Just like in previous years, our company visited IFA 2026 to see what aesthetics trends and household technologies the future may bring. The tradeshow was full of the usual spectacle: robots that clean, robots that mow, robots that do increasingly (and unnecessarily) suspiciously human things, robots talking to each other, and AI being attached to basically everything.
AI generated illustrations for storyboarding
That is probably the least interesting part of the show.
When this AI-based marketing language is stripped away, a more visible story starts to appear on the physical products themselves. To guide us into this interconnected, smart future, the outer shell of our traditional household electronics also change, incorporating truly useful new features and some others that may not find footing at all on the actual market.
But let’s see them one by one!
01 / AI is everywhere but the physical product is trying to hide it.
The slightly strange thing about IFA 2026 was that AI became more pervasive on paper while becoming less visible in reality.
LG, Samsung, Aqara, UGREEN and plenty of other big household brands presented AI as a layer connecting products, sensors and routines rather than as one spectacular “AI device”. IFA itself framed this around ambient intelligence, smart-home ecosystems and supposedly human-centred environments. [1][3][4]
That actually makes some sense from an industrial-design point of view. A refrigerator, speaker or lighting device does not need to look like it’s connected to the internet or to some LLM-based algorithm tracking the user’s needs and habits. In many of the better examples, the intelligence is supposed to reveal itself through low-key behaviour instead: automatic settings, sensing, local feedback, adaptive lighting or airflow.
UGREEN is a nice example. Its new smart speaker is basically a little pebble with a perforated grille and a restrained light band. There is no giant futuristic screen announcing that the machine is thinking. [5][6]
02 / The control surface is flattening into the product
This was one of the clearest signals from the large appliance brands.
Capacitive swipes, hidden icons, glass surfaces and touch TFTs are increasingly being treated as part of the physical product rather than as separate interface modules.
Electrolux is pushing a dedicated QuickSelect slider into its integrated dishwashers. AEG's new Pure Design hobs hide the cooking-zone markings until the product is active. The 9000 SensePro combines that restrained surface with a full-colour touch display. Rommelsbacher was doing a similar thing on smaller appliances with touch controls integrated into visually clean surfaces. [7][8][9]
There is a nice idea behind this. The product is effectively two different objects: calm and almost anonymous when it is idle, then suddenly precise and informative when it is being used, ideally without any flashy announcements.
But reality was once again a bit different. Walkin through these crowded halls and trying to see what lies in our future, some of these interfaces were simply difficult to wake up or understand. We found ourselves looking for sliders, touching the wrong parts of surfaces and generally trying to figure out what was interactive. Analogue knobs were combined with digital buttons in a not-so-intuitive way. The brands are clearly trying to make the more complex, AI-based controls to disappear when not needed, but there is no universal language for what should happen when they do appear: should all of them be touch-sensitive? Only the sliders or the knobs? Questions like these show that this direction is not solved yet.
Another related design territory may be more interesting for an actual product designer. Somewhere between CMF and UI, we found a lot of carefully designed stuff, too: gloss-to-matte transitions, hidden prints, tiny light lines, raised edges, texture changes or other physical clues that tell the user “this part does something” without covering the whole product in icons.
So the interface is becoming part of the surface, and that naturally means that the surface has to carry some of the burden of the interface from now on.
03 / Air is becoming a rich design category
Fans and air purifiers were probably one of the most interesting product categories to look at from a pure industrial-design perspective.
Dyson's new HushJet range is one of the most popular product presented this year. It moves away from the familiar loop silhouette and uses a compact body with a star-like air-output geometry, as it is supposedly makes for a much better airflow system. So the technology is not simply hidden behind the industrial design, but it’s shaping the aesthetics now. (It looks some sandworm from the Dune movies, so that’s also a plus.) [10][11]
DREO takes a different route. Its new air-management products combine purification and adaptive heating with extended display surfaces, strong colours and a mixture of dark glossy finishes, metallic elements and cheaper-looking plastics. The result is sometimes convincing and sometimes a little all over the place. But at least these products have an opinion: they don’t strive for minimalism to appear futuristic. [12]
Thora's ELF+ goes further into the lifestyle direction by combining air treatment with integrated lighting and a sculptural, twisted metallic body. [13]
The bigger pattern is that airflow itself is becoming a visual object. The nozzle, perforation field, intake, exhaust and diffuser are increasingly allowed to define the front view instead of being hidden behind an anonymous grille. That leads us to our next takeaway.
04 / Ambient lighting is becoming a standard product material
So the approach present at air purifiers can be useful for other kinds of products, too. Air, water, heat, sound (basically anything invisible that a product moves or uses) can become a source of form or shape or a flashy feature. The industrial designer does not have to invent a new technology to make a product feel new: it may be enough to make the physics legible by highlighting its strengths. Maybe in the future, many household products will look restrained and quietly decorative while not in use, but once they are activated, they will more closely resemble the various vibrant “feature presenting” renderings seen on their packaging, complete with various colorful light swirls, glowing LEDs etc. to show how the inner mechanism works.
Fo fit this narrative, the lighting trend at IFA has moved well beyond “put some RGB on it”, even though there was obviously plenty of that too.
Govee is pushing very dense COB strip technology to reduce visible hotspots. Aqara's floor lamp uses side-emitting light to wash a wall rather than simply illuminate the person standing in front of it, while its LED strip uses independently controlled zones to create smoother gradients. Russell Hobbs put twelve ambient colours and nine lighting scenes into a connected kettle and toaster pair. Of course, all of these were marketed as “the first AI-based product” of their kind, a motto becoming quite tiring after a while. [14][15][16]
We found the actual usage of “light as a material” way more interesting than some AI marketing and aggressive color palettes. Thinking about it, the trend makes perfect sense. Light is relatively cheap to add. It can immediately communicate connectivity, activity or mood. It can make a fairly ordinary object feel more premium or futuristic without changing its core mechanism. That probably explains why ambient lighting appeared so often in medium-premium products across the smaller halls.
But as with the Russell Hobbs products, it is also easy to make it look cheap. Analyzing the exhibited products, we found that the he difference often comes down to fairly boring physical details: diffuser depth, viewing angle, shadow gaps, how much of the LED source is exposed, the harshness of the colors used, and where the light actually goes.
So light may become more and more part of the CMF, along with other stuff that cannot be touched but can be seen nonetheless.
05 / Engineering is becoming visible again
DJI's ROMO 2 P2 was probably the clearest example of this trend (and also the most popular). Its semi-translucent shell deliberately reveals tanks, tubing, filters and mechanical elements inside the robot. There is something nostalgic about it: maybe it’s a reaction against the current generation of “sealed off-white robot vacuums”, and also a small return to the old “show me the machine” attitude, made popular by Dyson back in the day. (An opaque A2 version is available for people who would rather not see any of it.) [17][18][19]
The same idea appeared in smaller products. MorningBlues showed a transparent lyric speaker. Soundix had clear open-ear headphones where the shell exposed the structural arrangement. Aouball put the cooking vessel of an air fryer behind glass, effectively turning the process itself into part of the product experience. There were also dishwasher of the same category just like in the previous years. [20][21][22]
And then there is the opposite direction: making the outside easier to change. CANVAS advertises interchangeable faceplates for their HiFi system, SHIFT’s speaker is built around replaceable modules, and many exhibitors openly promote gradient colours, mirror printing, UV printing and electroplated effects as customisation options. In other words, personalisation is not necessarily being expressed through a complex digital screen; sometimes it is simply a different grille, panel or surface process. [23][24]
So it appears that sometimes showing the machine is the design, while sometimes hiding it is.
So what actually matters?
The most useful thing we took from IFA was that beyond all the AI craze, a shift was apparent about where design seemed to move. One part of it is about moving “inward”, meaning that future designers may have to take interfaces, mechanisms, airflow paths, light chambers and physical feedback into consideration, too, beyond the usual categories of surface finishing, ergonomics, and overall aesthetic unity.
And another part of design is moving “outward”: as the effect of the product sneaks out into the room, we may have to think a lot more about how it appears and behaves in an inactive state, and how it can become part of the overall environment.
Some of these directions are genuinely interesting. Some are probably just tricks to make a product look more advanced than it is.
For us designers, CAD modelers, and visual experts, that means asking slightly different questions earlier in the process, like:
Should the product be almost invisible, like an analogue item, when nobody is using it? Or should it communicate power and futurism?
Where and how does the physical function become visible?
Can light, airflow, sound or another invisible process actually influence the form?
How can CMF communicate interaction rather than simply decorate the shell?
Is the era of “floating on a studio white background” era of renderings totally over, now that the products become incorporated into a unified environment experience?
These may be just questions for now, but one thing is certain: things never remain the same, and while it’s impossible to exactly pinpoint what lies ahead in the future, simply asking questions can be a powerful tool in preparing for it.
Sources used for the research
[1] IFA Berlin. IFA 2026 Stage Programme / Smart Living Forum. 2026. https://www.ifa-berlin.com/programme?topics=Smart+Living+Forum — human-centred smart home, ambient intelligence, robotics and ecosystem framing
[2] IFA Berlin. IFA 2026 Innovation Awards. 2026. https://www.ifa-berlin.com/innovation-awards — design award categories and selected physical design-led products
[3] LG Global Newsroom. LG Electronics Unveils the Next Evolution of AI Home at IFA 2026. 31 Aug 2026. https://www.lg.com/global/newsroom/news/home-appliance-solution/lg-electronics-unveils-the-next-evolution-of-ai-home-at-ifa-2026 — AI embedded in everyday home routines
[4] Aqara. Aqara Showcases the New Smart Lighting Series and Immersive Smart Home Experience at IFA 2026. 4 Sep 2026. https://www.aqara.com/en/news/aqara-showcases-immersive-smart-home-experience-ifa-2026/ — space-centric smart home and lighting architecture
[5] UGREEN. UGREEN at IFA 2026: Smarter Living Starts Here. 2026. https://de.ugreen.com/pages/ifa-2026-smarter-living — local AI ecosystem and smart-speaker launch
[6] Notebookcheck. UGREEN Smart Speaker with Uliya AI assistant. 4 Sep 2026. https://www.notebookcheck.net/Ugreen-releases-its-first-smart-speaker-with-Uliya-AI-assistant.1387679.0.html — pebble body, acoustic grille and base RGB strip
[7] Electrolux Group. IFA 2026: New Electrolux dishwasher with QuickSelect. 8 Sep 2026. https://www.electroluxgroup.com/en/news/spolecnost-electrolux-predstavuje-na-veletrhu-ifa-2026-jedinou-mycku-nadobi-v-eu-s-unikatnim-posuvnikem-quickselect/ — touch slider, hidden handles and energy feedback
[8] Electrolux Group. AEG at IFA 2026: new cooking innovations. Sep 2026. https://www.electroluxgroup.com/en/ifa-2026-premium-brand-aeg-challenges-the-expected-with-its-first-ever-pasta-hob-and-a-celebration-of-the-art-of-hosting-47122/ https://bathroomandkitchenupdate.com/aeg-at-ifa-2026-latest-taste-and-care-innovations-unveiled/ — hidden Pure Design cooking zones and touch TFT
[9] IFA Berlin. Rommelsbacher exhibitor profile. 2026. https://www.ifa-berlin.com/exhibitors/rommelsbacher — touch-control panel and concealed interaction
[10] TechRadar. Dyson unveils HushJet fans at IFA 2026. Sep 2026. https://www.techradar.com/home/air-quality/dysons-new-fans-look-like-a-dune-sandworm-in-appliance-form-but-theyre-so-powerful-youll-forget-all-about-that-when-you-switch-them-on — new air-output geometry and aerospace-inspired airflow
[11] Dyson. Dyson HushJet range. 2026. https://www.cnet.com/home/dyson-went-bonkers-during-ifa-2026-here-are-all-10-of-its-new-products/ — air treatment, intelligent airflow and comfort control
[12] DREO. DREO Innovation at IFA 2026. 2026. https://www.dreo.com/pages/ifa — air purification, adaptive AI airflow and system-level comfort with an overstuffed aesthetic
[13] IFA Berlin. Thora exhibitor profile. 2026. https://www.thorabv.com/product/d10 — air purifier with integrated lighting and twisted body
[14] Govee / IFA press distribution. Govee Ushers in the Next Era of Smart Living at IFA 2026. 3 Sep 2026. https://ifa.vporoom.com/2026-09-03-Govee-Ushers-in-the-Next-Era-of-Smart-Living-with-AI-Powered-Lighting-Innovation-at-IFA-2026 https://us.govee.com/pages/ifa-2026 — COB strip, high LED density, hotspot-free light
[15] Aqara. Aqara Smart Lighting Series at IFA 2026. 4 Sep 2026. https://www.aqara.com/en/news/aqara-showcases-immersive-smart-home-experience-ifa-2026/ https://www.aqara.com/en/pages/ifa-2026/ — side-emission floor lamp and zone-controlled strip
[16] IFA Berlin. Experience the Calm Connected Kettle Live at IFA. 2026. https://www.ifa-berlin.com/programme/experience-the-calm-connected-kettle — ambient colours and scene lighting in a mainstream appliance
[17] DJI. DJI ROMO 2 at IFA 2026. 9 Sep 2026. https://www.dji.com/media-center/announcements/dji-best-ifa-2026-awards-multiple — translucent P2, robotic arm and active-lifting legs
[18] The Verge. DJI ROMO 2: hands-on / privacy / transparent P2. Sep 2026. https://www.theverge.com/tech/989295/dji-romo-2-p2-a2-robovac-legs-vacuuming-local-data-mode-ifa — transparent vs opaque variants and physical trust features
[19] TechRadar. DJI ROMO 2 design report. Sep 2026. https://www.techradar.com/home/robot-vacuums/djis-second-gen-romo-robot-vacuum-looks-like-the-lovechild-of-an-hr-giger-drawing-and-an-imac-g3-and-boasts-some-robust-new-privacy-measures-following-the-first-gen-models-hacking-embarrassment — semi-translucent shell as identity
[20] IFA Berlin. MorningBlues exhibitor profile. 2026. https://www.ifa-berlin.com/exhibitors/morningblues — transparent lyric speaker
[21] IFA Berlin. Soundix K16 exhibitor profile. 2026. https://www.ifa-berlin.com/exhibitors/dongguan-soundix-technology — transparent open-ear headphone shell
[22] IFA Berlin. Zhongshan Aouball AF569T Glass Air Fryer. 2026. https://www.ifa-berlin.com/exhibitors/zhongshan-aouball-electric-appliances — transparent cooking vessel and digital touch control
[23] IFA Berlin. CANVAS HiFi exhibitor profile. 2026. https://www.techtimes.com/articles/326575/20260904/canvas-hifi-ifa-2026.htm — interchangeable faceplates and personalisation
[24] IFA Berlin. SHIFT exhibitor profile. 2026. https://www.ifa-berlin.com/exhibitors/shift https://www.shift.eco/ — replaceable speaker modules and repairable architecture
Research note: Show-floor observations are necessarily selective. The strongest recurring patterns above were cross-checked against official exhibitor material plus independent IFA coverage; individual examples may be pre-launch, market-specific or concept-stage.