Practice long enough with Omron Corporation‘s AI-equipped robot table tennis tutor, FORPHEUS, and you’ll probably develop a wicked backhand shot. Despite its impressiveness as a teacher, helping you play better ping-pong isn’t Omron’s No. 1 goal for FORPHEUS.
“What we’re trying to show is our vision,” Omron’s Automation Group Manager, Mike Chen, said. “This is our vision of harmony between man and machine, or people and technology. What we have here is the representation.”
Since making its debut back in 2013, FORPHEUS has made crucial strides, specifically in the area of artificial intelligence. AI has given it the ability to serve, predict an opposing player’s smash and produce sound relating to the match.
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Omron debuted the machine’s new functions at last week’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. “CES is an excellent opportunity for us to highlight the exciting research and development we’re undertaking in the U.S. and worldwide,” Omron President and CEO Nigel Blakeway said in a statement. “And to connect with top talent and potential partners who want to be part of our effort to solve important social issues and achieve greater harmony through advanced technology.”
One potential “advanced technology” that Omron showed off at CES is a brand-new mobility solution meant to keep roads safer. It allows a user to sit down in a simulator while the machine tracks users eye-movement through facial recognition. The technology is meant to prevent accidents caused by drivers who are not in a condition to continue operating a vehicle. Yet another example of how machine-learning and AI can make our world safer and more efficient.
Along with these innovations, Omron is the creator of the world’s first automated cash dispenser, automated traffic signal and distance-warning automobile system.