(Credit: Samsung)
Samsung is never afraid to show off concepts of its future ideas, and Milan Design Week 2026 is no exception. The event saw Samsung debut its latest concept called Project Luna, a desktop gadget that acts as part robot and part smart speaker.
Project Luna includes a circular head with a screen that rotates to face you. Marketing materials show it rotating to find the best angle, but it can also swivel back and forth depending on where it needs to be pointing. Think of it like how a satellite dish can both rotate and move up and down to better face the sky.
An example setup shown at Milan Design Week includes Project Luna on a kitchen table, connecting with a user’s smartphone, playing music with a record-player-like interface, answering questions via voice and on-screen, and controlling the room's lighting.
Samsung's tech-laden dining table example shows Luna's display showing, "Here are some meal options I recommend for today." Other projectors in the kitchen display information such as the meal's calories and a calendar notification for a dinner party. The information appears to be coming from Luna and its AI-powered abilities.
There isn’t a clear AI assistant on show; the user interface shows something more conceptual than Bixby or Gemini talking to the user.
As with many of Samsung’s concept devices, this is intended as inspiration for future products rather than something you'll be able to buy. In an interview with Fast Company, Samsung’s chief design officer, Mauro Porcini, said this concept is more of a “vibe, a feeling of the kind of [design] language we want to use.”
Porcini also said, “These are all things that could really happen in the future.” We saw Samsung do something similar with early concepts for its foldable phones before debuting similar screen tech in its final releases.
Samsung hasn't historically had the best luck with smart speakers, with canceled projects such as the Galaxy Home back in 2018, followed by delays and a rumored cancellation for its Ballie household robot.
The Ballie robot is designed to follow users around their home, and was expected to launch by the end of 2025. In January this year, Samsung repositioned the product as an "active innovation platform" rather than a consumer-facing gadget, suggesting it doesn't intend to sell Ballie to customers in its current form.