After competing in half marathons and boxing, robots have now entered the field to challenge the best table tennis players.
According to international media reports, a major breakthrough in artificial intelligence and robotics has emerged in Tokyo, where an autonomous ping-pong robot named “S” has made history by defeating top human players on several occasions.
Experts say this achievement could pave the way for the use of advanced robotic systems of this kind across various fields in the future.
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The robot “S” was developed by the AI research division of the Japanese company Sony. It is being described as the first robot capable of demonstrating expert-level performance in a competitive physical sport, having defeated top table tennis players in 3 out of 5 matches.
According to the project lead, the robot achieved this success through rapid perception, an AI-based control system, and cutting-edge robotic technology.
Peter Dör, Director of Sony AI Zurich and head of Project “S,” stated that unlike computer games—where artificial intelligence has already surpassed human experts—real-time physical sports like table tennis remain a major challenge. This is because they require extremely fast, precise, and competitive reactions, often approaching the limits of human response.
He further explained that the goal of this project was not just to play table tennis, but also to understand how robots can observe, plan, and act in dynamic environments with human-like speed and accuracy.
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