Who is Playing Ping Pong in China?

In case you missed this tidbit of news (like I did) there were two ping pong players who debuted in China this past week: Wu and Kong.

For just 1.6 meters tall (about 5'3") and weighing in at 55 kg each, it would appear that these humanoid figures are giving the humans a mighty good serve but stumble on "curving, shanking or slicing." That hasn't stopped them from giving their Chinese opponents a run for their money.

You can watch the robots here but I have to warn you, unless you understand Chinese, you can only watch and wonder what they are saying. Click here.

The China's Zhejiang University is responsible for the creation of these two robots. Table tennis or ping pong isn't the ultimate end of possibilities for these players. It would appear that robotic technology is taking the Chinese to a new level of competition.

The US based, RTI (Robotic Technology Inc.), believes that "Many of the world's problems, from individuals to nations, originate with the lack of critical thinking, a skill that should be taught to everyone from elementary school through college."

Dr. Robert Finkelstein (not Frankenstein) of RTI writes on the topic of technology innovation and you can read it here. He introduces us to such terms as "disruptive innovation" and "dominant designs."

I'm not a very good ping pong player as it is. Playing a robot whose accuracy is 1000% better than mine doesn't appeal to me but it might be fun to watch them play one another.

But, I wouldn't mind owning a PaPeRo due to debut in 2012. You can see him here.

His motto is,

"Live life with more time to spare".

Who among you wouldn't love that motto?

Sources:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-10/11/c_131183549.htm

http://www.plasticpals.com/