Hancom "Popularizing Home Robots... Opening the Era of 1 Robot per Household"

Hancom Robotics 'Toki2'
In Development with Year-End Release Target

Equipped with AI Technology and Home IoT Features
First Domestic Home Robot Capable of Moving Head and Arms

Monthly Subscription Service Planned

Hangul and Computer Group (Hancom Group), known for its office software (SW) ‘Hancom Office,’ has embarked on innovating its core business. The group is notably expanding aggressively into new business areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and drones, drawing attention. Recently, Hancom Group declared the popularization of domestic robots by developing the home robot ‘Toki.’

Jeon Dong-wook, CEO of Hancom Robotics

Opening the Era of One Robot per Household

On the 4th, Jeon Dong-wook, CEO of Hancom Robotics, stated in an interview with Asia Economy, "Hancom Group’s goal is to create an era of one robot per household." Hancom Robotics, a subsidiary of Hancom Group, is currently focused on developing the home robot ‘Toki2,’ aiming for release within the year. Toki2 attracted attention from foreign media when it participated in ‘CES 2021.’ CEO Jeon shared, "There have been requests not only from Korea but also from the United States even before the launch."

Toki2, an upgraded version of Toki released in 2019, can be easily thought of as a family robot. Toki2 applies AI technology to answer questions and also serves as a personal assistant. It has a security feature that notifies the owner if a suspicious person appears by registering family faces. Unlike Toki, Toki2 is equipped with voice synthesis technology and home Internet of Things (IoT) functions. It can reproduce a mother’s voice exactly to read books to children. Toki2’s ‘Remember Service’ stores family data. For example, if you say, "Show me my daughter’s birthday party," it will display the corresponding video.

According to CEO Jeon, Toki is Korea’s first home robot. He said, "Ironically, due to COVID-19, the era of one robot per household will come sooner," and predicted, "Popularization is definitely possible within 5 to 7 years." He was confident that as AI technology is integrated into robots and they stimulate human emotions, the spread will accelerate. Toki2 is a humanoid robot capable of moving its head and arms, allowing humans to feel intimacy. CEO Jeon explained, "If a robot reads a fairy tale in a mother’s voice, the mother can do other tasks during that time," adding, "Once such usage begins at home, popularization will be faster than expected."

Hancom Robotics is considering introducing a subscription economy model to popularize robots. Although Toki received favorable market reviews, its high price of around 3.5 million KRW made popularization difficult. Toki2 will be priced much more affordably than Toki and plans to introduce a subscription service with monthly fees.

Marking Robotics as a Future Growth Engine

Hancom Group has designated robotics as a future industry for the company. CEO Jeon said, "Hancom Group’s AI technology and software are at a considerable level, and by leveraging the networks of its branches in China and India, it can handle hardware as well, possessing comprehensive ICT convergence technology," adding, "The robotics business is naturally a structure we have to pursue."

Hancom Group is already showing results in logistics robots and guide robots. The guide robot located at the National Museum of Korea is also a product of Hancom Group. Kim Sang-chul, chairman of Hancom Group, has significant interest in robotics and even personally advised on the pricing of Toki2. CEO Jeon emphasized, "Hancom Group adopts popularity, diversity, convenience, and differentiation as management keywords, and the home robot business satisfies all four."

The domestic robotics market is also growing rapidly. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the size of the domestic robotics market is expected to expand from 5.8 trillion KRW in 2018 to 20 trillion KRW by 2025. CEO Jeon stated, "Home robots are currently a product category that does not even exist, but I believe someone has to be the pioneer of the market," and revealed, "Our goal is to create robots like family members."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.