Ping-pong-playing robot amuses CES attendees

The world’s first table tennis coaching robot wowed visitors at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week where the latest advancements in technology are being showcased.

The ping-pong playing robot, called Forpheus, is the brainchild of manufacturing company Omron. Forpheus uses Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics, motion control and sensing technology to to track the ping-pong ball and monitor the players movements.

“The robot is paying attention to the ping-pong ball obviously, but it is also paying attention to the player so it uses facial recognition and also Artificial Intelligence (AI) and body language to be able to sense how good a player is,” said Keith Kersten, Omron’s Marketing Manager.

“So the idea is that if you are not very good, like me, it will actually play a little bit easier. If you get better or someone better plays it will hit faster, it will make it more difficult so that your skill keeps getting better and better,” added Kersten.

Forpheus can read a ping-pong ball’s movement and position 80 times within the span of one second and uses AI to predict its opponent’s next move.

Reuters