Developed by Chinese startups such as Booster Robotics, the AI-powered machines are part of a technology-themed temple fair in China.
Humanoid robots are taking centre stage at Lunar New Year celebrations in Beijing, where they're performing lion dances, playing competitive football and preparing traditional snacks ahead of the Spring Festival.
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At a mall in western Beijing, 95-centimetre-tall robots rehearsed in colourful lion costumes, drawing crowds of onlookers. The performances are part of a technology-themed temple fair returning for a second year, showcasing China’s advances in artificial intelligence.
The robots - developed by startups including Booster Robotics - are taking part in fully autonomous 3v3 football matches.
"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. There will also be teamwork. For example, a robot will be the goalkeeper, and the remaining robots will pass the ball to it, so this group decision-making is actually made by themselves," said Ren Zixin, the director of marketing at Booster Robotics.
The machines are also performing traditional dances using motion-control training.
"Lion dance performance is carried out through action collection. Robots had been made to watch a lot of videos to learn the action, and then we pre-programmed robot, so when they come on stage, performance action is designed and the quality of the show is guaranteed."
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. Organisers say the fair reflects this ambition.
"Technology is developing faster and becoming more advanced every day. As long as we keep up with this trend, our temple fair will continue to evolve and rise with the times," said Qiu Feng, the fair organiser.
Some parents at the fair said that while technology was impressive, emotional connection remains at the heart of the New Year celebration.
"I think in terms of technology, they can do many things even better than human beings," one parent said. "But when it comes to emotion - what people now call emotional value - robots may not be able to replace humans anytime soon."
