the same level of seamless interaction as a single-vendor setup. That trade-off can force consumers to sacrifice certain features or pay higher prices.
Second, the AI must learn sensitive personal data: voices, moods and daily routines. Manufacturers emphasized that the most sensitive information would remain on devices and that users can choose which AI services to enable. Still, smart TVs continue to send substantial data to manufacturers, which may be used not only for product improvement but also for marketing purposes.
Together, interoperability, data flows and consumer choices determine whether these networks are secure and genuinely in users’ interest.
The chores the demos don’t solve
Despite the many convenience features, the article notes that several everyday tasks lack practical, widely available automation. Who will go shopping and is a consumer willing to give payment details to a fridge? Who will trim meat, peel and chop vegetables, load and scrub hand-wash-only cookware, sort and hang laundry, iron or fold and put away clean clothes? Because full household robots are not yet common — and raise separate safety, privacy and ethical questions — time- and energy-intensive domestic work remains largely human labor.
Conclusion
While manufacturers’ demos at IFA paint a future with many small conveniences enabled by on-device AI, interoperability, privacy and the real mechanics of household labor remain unresolved issues. The article notes that a colleague attended IFA at Hisense’s invitation and expense; the company had no influence on the article’s content.
Photos: Világi Máté / Telex
