There’s only so much Mother Nature can do for you when you complain about the weather, but maybe things will go for a neat change with this new voice-controlled LG air conditioner. The LG Whisen is the latest product from the Korean manufacturer to feature voice recognition so you can control the machine from up to 16 feet away. No buttons, no remotes, not even an app. The voice commands range anywhere from Power On and Off to adjusting the temperature and wind strength. Power saving features also boast an average of 72 percent energy reduction – not including the energy it’ll take you to scream and shout at the machine, of course.
However, if you wanted to save your voice and opt for an accompanying app, the tower-style Whisen comes complete with an NFC chip so you can tap your smartphone on the air conditioner to set the temperature to whatever your preset was on the phone. Alternatively, you can also use the LG Whisen App to remotely control the temperature – but it’s theoretically much more fun to just yell out loud and see what happens. The Whisen is equipped with “4D air-conditioned cooling technology” which blows wind from four sides of the machine, and can recognize where the user is in the room to direct the airflow toward their location. It’s also got a camera to shoot videos and double as a security camera, which you can view from your smartphone.
So, even though you may not want to think about cold rooms this winter, the Whisen might be an ideal gadget to look out for in the upcoming months. The top-of-the-line “Champion Style” Whisen starts at 350 million Korean Won, or approximately $3,291, and will be available this spring.