China's "Huitong" robot does swordplay
Apparently China didn't get that whole "Robots for modern warfare" memo that circulated a while back, and have instead put their efforts into a robot capable of the ancient arts of swordplay, shadow boxing, talking to people and standing up. The 5-foot, 139 pound humanoid "Huitong" seems to be the result of China jonesing for the humanoid innovation taking place in Japan, and was unveiled by The Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology in Beijing this week. Huitong has vision and auditory capabilities and is designed to be able to imitate complex human actions, though we're not quite sure where he picked up a penchant for saber whirling. China might be on to something here; if robots are ever going to overthrow their human masters, they best be doing it with style. There can be only one. Ahem.
[Via GoRobotics]
