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Each robot got a colorful lion costume and within minutes the
moves started: Bend the knees, up, to the left, to the right,
shake the mask, and do it all again!
Ahead of the Lunar New Year celebrated next week, and as part of
different “fairs” and activities around Beijing, some venues
have been busy setting up their stages and props.
For a second year in a row, one of the fairs will be devoted to
technology and — yes, again — robots will take center stage.
People will see them dancing and also them stacking blocks on
top of others to make a little tower, skewering hawthorn berries
onto a stick — coated with a syrup, a popular sweet snack — or
playing soccer.
“This year, the number of our robots has increased a lot," said
Qiu Feng, a member of the organizing committee. “They will
perform dance, martial arts, Peking Opera, poetry and soccer.”
"Some events were also available last year but the finness of
the actions and the high-tech vibe are stronger” this time, Qui
added.
China has been scaling up its efforts to develop better robots
that can perform different activities, powered by artificial
intelligence and with less human intervention.
But though they can now do things that were difficult to imagine
a few years ago, humans are still needed to help them — for
example, to dress them or move them when they stop in the middle
of a mini-soccer field.
“Technology is developing faster and becoming more advanced
every day," Qui also said. “As long as we keep up with this
trend, our ... fair will continue to evolve and rise with the
times.”
The robots performing at the mall were developed by some Chinese
startups, like Booster Robotics. The company will display around
20 humanoid robots, which will also dance and play soccer.
“It is an AI environment, which means, once the whistle sounds,
the remote control will all be put aside and all its
decision-making and motion control are made by the robots
themselves,” said Ren Zixin, director of marketing at Booster
Robotics.
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