Stay cool this summer and impress your friends (and creditors) at the same time with this fabulously expensive and enormous air conditioning unit from LG. It looks like a cross between a Xbox 360 and a Dalek, and it costs tens of thousands of dollars.
LG's Whisen series of AC units, announced Wednesday, is unquestionably the top of the line. You can control it by voice from up to 16 feet away, and you won't even have to yell, since it's low-power and quiet. Or use your smartphone to check its status and turn it on while you drive home.
It's equipped with an infrared sensor that counts the number of people in the room and adjusts the fans, or simply tuns on or off when someone enters. And there's a normal camera as well, which you can access remotely to check on the cats or watch for burglars — that is, if neither is scared off by the towering robot in the living room.
Of course, it cools the air as well, and LG claims it does so faster than any other unit in its class by intelligently blowing the coldest air in the directions that need it. And it does this with 72 percent less power than competing products, according to them.
The catch? Pricing starts at about $23,000 and runs all the way up to $50,000 for the fully-equipped "Champion style" model. For that price, you could hire someone full time to follow you around and fan you with banana leaves.
Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBCNews Digital. His personal website is coldewey.cc.