Smart home system displayed at N. Korea's IT exhibition

In a field report on the 29th National Exhibition of IT Achievements that opened at the Sci-Tech Complex in the North's capital last Wednesday, the Rodong Sinmun said that an "intelligent home system," developed by a laboratory affiliated with Kim Il Sung University, drew attention from exhibition visitors.

"Visitors showed strong interest in an intelligent speaker developed by the IT Institute of the Latest Science Institute of Kim Il Sung University. The speaker is capable of recognizing human voice to automatically control household devices, including fans, air conditioners, televisions and lights," the newspaper said.

It quoted institute researchers as saying that they indigenously designed and developed voice recognition programs, automatic control devices for appliances and intelligent speakers.

Considering such quotes, the North-developed intelligent speakers seem to refer to an artificial intelligence capable of controlling the smart home system, experts here speculate. They say that North Korea appears to be actively coping with the latest global trends in the IT sector under North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's campaign for economic development.

According to Pyongyang's media, more than 800 information science technology achievements are on display at the 29th National Exhibition of IT Achievements.

The Korean Central News Agency said earlier that the exhibition is divided into nine panels, including a panel for operating systems and information communication networks, one for artificial intelligence and information processing and one for modernizing and automating production process.

Program contests, such as computer-added designing, machine translation, face identification and speech recognition, will also take place during the exhibition, the KCNA said. (Yonhap)