PETALING JAYA: A mainstay issue for advanced technological adoption is usually the high entry barriers preventing consumers from keeping pace with rapid innovation.
I-Bhd has revealed that at its new development, AI Living, this is solved by shifting the ownership of technology from the individual to the infrastructure.
With the residential tower set to have humanoid robots as functional members of its community, and the broader i-City township as a whole by 2030, the goal is to make these services more accessible for residents.
The collaboration with the Chinese robotics company, Agibot, which is providing the humanoid robots for the development, enables I-Bhd to offer these services through a Robotics-as-a-Service (RaaS) model.
“Domestic robots are no longer a distant concept – they are becoming part of everyday life and something people can realistically come home to today,” said Agibot Asia-Pacific marketing director Jason Liu.
Through the RaaS model, the tower will treat the robots as a functional and optional utility that residents can lease, enabling them to tap into world-class automation services without the added maintenance stress.
This will apply to robots such as the Agibot A2 series, a full-sized humanoid robot designed for guided interactions, and the Agibot X2 series, which are compact, agile humanoid robots capable of natural interaction and navigating complex home environments.
The model also allows the developer to offer these robots at costs comparable to traditional domestic helper services.
The heartbeat of this integration is the i-City SuperApp, which will act as an all-in-one digital platform for i-City’s entire AI ecosystem.
The app will also act as the main platform for communication with the humanoid robots, allowing residents to seamlessly schedule robotic services, like floor cleaning or grocery deliveries, transforming the township into a responsive, on-demand ecosystem.
I-Bhd non-independent non-executive director Datuk Eu Hong Chew said that, at its core, AI Living is fundamentally about improving the quality of life for residents rather than showcasing advanced technologies.
“The first layer is practical, as robotics can take over routine household tasks such as cleaning, reducing reliance on traditional domestic labour models,” he said.
“The second layer addresses demographic trends, like ageing populations and dual-income households, where robotics options extend to elderly assistance, monitoring support, child supervision and companionship services.
“The third layer focuses on wellness and longevity, as residents can monitor key health indicators, such as heart rate and blood pressure, through an AI Wellness application. Over time, aggregated data would allow AI systems and compatible robotics to provide personalised recommendations relating to nutrition, activity patterns and lifestyle optimisation.”
He added that this approach aligns with the developer’s broader vision of embedding wellness and longevity into the core of its future residential environments.
“AI Living is not about humans adapting to machines. It is about designing environments where machines support human wellbeing,” he said.
