EXCLUSIVE: How is SberPortal and SberBox Top unique in the global market of technology?

Sber, formally known as Sberbank, is the largest bank in Russia and Eastern Europe. Alongside this, Sber is also a diverse ecosystem that encompasses various services, from banking to cloud platforms, driverless cars to food delivery. In their latest venture, Sber, as said by the CEO of SberDevices, Konstantin Kruglov, have created two new devices ‘unique not only for the Russian, but also for the global market.’ With modern features, convenient user scenarios and effective use of AI, why could SberPortal and SberBox be so transformational for the world’s digital market?

SberPortal is the first device of its kind in Russia, resembling products such as Google’s Nest Hub and Amazon’s Echo, but, in some ways, going further. The device has already won 3 international design awards; equipped with a 10-inch display, 4k camera, premium Harmon Kardon acoustics and supporting all known ways of communication with the user, the product is extremely diverse and assistive for people of all needs and wants.

One of the most exciting features of the SberPortal is its virtual assistant, ‘Salut’. ‘Salut’ helps users manage smart devices in the Sber ecosystem and solve a variety of tasks. The level and precision of communication that ‘Salut’ can process is of the highest pedigree thanks to the latest developments in machine learning and AI. Second only to humans, SberDevices’ ruRoberta-large fintetune text model has become the leading text comprehension service, after achieving the best score in terms of accuracy for evaluating large text models from the main Russian-language benchmark, Russian SuperGLUE (General Language Understanding Evaluation). Sber’s NLP (Natural Language Processing platform) is clearly highly developed in how it leverages speech synthesis, recognition technologies and neural networks to turn ‘Salut’ into everybody’s reliable virtual assistant. CTO of Sberbank Group, David Rafalovsky, said ‘that is why we also went into electronics – precisely because we want to give our virtual assistants a proper home in a living room.’

The SberPortal can also be used as a multimedia centre, where users are able to immerse themselves around interactive games, tens of thousands of movies, more than 250 digital TV channels and so much more. A unique feature of the SberPortal is how video shopping is being integrated into film viewing. For instance, if you liked an actor’s outfit in a film, you would be able to find the same, or similar, outfit in the stores through the SberPortal. This is made possible due to computer vision technology, where AI recognises different objects in the visual frame and makes a pathway to purchasing such items, from clothing, furtnitie, food and even identifying locations. This is extremely innovative; in an era when ‘not even an internet connection has given the TV completely new possibilities’, according to Rafalovsky, the SberPortal is an encompassing device that connects different experiences together in a seamless manner.

Alongside such an exciting product comes the SberBox Top. ‘The television has existed for decades and over that time its functions have essentially remained the same’, yet the SberBox Top is ‘an absolutely unique device’, said Rafalovsky. The SberBox Top combines the advantages of other Sber devices, such as the smart camera, movies, games, smart home controls, and takes them to a qualitatively new level. All you need to use a SberBox Top is a TV with a HDMI port and a power supply. After that, you can take it on holiday, to the countryside or simply just to another room in your house to feel completely comfortable with your favourite services on the big screen; its portability is convenience personified for the user.

The usage of gesture control is an exciting tool used in the SberBox Top, making it possible to start and stop videos, like online posts, and even call friends and family on the big screen in an entirely non-verbal manner with great accuracy. The AI camera, with smart focus, will make sure that whoever is speaking can be seen clearly from anywhere in the room, even in video meetings with up to 100 participants. Being able to listen to music and watch videos on the internet at the same time is also achievable, showing how various features work in simultaneous harmony.

This AI camera and gesture recognition goes further, making it possible to exercise with interactive fitness apps on the box. The camera reads how well your body is positioned, how correct your form is and how much progress you are making overall. It’s the experience of a personal trainer in your living room. In an increasingly technological world, society can become increasingly inactive, so this feature is crucial for improving your posture and recovery and showing how the digital world can support the physical. Zenia, the first yoga app featuring a virtual assistant, offers interactive yoga classes for all levels, checking that you are doing your asanas correctly and giving you tips if you are having trouble with something. There’s even something for youngsters too. Kids can play arcade and sport simulators through gesture recognition, showing how the SberBox Top can be ‘a focal point for any house – a functional and convenient device that meets the needs of all members of the family.’

‘As a customer-oriented company, we aim to give people more than financial services – we aim to give them something both on the emotional level and on the product level. We believe in the multimodal interfaces, in general, in this kind of multimodal architecture where voice, touch, gestures, and computer vision can be used interchangeably in conjunction with one another to give amazing user experience. That is why we decided that we’re building virtual assistants and investing into this new interaction model for our customers.’ Rafalovsky’s comments clearly highlight the mission objective of Sber, and the desire and capacity for them to use AI and machine learning to cultivate new, meaningful relationships with consumers through technology.