China’s biggest appliance maker wants to wire ‘Iron Man-style households’ for the networked era ahead
- The sister company of industrial conglomerate Midea wants to help Chinese households embrace the artificial intelligence ecosystem
- Midea Real Estate Group to partner with leading technology companies amid expected surge in smart home technology adoption
Chinese conglomerate Midea is pushing ahead with a bold vision for the networked home, working with leading technology companies to create a living environment that one company official described as similar to the futuristic worlds depicted in Hollywood science fiction.
The mainland’s biggest maker of home appliances said its sister company, Midea Real Estate Group, will partner with cloud computing company AliCloud, video surveillance provider Hikvision, electric carmaker XPeng and other companies on developing an artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem for the home.
“Our dream is for every household to have their own J.A.R.V.I.S.” said Li Qiang, head of Midea Real Estate’s Research Institute for Smart Homes, referring to Tony Stark’s artificially intelligent computer in the Marvel Comics franchise Iron Man.
Li said the plan would integrate the property developer’s smart home concept to an intelligent database.
“This would allow homeowners to monitor the conditions of their smart homes from their cars or office, and the other way around,” Li said.