TechNode, as the first independent English-language media focusing on China’s technology and innovation, has become an important window into China’s technology in the international technology arena over the past decade. TechNode’s reader base has expanded to 150 countries worldwide, and its independent and fair reporting is quoted by many international media including Fortune, The Economist, etc. Through media, events, and other channels, it has brought many Chinese technology companies and innovations into the global view.

Over the past 15 years, the world and China’s technology sector have greatly changed. Chinese technology sector has made a complete change from the copy to China model, to the unique innovation model and the rapid development of technological capabilities in certain areas. From BAT being in the spotlight to the global blossoming of big Chinese companies, tech unicorns, and startups, more and more Chinese innovations urgently needed to be recognized and acknowledged by the world.

Therefore, TechNode will launch “NextChina”, a series of interviews focusing on the latest industry tracks and the most promising innovative companies, with its resources in English and Chinese as well as its global media partners, aiming to promote more outstanding Chinese companies to the international stage.

The first series: Rise of Robotics

Exploring one of today’s trending subjects, robotics takes the forefront in our coverage. Currently, robotic technology is gaining prominence across various sectors, including industry, healthcare, services, households, etc. Beyond being the future of technology, robotics has seamlessly integrated into everyday life. Our focus will be on showcasing the stories and innovative spirit of the most promising companies in China’s robotics sector.

Stay tuned in early January for ‘NextChina’ to explore the tech insights in China! If your company is interested in being part of this series interview, or if you have a recommendation for a company, don’t hesitate to contact us at zinan.zhang@technode.com

Don’t miss this valuable opportunity to show your company’s power in the world!

Rhea Vendors Group, an Italian manufacturer of tailor-made coffee and vending machines, today unveiled its Barista On-Demand vehicle in collaboration with Chinese robo-delivery firm Neolix. Showcased at the China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, the new product combines a vending machine with self-driving tech as China’s coffee market expands rapidly. 

The vehicle “transforms the typical coffee consumption from a go-to-shop activity into shop-come-to-customers,” a press release accompanying the launch said Featuring a Rhea BL Doppio & Cup coffee machine, the vehicle allows users to order coffee with one click on a mobile application, with their desired drink delivered by the unmanned coffee vehicle, the companies said. Rhea and Neolix want to “ensure a vision for a more automated and sustainable future,” the press release added. The vehicle is powered by renewable energy sources.

Rhea Vendors Group, founded in 1960, is one of the largest producers of customized vending machines in the world. Beijing-headquartered Neolix describes itself as “the world’s leading autonomous vehicle maker that specializes in Robo-Delivery” and has collaborated on automated delivery vehicles for the likes of JD and FedEx, deploying over 1,000 vehicles worldwide in more than 12 countries.

“In today’s rapidly advancing world, we see the pace of daily routines accelerate at an unprecedented rate, calling for adaptive solutions to meet instant demand. This project responds to the shift and offers a new perspective on smart mobility in new retail. Instead of people moving to access coffee services, we can leverage our technology to mobilize coffee shops to reach consumers,” said Yu Enyuan, founder and CEO of Neolix Technologies. “Having been at the forefront of global mobility solutions, our aim isn’t merely to enhance mobility but also empower traditional sectors, ensuring, for example, that coffee lovers receive a frictionless experience on the go.”

The Chinese coffee market holds great potential, as coffee consumption is growing at a rate of more than 30 percent per year, according to Rhea and Neolix. 

“We are very proud of our collaboration with Neolix. The birth of Barista On-Demand is a symbolic outcome of Italian and Chinese business cooperation towards innovation and a new way of experiencing hospitality. Together, we harness Italy’s design legacy and our 60 years of coffee expertise, with Chinese tech advances to stay ahead of the age and provide a seamless coffee experience to our customers all over the world,” Andrea Pozzolini, CEO of Rhea Vendors Group, said. “The unmanned coffee vehicle showcases Rhea’s unwavering commitment to pioneering innovative solutions in the vending world. We’ll initiate this groundbreaking venture in its birthplace, already ready to understand that the coffee machine is only one part of the broader consumer experience.”

This article is provided by Rhea Vendors Group and NEOLIX.

When it comes to AI and robotics, there are the optimists, and then there are the skeptics. Working in the AI and autonomous transportation vertical, I have struggled to convince people to adopt unmanned solutions. “This is so far away,” they often say. “What is the use case of autonomous drones anyways?” they would ask.

As the outbreak of novel coronavirus becomes an international crisis, the Chinese technology industry is getting creative in finding solutions to avoid human-to-human interactions. Suddenly, these previously “useless” and “too far ahead” technology have found their use cases.

If you can’t see the YouTube player above, try watching here instead.

Unmanned aerial vehicles

Last week, a video of a policewoman using a drone-carried speaker to warn pedestrians to wear masks went viral on Chinese social media. The combination of policewoman + dialect + unmanned aerial vehicle provided comic relief for the nation during the depressing outbreak days.

Not only are drones being used to patrol and promote healthy behavior, but consumer drone company DJI also allocated RMB 10 million (about $1.4 million) to combat coronavirus by donating medical equipment, funding drone-enabled disinfection, and establishing drone-enabled disinfection protocols. DJI competitor and China’s leading agriculture drone tech company, XAG, allocated RMB 50 million to allow drones to be used for disinfection in remote areas.

Agriculture drones have been widely used to spray fertilizers and pesticides since 2013. These well-established drones seamlessly transferred to medical missions to support China’s effort to contain the outbreak.

VIDEO: How tech is changing agriculture in China

Unmanned ground vehicles

Both the Guangdong People’s Hospital and the Hangzhou First People’s Hospital have deployed unmanned ground vehicles to deliver medication and food to quarantined patients. These minimize interaction between nurses and patients.

Each trip, an unmanned robot can deliver four meals with the ability to use elevators, avoid obstacles and find their way back to chargers.

Though these unmanned delivery robots are still in the pilot stage, it has revealed a pain point in the medical field that can be solved by unmanned systems.

Remote work

I am a digital nomad and an advocate of remote working.

A month ago, Zoom stock was falling despite good quarterly results. But the sudden spike in remote work caused by the outbreak has revived Zoom’s stock price. Since corporates in Beijing went back to work remotely on Feb. 3, after the prolonged Chinese New Year, Zoom’s stock price has been climbing. On the day of Feb. 3, Zoom had a closing price of $87.66, with the highest daily percent change of +15% over eight months.

At a hospital built over the past two weeks in Wuhan, Huawei, in cooperation with China Telecommunications Corporation, provided a remote video diagnostic center supported by optical cables. In the future, the company says, the remote diagnostic center will be supported by 5G.

The special circumstances posed by the outbreak have pushed people to use technology in ways that we could not have imagined were necessary a few weeks ago. Technology continues to play a part in the fight against the disease. Not all these technologies will pan out, but they’re getting a real-world test and some will probably emerge with proven applications

Beijing-based CloudMinds, an operator of cloud-based systems for intelligent robots, has filed to raise up to $500 million in an initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange, joining a slew of Chinese tech companies seeking funding abroad despite efforts from the government to attract domestic listings.

Why it matters: CloudMinds says it is the first in the world to commercialize a cloud-based robotics system in a rapidly growing market. Developments in cloud and robotics are critical to smart manufacturing, an important part of China’s initiative to become a global leader by 2025 in core technologies.

• The government is implementing financial reforms—of which its new STAR Market Nasdaq-style technology bourse in Shanghai is the centerpiece—in an effort to lure tech companies to list domestically and push forward this initiative.
• The US remains an attractive IPO destination for Chinese companies because of its maturity and liquidity relative to domestic capital markets, which have tightened as the country’s economy slows.
• CloudMinds joins China Starbucks challenger Luckin Coffee and cosmetic surgery platform So-Young in US IPOs this year.

Details: Citigroup, JP Morgan, and UBS Investment Bank are the joint underwriters on the deal, but detailed pricing terms were not disclosed in the filing. The company plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “CMDS.”

• The company said in its prospectus that it intends to use the net proceeds for research and development, marketing and sales, and strategic investments, among others.

Context: The global robotics market is expanding rapidly. The sales value of service robots reached $6.6 billion in 2018, an increase of 39% from the previous year.

• In March, the cloud robotics firm aimed to raise $300 million in a SoftBank Vision Fund-backed funding round.
• CloudMinds expects to triple its revenue this year. However, its revenues dropped 62.1% in the first quarter of 2019 to $12.4 million from $32.7 million in the first quarter of 2017 due to “delivery timing” related to smart city projects.
• Robots that run on a cloud-based system are more intelligent and versatile because their ability to handle a large amount of data and computation are not limited by local storage space, according to the company.
• CloudMinds’ client portfolio includes humanoid robots like SoftBank’s CloudPepper as well as smart vending machines, security robots, and virtual AI robots. The company is backed by prominent investors including SoftBank’s Vision Fund and electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn.

Chinese beverage behemoth Wahaha is taking an ambitious step into the world of robotics, launching a smart manufacturing company that is under the direct supervision of the company founder, billionaire businessman Zong Qinghou.

According to the company database website Qichacha, the Zhejiang Wahaha Intelligent Robotics Company was just set up in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou last week with registered capital of RMB 40 million (around $6 million). The newly formed company will specialize in the design, manufacture, and sale of intelligent robotics, and will also offer technology consulting services. Wahaha owns 65% shares of the company, with its boss Zong acting as chairman.

“People have been less willing to do routine manual work, and dangerous jobs should not involve manpower,” (our translation) Zong told Chinese media Caixin in March 2017, on why the company moved into the business, which began in 2011. A company spokeswoman told TechNode on Tuesday that it is the first domestic company to adopt intelligent solutions in the beverage industry, as “the combination of smart technologies and traditional manufacturing has been a growing trend.”

Founded by Zong in 1987 in Hangzhou, Wahaha is one of the country’s major food and beverage manufacturers, with more than 80 production bases and 30,000 employees around the country. It has more than 100 products in the Chinese consumer market, including packaged drinking water, probiotic drinks, and beer.

However, the privately held beverage company’s core business has declined significantly over the past five years. Sales revenue declined to RMB 46.4 billion in 2017, almost half of the RMB 78.3 billion earned in 2013, Jiemian reported, citing figures released in August by state-backed industry association All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce.

Automation has become an essential part of the country’s manufacturing industries in the past decade, when China’s established companies began adopting robotic systems for various applications to improve productivity. The Hangzhou-based beverage giant said that it has developed a number of intelligent machinery for production and goods delivery, including an automatic labeling machine and an advanced robot stacker.

Guangdong-based home appliances maker Midea announced in 2012 it would spend around RMB 5 billion to reconstruct its factories with enhanced automation. Two years later, it launched an RMB 1 billion subsidiary for producing robots for both consumer and business use. Since 2017,  Midea has also been the principal shareholder of Kuka, a German robot manufacturer which has seen declining growth and plummeting profits in the Chinese market over the past year.

For intelligent robotics, Wahaha founder Zong believes that knowledge in core technologies is far more important than processing and manufacturing machine bodies. Germany holds the upper hand in this field, and Chinese companies rely heavily on imports for core parts. “As a result, it is hard to reduce costs in the production of robotics,” Zong told Caixin.

China is aiming to become a world leader in advanced technologies including artificial intelligence, new energy, and robotics. In an interview during the central government’s Two Sessions meetings in March, Miao Wei, head of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), said the state government is urging domestic industry players to enhance their technological capabilities and accelerate nationwide efforts to be an innovation center in the global manufacturing sector.

Local universities are responding to the government call for a more qualified workforce in these industries. On Mar. 21, the Chinese Education Ministry announced that it approved around 2,000 new majors for the country’s nine million high school graduates in 2019. A total of 101 universities will offer engineering undergraduate degrees with a robotics major to their 2019 new student classes, and 196 universities will offer data analysis majors for science undergraduate degrees, according to Beijing Daily (in Chinese).

What do fighting robots and hip hop have in common? According to the CEO of media company The Makers (创客星球), Archie Ru, they’re both niche interests with the potential to gain big audiences among China’s youth.

Ru’s referring, of course, to how hip hop fever swept the nation after streaming platform iQiyi released its surprise hit show Rap of China last year. The series kickstarted previously unknown artists’ careers while introducing new fashions and phrases to Chinese audiences.

This past April, Ru’s company partnered with streaming site Youku to launch a tech-centered reality TV show, This Is Fighting Robots (这！是铁甲). With over 1.8 billion hits and favorable online ratings, it may not be as viral as Kris Wu’s face but it could make robot combat cool again.

At least, that’s Ru’s hope. In an interview at TechCrunch Shenzhen 2018, he tells Technode that he wants to bring makers’ unique DIY philosophy to a younger crowd. As a media company head, it’s just a matter of figuring out “what kind of product is best suited to spread maker culture.”

For now, that product appears to be robot-fighting competitions. But it’s not just about bouts of bot-bashing, Ru tells us. Through watching the show, viewers can learn more about the teams behind the machines, and eventually, the wider community to which they belong.

The Makers also create other tech shows in other formats and topics, and hold offline events. Which include, of course, bot standoffs.

Past competitors haven’t only been restricted to China’s biggest cities, where much official support for makerspaces and incubators has previously been aimed. According to Ru, robot-building competitors have included students and hobbyists from second- and third-tier cities and once, memorably, a former banana farmer.

Maker culture “doesn’t limit different characters and backgrounds,” Ru tells us proudly.

In the end, he says, “it’s not as hard as you think” to get people interested in a niche interest. Audience members, especially young ones, are often drawn to “new audiovisuals, new stories, new technologies.”

With shows like This Is Fighting Robots, Ru’s eventual aim is to turn local maker culture from an arena for hobbyists into a large-scale, commercially viable movement.

Surprisingly, Ru sees the cooling-down of China’s maker boom—which has spawned over 200 makerspaces in Shenzhen over seven years—as a good thing. He thinks it’ll help the movement focus more on its core values.

After all, The Makers’ founding principle is to spread the gospel of innovation and collaboration. As Ru stated at a TechCrunch panel, before pursuing business ambitions “you need to respect the culture you’re spreading.”

Robots hold an increasingly ubiquitous presence in China. Whether it be on an assembly line, in restaurants, or at a bar, our progressively intelligent companions are becoming part of daily life. Now, Alibaba wants them to take on hotels and hospitals.

Miffy Chen, general manager of Alibaba’s AI Labs, unveiled the company’s Space Egg and Space Shuttle service robots, the former designed for use in hotels while the latter has applications in medicine delivery. The announcement was made at the Cloud Computing Conference in Hangzhou, today (September 20).

While many fear that intelligent robots are a threat to their livelihood, Alibaba believes the robots could reduce to the workload of individuals in the hospitality and health sectors. At the event, Chen said that the company hopes to increase efficiency in the hospitality industry, adding that she believes the next three decades will result in huge disruptions in the robotics industry.

The robots are able to navigate autonomously and include multiple sensors that make them capable of avoiding collisions, understanding their environment, identifying individuals, controlling elevators, and comprehending features including room numbers.

The Space Egg is capable of carrying up to 30kg in its internal cavity, allowing it to deliver food and pick up and drop off laundry at a hotel guest’s room. The Space Shuttle can contain up to 60 compartments for medicine, and it understands gestures and voice commands.

The intelligence behind the robots, AliGenie, is the same that powers the company’s Tmall Genie smart speaker.

On the sidelines of the conference, Alibaba told TechNode that the Space Shuttle also has applications in supermarkets, where it could be used to transfer goods around the store. Additionally, the robots can be customized according to a business’ needs. Both internal cavities and the robots’ exterior can be changed according to budget and purpose.

This is not the company’s first foray into the robotics sector. In 2016, the company unveiled its humanoid robot Pepper, which was touted as being able to scan passengers’ ID card and print their boarding passes at the airport. This year, the company’s logistics arm Cainiao showed off its autonomous guided vehicle (AGV) and autonomous arms that are used to sort goods in its warehouses.

According to the International Federation of Robotics, the usage of service robots is on the rise, with the market’s growth expected increase from 20% to 25% from 2018 to 2020. At the same time, the sales forecast for the same period in the professional service segment will exceed $27 billion.

On September 14, three tech startups walked away with awards from the Shenzhen edition of TechNode’s hardware battle, held in partnership with Changjiang Graduate School of Business, X-elerator, Indiegogo, HAX, ParticleX, WeWork, ABeam Consulting, NOS Accelerator, and Maicaijing.

The top companies have been invited to the Grand Finals in Shanghai next month, where cash prizes (up to RMB 50,000) and other perks await. Courtesy of our partners, the three teams also received opportunities to meet with advisors from Changjiang Graduate School of Business’ MBA program partnership with MIT, HKUST, and UC-Berkeley, and a complimentary three months’ admission into Tsinghua SEM’s X-elerator program.

At the Shenzhen competition, the top three went head-to-head with six other competitors, pitching their business ideas before a panel of four experienced judges. Presiding over the battle were Wu Jie, founder and CEO of NOS Accelerator; Chirayu Wadke, partner at Seedplus’ IoT and Connected Devices; Ji Ke, program director at HAX; and Gong Bei, assistant program director of the Changjiang Graduate School of Business’ innovation and entrepreneurship MBA.

After careful deliberation, the judges announced their top picks, all three of which were robotics products. See descriptions of the companies below, as well as the robots that won the day.

Winners

First place: Roborn Dynamics Limited

Roborn’s “dynamically controlled bionic robot” is based on a humanoid design and controlled via motion detection. Targeted at hobbyists, the design aims to make directing a robot feel intuitive. At the competition, the company demonstrated a robotic arm that minutely mimicked its user’s movements.

Second place: Elephant Robotics

Elephant Robotics’ Elephant S-5 is a flexible robotic arm that, according to the company, has a variety of uses. It can flex, bend, and carry up to five kilograms of weight, providing possible solutions in fields such as assembly and packaging.

Third place: iSMART

iSMART’s robotics belong to the field of autonomous driving, promising to augment existing vehicles with AI that detects obstacles and directs paths. The tech holds the potential to significantly reduce costs in industrial settings that require transportation.

In addition to Roborn, Elephant Robotics and iSMART, the following six companies also made a strong showing at the event.

Other competitors

Fourth place: Xi’an Ocean Current Diving Equipment Technology Co., Ltd.’s (西安洋流潜水设备科技有限公司)

The Mantabot is a robotic assistance device designed to help beginners learn to dive. Used in combination with the guidance of a professional diver, the bot aims to help make diving safer and more convenient for users.

Fifth place: Incu (Shenzhen) Technology Co., Ltd. (音科深圳技术有限公司)

Incu’s product is a smart hearing aid that uses voice and sound recognition to filter out background noise. Compatible with TVs and phones as well as people, its goal is to make life easier for seniors and others who suffer hearing loss.

China-Europe International Trade (Shenzhen) Business (中欧国际贸易（深圳）商行)

The company’s BASE wireless charger is a four-in-one device that, in addition to simultaneously supporting two devices, contains two additional USB ports for fast charging. The product is compact and convenient for those who want to charge multiple devices quickly.

FonSource Company Limited

FonSource’s Dash Mobile is a smart assistant that’s portable and even wearable. The voice-controlled device can be held in one hand, allowing users to access Alexa and make calls using voice commands.

Shenzhen Andsun Industrial Co., Ltd. (深圳市安迪森实业有限公司)

Andsun’s “staffless hotel AI lock” is an entry in the field of smart locks. It promises to bring convenience and cut costs, specifically in the field of short-term home rentals and hotels. The lock is facial recognition-enabled and allows for remote operation.

Qitianchui Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.（启天锤科技（深圳）有限公司）

The company’s oil-powered multi-rotor drone aims to solve issues of short flight duration and slow flight speed. It also allows easier remote control of the oil-fueled aircraft, promising new possibilities for the drone market.

Setting up an international brand from China might just be as challenging as it sounds.

At TechNode’s event on August 29 at Beeplus in Shenzhen, three entrepreneurs shared their experiences of preparing and launching hardware products in Shenzhen, long known for its efficient supply chains and easy access to parts.

But it’s not always easy going, as Brian Hirsh of Brightwood Lighting explained. While trying to work with local manufacturers, the American entrepreneur encountered “a different way of working with people” – in other words, the complex phenomenon of guanxi.

Members of the audience chimed in with their own observations, with one longtime resident claiming that, with some factories, “negotiations begin after you sign a contract.”

Despite grappling with cross-cultural relationships, though, Hirsh appreciates the network of like-minded entrepreneurs in Shenzhen’s startup ecosystem.

Cody Zhang, CEO of Youibot (优艾智合), added that convenience is another local advantage. With his robot company based near the city’s main tech markets, Zhang commented, “we can buy a lot of what we need in one building.”

Tully Gehan, leader of the local chapter of Hardware Massive, approached business from a different angle. Beginning with a discussion of open-source hardware such as Arduino microcontrollers, he progressed to the creative possibilities of shared knowledge and a “maker” mindset.

Gehan sees challenges in launching a global-facing business: “there are so many startups here,” but also obstacles to connecting with a user base that’s abroad. Still, he “saw potential” in Shenzhen even before it became China’s answer to Silicon Valley.

All the talk of hardware, of course, comes just ahead of the upcoming Asia Hardware Battle 2018, which will be staged in 12 cities, including Shenzhen, over the next 1.5 months.

Online registration for a shot at RMB 50,000, plus other perks, is (just barely) still open. Find out if your tech team is eligible and how you can enter here.

Editor’s note: This article was written by Rita Ren, who is part of the organizing team of the Geekpwn AI/Robotics Cybersecurity Contest. A self-professed robotics geek, you’ll probably find her in a workshop rather than a shopping mall.

This article was supported by GeekPwn. We believe in transparency in our publishing and monetization model. Read more here.

Imagine a laboratory sieged by secret agents. It seems an unlikely target, but our protagonists are searching for weaknesses that would grant them entry. They can creep in through ventilation shafts, dodge laser alarms, block surveillance cameras, and open safes. This scene seems to be a well-designed operation reserved for something out of a spy film.

But this is no movie. It’s a battle of design and skills, and with USD$30,000 up for grabs, the heat is piling on. Organized by GeekPwn and KEEN, the Robot Agent Challenge will test robot design, production, finesse, and control.

At the GeekPwn 2018 Robot Agent Challenge, competitors are invited to create remote-controlled or autonomous robots that can complete a series of complicated missions. Participants will choose whether to send their creations into the lab through a door, window, or ventilation shaft. The machines will be required to navigate a laser-filled corridor, granting them access to the laboratory.

Once inside, they will need to place an eavesdropping device, find a keycard, and open a locked safe. They will then have to block a security camera and attach a keylogger to a computer. Once these missions are completed, robots will receive corresponding points as score. Additional points will be granted if the robots can exit the lab safely.

GeekPwn’s 2018 highest scoring challenger in the Robot Agent Challenge will take home a USD$30,000 cash prize. We welcome participants to bring their creations to this global robotics enthusiasts’ battle and showcase their abilities to the world. The deadline for registration for the GeekPwn2018 Robot Agent Challenge is July 15 (Las Vegas) and September 30 (Shanghai). More information can be found at geekpwn.org.

In addition to the offline robot agent segment, GeekPwn 2018 is putting forward another crowd-pleaser, the world’s first real-world online Hacker Room Challenge.

This is not just a simple demonstration of how to crack a single smart device, but rather how to hack a set of different smart devices and create a working kill chain, targeting smart devices including   intelligent door locks, smart cameras, routers, intelligent safes, computers, mobile phones, and other smart products. We will reveal more details to be published later in June 2018.

While the Robot Agent Challenge happens in physical space, the Hacker Room Challenge can be considered the equivalent happening in cyberspace. Who will win in this offline-to-online confrontation? GeekPwn 2018 will reveal all.

Register here, or visit geekpwn.org for more information. Alternatively send an email to the organizers at cfp@geekpwn.org with your questions. We await you in the arena!

Unmanned noodle shops in central Shanghai were shut down soon after going into operation due to the most old-fashioned reason: bureaucracy. They had an operating license, but the wrong sort.

The Lu Dou Jiqiren Yidong Mianguan branded shops (卤豆移动面馆 or “Stewed Bean Robot Mobile Noodle Shop”), effectively noodle vending machines installed on streets and in shopping centers in Shanghai’s Xuhui district were shut down, according to ChinaNews.com (in Chinese), and signs put up by the owners Shanghai Lu Dou Food and Beverage Management Co (note: company name 噜逗, brand name 卤豆) to say:

“Due to videos of the Stewed Bean Robot Mobile Noodle Shop going viral we have attracted a lot of customers and the attention of the authorities, for which we are grateful. The testing has already been completed and we will only be temporarily closed for a few days. Once we are officially registered with Shanghai’s Market Authority we will set a date to get back up and running.”

Queues had been forming at lunchtimes for the RMB 10 bowls of noodles. The soup is kept at -18ºC and is rapidly thawed and heated along with the beef, dispensing a bowl of hot soup noodles in under a minute. Already popular among time-pressed office workers, the robots were shut down after just days of cooking, according to Xinhua (in Chinese), which said the machines were shut down because they were “suspected of exceeding their operating parameters.”

The Xinhua report suggests there could be difficulties in licensing unmanned food preparation because there is no human involved in the cooking process, which is how the sector has been monitored until now. This could become an issue as robotics, as well as new forms of retail, are being officially promoted for foreign and domestic firms in China.

Beijing-based Vincross has just launched HEXA, a six-legged, swivel-topped programmable robot, via a Kickstarter fund with a launch price of $499. The spider-like robot has the ability to take part in search and rescue, dancing or espionage missions; the accompanying ecosystem with its “skill store,” programming language and simulator might prove to be more of a breakthrough—and moneymaker—than the hardware.

HEXA can walk, climb and carry things, navigating with a 720p camera, night vision, a gravity sensor, three-axis accelerometer, distance measuring sensors (lasers), infrared transmitter and has other features such as WiFi and multiple ports for add-ons and connections. It has even beaten Apple to wireless charging.

It’s probably best to see the HEXA in action:

“If you want to explore using current robots, you have to be a roboticist,” Vincross COO Andy Xu tells TechNode from San Francisco, “because even a simple task such as moving an arm will take hundreds of lines of code, but with this ecosystem it’s very easy to create tasks like this.”

The ecosystem, called MIND (they like their capitals), is the combination of a programming language, a skill store of sets of coding submitted by developers, the mobile app, and a 3D simulator where developers can quickly have a virtual on-screen HEXA go through the motions or test virtual environments.

One of the main reasons that Jenny Lee, managing director of GGV Capital, Vincross’s main investors, was so interested in Vincross is because of how comprehensive the ecosystem is. Lee values the operating system more than the hardware for generating returns, the Vincross team explains. With so many devices flooding the market, the operating system is the big differentiator.

One of our main questions to the Vincross team was, of course, if the HEXA falls on its back, can it get back up? No. “HEXA will immediately know that its back is on the ground, but it cannot do anything,” says Xu. Can it call for help? Actually, yes—that was a skill devised by a Beta tester.

“We don’t really know yet what the community will create,” says Xu. “[The ecosystem] increases accessibility for developer groups.” Beta testers have created some other skills already available in the skill store such as “bull fighting,” which programs the HEXA to recognize red items held nearby and will move towards them.

Vincross has also launched a scheme to find 2,048 mentors for the HEXA to use the device in innovative ways (2,048 because that’s 2 to the power of 11). 8,000 people had already signed up for pre-access to the Kickstarter and serious applications for the HEXA had flooded in.

One human mentor request was made by a scientist in the University of Hawaii’s HI-SEAS Mars mission simulation, for exploration but also for “emotional support.” An improv actor has requested one for taking part in his shows and a researcher at Imperial College London will conduct reinforcement learning experiments on a HEXA so that it can learn for itself.

“We are looking for tasks from the community in search and rescue tasks and home security,” said Xu. “What we’ve done with HEXA is put technology that was not [previously] accessible to developers into the platform. For the next generation, we’re looking at a bigger version of HEXA that can climb higher stairs, cross more difficult terrain and has more sensors.”

Which begs the question of security. “It’s much like drones. There are some things we can do as manufacturers such as geofencing, but as platform builders, there’s little we can do in terms of micromanaging behavior,” explains Xu.

As for user safety, the HEXA uses encryption that means intercepted data is unreadable and that can detect any man-in-the-middle attacks.

Despite raising $7 million in early round funding, Vincross is going ahead with a Kickstarter launch to generate a large order batch. The device will go on sale in China in a month’s time via JD.com. The components are all made in Shenzhen and then the HEXA robots are assembled in the company’s own factory in Beijing. Manufacturing in China is highly appealing to the team, as Xu explains: “We can do one iteration in two weeks compared to one or two months in the US.”

Prices on Kickstarter start at $499 to $649 with an expected price of $999 after the event. Prices for when it goes on sale via JD.com are not yet available.

The device is not intended as a toy as the programming still requires rather complex coding. Instead, at first it is intended for developers. This could be a significant new realm of development, says Xu:

“The plan is for developers to make money on this platform. As a former developer I can say that it is very boring to develop on current platforms like games and VR or mobile apps. Developers want something new. Unlike other platforms that are highly two dimensional, robotics gives you a pathway to interact with the real physical world.”

Skills entered into the skill store are currently free to any users and developers, “but it’s not hard for us to add in-app purchases,” says Xu.

More types of robots will become available in the future, but if you master the MIND ecosystem via HEXA, you won’t have to relearn a new interface for future robots, whether or not they are manufactured by Vincross.

Shenzhen’s rainstorms didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of students, designers and coders from all over the world participating in the 2017 TechCrunch Shenzhen hackathon, co-hosted by TechNode.

In teams of 4 or 5, the participants took on challenges posed by sponsors Dianrong, Mobike, Meet Magento Association and Segway Robotics. Dianrong is China’s premier peer-to-peer lending platform while Meet Magento is an association that connects businesses all over the world. The tasks ranged from e-commerce to using blockchain in investment schemes for Mobike and developing new uses for Segway’s Loomo robot.

Brainstorming and developing

The teams got to the tasks right away and many came prepared with ideas. Team 20, Basement Hackers, worked on a smart service platform for blind users incorporating the Segway Loomo. They started testing a prototype early on, with makeshift canes and DIY fixtures.

“There are 1.3 million people with vision disabilities in China,” Zhang Junheng explained the pain point their team was trying to solve. “A guide dog costs around RMB 20,000 to 40,000 and needs one month to train.”

The Shenzhen-based software developer teamed up with his friends Kishor Maharjan and Li Zhenjunrao for this hackathon. They placed 7^th overall.

Powering through the night

The teams had around 24 hours to develop and test their products. During the night, some went home to work but some decided to stay behind. Team 6, Do You Dare, was developing a social app that focused on sharing challenges within a community of users. This was the biggest hackathon in which the friends have participated.

“We didn’t stay last night, we went back to the hostel,” Yuki told TechNode. The team’s members all come from Singapore and were in China to participate in an exchange program at Shanghai’s Fudan University. They heard about the hackathon and decided to come down to participate.

“It’s a good experience for our first TechCrunch event,” said team member Felicia. Do You Dare placed 9^th overall.

Show and tell

On the second day, the teams presented their hard work to the audience and a panel of judges. Given the short amount of time the teams had to develop their project, getting the products to work correctly on stage and presenting a well-rehearsed pitch proved challenging. Several teams could not get their Loomo to work as intended and the real-time demo had difficulties due to a spotty connection.

“We were testing it and 8 times out of 9, it was working,” Kishor Maharjan from Basement Hackers told TechNode. At the presentation, the team’s Blind Guide Rodog had trouble with control and kept zooming ahead too fast. At the last try, the team got Rodog to perform a short guide route where it warned if there was an obstacle approaching or when turning.

Third Place Overall

Team: Mobike Go

Members: Calpa Liu, Hok Yiu; Feihu Tang; Martin, Tsang Chi Ho; Simon, ZiRui Guo; Angus Chow (Chow Tsz Shing)

Anthony Ha from TechCrunch thanked all the participants and sponsors of the event and Dr. Lu Gang from TechNode presented the prizes to the top three overall teams. Third Place Overall went to Mobike Go.

The team invented a smart seat lock that enables a peer-to-peer bike-sharing network. Those with unused bikes can contribute the bike to the scheme by installing the seat lock. The solution adds value to providers by allowing them to monetize their bikes.

“It’s quite different from hackathons in North America,” Simon Guo, a 16 year-old studying in Canada and participating at his first hackathon in China, told TechNode. “People are really friendly, my teammates are awesome. Mobike [and others], these are companies you don’t see in the U.S. So it’s pretty exciting for me.”

Second Place Overall

Team: Fun Tech

Members: Andy Zhao, Michael Xie, Huan Zhang, Aaron Liu, Pak Chen, Guo Yiteng

Runner up went to Fun Tech, a community Mobike investment scheme that utilizes blockchain technology. Their solution allows everyone to become an investor who can invest in individual Mobikes. The return of each Mobike will be dependent on its usage and corresponding revenue will be redistributed back to the investor.

“We wanted to work with blockchain [for the hackathon] right from the beginning,” Michael Xie told TechNode. “Blockchain is a very hot technology right now. This was the first time we’ve worked the technology. So this was a good [opportunity] for us.”

And the winner goes to…

Team: Roadshr

Members: Li Hosan, Liu Jie, Peng Huijian, Li Mengbing, Lv Weixin

The team stood out for its idea and smooth presentation. Roadshr devised a new offline retail model where their LoomoMart robot became a personal shopping assistant that takes care of tasks such as quickly providing pricing, product location in the store, personal recommendations and automatic checkout. Roadshr’s real-time demonstration on stage helped seal the victory for the team.

“We were really nervous about the demo,” Li Hosan told TechNode. “We installed a lot of software, especially TensorFlow [an open source software library], which had a huge file size. We were scared that it would crash. Also, it was noisy at the venue, which would have affected the voice recognition of [LoomoMart]. So we rehearsed a lot.”

The efforts paid off. On stage, Hosan activated LoomoMart’s follow-me technology by saying “Let’s go shopping.” Then a product barcode was scanned and the robot was able to immediately tell Hosan the price. LoomoMart also led Hosan to the location of a product that he was looking for. The demonstration successfully showed the future of offline retail that Roadshr has envisioned.

Special Mentions

Mobike and Dianrong Challenge Winner: Fun Tech

Meet Magento Association Challenge Winner: Easy Key

Segway Robotics Loomo Challenge Winner: Roadshr

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared on our sister site, TechNode Chinese.

If you’re working in a Chinese company, then you’d better be prepared for Chinese New Year’s Eve, the best time of the year to grab red envelopes on your WeChat group.

Chinese people give red envelope (hongbao, 红包) with money to their younger children and co-workers as a wish for good luck in the new year. Nowadays, Chinese people give hongbao using WeChat and Alipay, and it’s also the best time for Chinese companies to run on hongbao marketing bringing the term ‘hongbao wars‘.

Over the six-day Chinese Spring Festival period last year, 516 million people sent and received 32 billion digital red envelopes, which is 10 times the number as over the same period in 2015. Forecasters are expecting up to 100 billion digital envelopes to be sent and received around the world this year.

On Chinese New Year’s Eve day, your Chinese boss will send out a digital red envelope on WeChat group, which is then often grabbed by your peers in only a few seconds. Three things matter: your hand speed, the speed of your phone, and the network speed. If you cannot guarantee any of these three conditions, then these tactics might be useful to you to compete against your colleagues to secure your hongbao.

Use these apps or features on your phone to grab hongbao

1) iPhone

The latest version of iOS allows user to automatically grab the red envelope using iTools. How to: open the iTools click on the bottom bar “more”, open automatically grab red packets.

A WeChat’s plug-in called “Fun-multiplier For WeChat” can help you too. Go to the WeChat settings, where it supports a variety of plug-ins: for example, to prevent the withdrawal of information, to alarm you specific time, to automatically grab red packets, to prevent typing state, and to edit your custom location.

Many Chinese mobile phones, such as Xiaomi, Meizu and Nubia have provided “red envelope assistant” (红包助手, hongbaozhushou).

2) Huawei

Huawei recently released the latest red envelopes application, supporting WeChat, and sending out hongbao reminders on Alipay. The software supports Huawei EMUI version of EMUI 3.0 and above.

3) Meizu

Meizu phone will instantly notify the user with a notification saying, “You received a red envelope.” When the user clicks on the reminder, they will be able to grab a red envelope. Activation for the click is; Settings – Accessibility – Red envelope assistant, open the red envelope assistant.

4) Xiaomi

When received a red envelope on Xiaomi phone, it will give you a reminder on your screen. In addition, MIUI supports major online platforms to grab red envelopes, set an alarm, and provide you the timetable to grab a red envelope to give you more opportunities to grab red envelopes. MIUI developer ROMs already comes with the function, and the users using stable ROMs of Xiaomi phone can download “Xiaomi Red Envelope Assistant (小米红包助手)” on the Xiaomi app store.

Use DIY Robot arm

Chinese makers grab hongbao using a DIY robot arm. You can grab the red envelope as well as observe how it moves so magically to grab it. Props and methods are as follows:

Materials: Arduino Mega2560 (with USB interface, the core circuit board with 54 digital input and output, suitable for a large number of IO interface design), bread board model, DuPont line, key switch, acrylic board, rubber band, sausage × 1 (Key props).

How to: Using open source computer vision library open CV analysis of picture signals, determine whether there is a new red envelope to click on. When the red packets appear, then send instructions to Arduino. Arduino will control the sausage robot arm to click on the screen three times to grab red packets.

Predicting the future is about seeing patterns amid chaos. frog, a global design and strategy firm, has continued its efforts in predicting the future with the release of its latest forecasts for 2017. The firm has a good track record as they predicted VR/AR, AI, and the blockchain would boom this year.

Many of the tech trends prevalent in 2016, such as VR, AI, autonomous driving will continue to resonate in 2017, coupled with other emerging trends. Here is the top-15 tech trends the company expects for the new year.

Autonomous Vehicles with Superhero Performance 

More than 90% of car accidents are caused by human errors, but will AI-enabled autonomous vehicles perform better than human? frog creative director Matt Conway believes we are not far from the day when autonomous vehicles can significantly lower casualty from car accidents.

“In the instant before an accident, an AV should maneuver in dramatic and utterly non-human ways in order to preserve life,” Conway says. “A dramatic emergency evasive maneuver might seem reckless if it was taken by a human, but under the control of an appropriately trained AI—informed by clusters of real-time sensors—such a maneuver might be as reasonable and life-preserving as any taken by a professional bodyguard.

Precision Medicine and Big Data Will Drive Intimate Health Results

The wide application of big data technology has already brought fundamental changes to our lives in the ways we work and entertain. frog strategy director Allison Green-Schoop thinks there’s more this technology can do in medical area.

Precision medicine is a new form of health care that is based on data, algorithms, and precision molecular tools. Allison believes doctors will be able to give tailor-made medical suggestions to patients by digging into their social, environmental and economic contexts, rather than judging only from the symptoms.

Our Spaces Become Participants 

The combination of low-cost sensors and machine learning will enable all kinds of spaces, living rooms, shopping malls, and hospital bays, to be more interactive. Based on the massive data collected by the sensors, machine learning will be used to identify usage patterns and recommend the reconfiguration of a space to drive new behaviors in healthcare, retail, research, manufacturing, work, and residential spaces.

Chad Lundberg & Jud Holliday use an example of customizing hospital rooms for patients.

“Hospitals will shift room layouts, update signage, and adapt lighting and sound to optimize individual patient experiences,” they say. “These will be tailored to patients’ current stress levels, severity and type of conditions, schedules, as well as personal lifestyle and fitness data. Spaces will no longer simply house and support your activities – they will participate.”

Next Year’s Best New Artist

Machines are not only replacing human labor, they are also playing a bigger role in creative jobs. frog strategists Zach Marley and Graeme Asher point out that AI has already marked several milestones in music, video gaming, and fiction writing sectors.

“These imitative algorithms we find writing pop songs, short films, and generating first-person shooter levels will evolve to process broad and diverse inputs – cross-pollinating rhythms, language, and imagery from deep and unlikely corners of our physical and virtual worlds. This is our new creative frontier,” they write

Synthetic Foods and Cellular Agriculture goes Mainstream

Designer Andreas Markdalen detects two distinct changes in our grocery stores: one is plant-based proteins are gaining popularity as an animal meat replacement. The second is tissue extracted from live animals is reengineered to grow food like meat, eggs, and dairy in laboratory environments.

Markdalen predicts that more plant-based artificial meat replacements will hit the shelves of our local grocery store in the coming year.

Business Bots Will ThriveIn the wake of the rising AI fever, frog strategist Toshi Mogi believes AI technologies are going to have wider applications in business use in the coming year. He cites the example of a vintage electric skateboard startup as an example. Robots are used in every link from design, production to marketing, making everything more efficient.

“As intelligent systems and automation further develop to serve the purpose of critical business functions, it is time for a more formalized classification schema for automated businesses,” Mogi writes.

Tricking the Brain to do the Impossible

Virtual reality therapies (VRT) have already been used for distracting the brain from its current context.  frog strategist Kyle Wolf points out that the technology is now also to creating multi-sensory environments that trick it into driving biological outcomes beyond the reach of medication.

“Initially, we will see VRT addressing the psychological—treating phobias, addictions, and other mental conditions—but soon we will see it enabling physiological outcomes and aiding in practices such as Neurorehabilitation,” Wolf says.

Farming the Sea is the Ultimate “Blue Ocean” Strategy

Since life itself arose from the oceans, frog’s Patrick Kalaher believes oceans should be our only sustainable source for resources.

“Farming of kelp and bivalves, and open water cultivation of fish will enable us to generate vast amounts of food without using arable land, water, or pesticides. Because farming in the sea isn’t constrained to the surface, it can extend down to the bottom of the ocean, effectively being three-dimensional,” Kalaher says. “On the production side, new tools and techniques for growing and harvesting are being brought online; on the demand side, new value chains and supply chains are evolving, bringing this kind of seafood to more and more tables as the taste for them is developed over time.”

Interfaces In Our Ears

For decades, human computer interaction has taken a Graphical User Interfaces approach. Creative director Christine Todorovich thinks it’s time for embracing a new interface type that extend beyond the visual. Auto industry is among the first areas where this AUI- the Auto User Interface is applied for it enriches experiences while driving.

“The combination of screen fatigue and technology embedded in everything from cars to homes, is exposing a need for new types of interfaces that extend beyond the visual,” Todorovich says.

Drones As The Great Equalizer

Application of drones in logistics industry has long been the public focus as more companies like Amazon pioneering their works in the initiative. As this technology is becoming more affordable, government, big enterprises and individual citizens alike are joining this trend.

In addition to commercial uses, frog designer Lilian Tse believes that drones will play a bigger role in humanitarian works thanks to their flexibility, citing the efforts in Rwanda as evidence.

“Rwanda is building the world’s first drone airport to provide medicine that can be quickly flown to those who need it. Rather than wait months for roads to be built, drones can quickly provide critical support to people living outside of urban areas,” Tse writes.

Tse added that several other verticals are also going to benefit from the technology, such as road builders, especially Chinese companies, medical companies, and airports.

Scalable Automatic Data Processing Is The New Last Mile

In a world that’s exploding with data, the real problem for us is how to make sense of this huge amount of information in a usable and automatic way.

“The art and science of Scalable Automatic Data Processing is nearing prime time, and monitoring weather, predicting traffic patterns, counting fish in the ocean, or listening to forests to determine their health will be used by organizations of all kinds, not just large tech firms like Google and Microsoft,” writes Patrick Kalaher.

Buildings Work Smarter, Not Harder

While the internet-of-things trend is leading the way to a smarter city, the infrastructure surrounding us is going to integrate more technologies with the efforts from large cooperate companies like MGM Resorts, Wynn, and Tesla.

frog strategist Agnes Pyrchla predicted that this trend could be a massive opportunity for cities, as well as industries like hospitality that depend on large energy-intensive buildings. 

VR-on-Demand

The VR boom is a main theme for the world’s tech scene in 2016 and the trend is not stopping. Piet Aukeman & Sonny King predict that the VR craze is going beyond the tech-savvy geeks to grab a larger group of mainstream audience.

“Live entertainment venues and performers will be increasingly displaced by low cost/high engagement entertainment options that people can access from the comfort of their home,” they say. “Content creators will be able to deliver low-cost, high-quality experiences that are traded on an open, social market. For those consumers that lack the VR hardware, the community can provide “VR Stations” in malls, transportation terminals, and open spaces.”

The Rise of Soft Robotics

As robots enter our daily lives, people need them to change from the traditional hard and cold to something easier to interact with. We have already seen softened robots in various industries from automobile to medicine, Mark Freudenberg points out.

“The soft robotics revolution will be gradual but vast. As robots and robotics become increasingly pliable, they will fold into our everyday lives in interesting and vital ways,” Freudenberg says.

Learning from Machine Learning

By training machine learning networks, people can interact and learn indirectly from the algorithms in other ways, according to Rebecca Blum, citing Gooble’s AlphaGo.

Although Lee Sedol’s defeat raised concerns that machine will doom human race, the designer believes we also evolving through embracing new ways of learning from machines as well. “Learning from machine learning could have an immediate impact on the way we think about education and training, fostering a symbiotic approach to human-machine learning,” Blum says.

 Image Credits: frog design

Lenovo Group Ltd., China’s original computer giant and the world’s largest PC maker, announced the launch of a $500 million USD startup fund, as the company seeks to diversify their business amid stagnating smartphone and PC sales.

The fund, which will be managed internally by Lenovo Group, will search out investments in the artificial intelligence, robotics and cloud computing industries, the company’s vice president He Zhiqiang said at an event in Beijing on Wednesday.

Lenovo joins a handful of Chinese smartphone vendors looking to diversify outside of hardware in an attempt to chase profitability in a flat market. Both Lenovo and Xiaomi dropped from the top five smartphone vendors as of Q1 2016, according to a recent study from IDC.

Xiaomi has taken on a similar strategy, investing in up to 50 companies, up to 20 of which remain in stealth mode, with no current public exposure.

Lenovo has already invested $100 million USD in 30 companies according to their website. Current investments are mobile focussed, including smart home devices and games. The new investment appears to seek out more complex back-end technologies, that could potentially help the company diversify their core business.

A majority of Lenovo’s revenue is still generated from their personal computer business, though the company has acknowledged the rapidly slowing growth in the sector. In August 2015 they cut five percent of their non-manufacturing workforce as part of a $650 million USD cost cutting program.

The company recorded losses in late 2015 for the first time in more than six years, though returned to profitability according to their Q3 earnings reported this February.

China is the world’s largest market for industrial robots, overtaking Japan in 2013. According to China Robot Industry Alliance (CRIA) statistics, the volume of industrial robot sales in China was 36,350 units, or one fifth of the global total in 2013, and is expected to reach around 100,000 units in 2017.

The Chinese government has also announced a ten-year development plan for the robotics industry, as the country looks to upgrade its manufacturing capabilities (source in Chinese). Currently, Chinese robotics covers industrial and agricultural, commercial and even residential uses.

Some robots have already entered Chinese homes, including cleaning robots. But Chinese robots are going well beyond sweeping. Some models can simultaneously protect the home, amuse family members and educate children.

“Google has purchased eight [robotics] companies over the years. It’s very clear that the robot industry is going to take off throughout the coming years,” Rokid CEO Dan Wong told TechNode in an interview.

1. Rokid 

Rokid is an egg-shaped robot that can turn on lights, play songs, provide information about the weather, or remind you about an appointment. It can also call the police if it “sees” unfamiliar faces. Its name comes from ‘robot + kid’, meaning that Rokid can learn and become smarter as time goes by. The key technology behind Rokid is voice print and face recognition.

“A family A.I.(Artificial Intelligence) device for the home is an important domain and is tough to develop,” says Mr. Wong. “We first thought of developing a mobile robot. However, users may feel they already have too much technology around them in the house, and we thought, ‘will they consider buying another device that moves around your home?’ That’s why Rokid is not mobile and we provide functions mainly to make the family relax.”

Rokid was named a 2016 CES Innovation Awards Honoree in the Home Audio/Video Components and Accessories category. Based in San Francisco, Hangzhou and Beijing, Rokid was founded in July of 2014. Mr. Wong says the company has provided 100 test units to its first batch of beta users and that Rokid will be available to the public soon.

2. Pudding

Another home robot is Pudding, which has similar functions as Rokid. For example, the robot has a home security function that can alert the user’s phone if there’s an intruder. The robot also has functions that are aimed at children, like telling users the zodiac fortune of the day and reciting Chinese proverbs. Users can choose from two kinds of A.I. characters, either “serious” or “funny.”

The robot’s crowdfunding campaign on JD.com completed its goal of 500,000 yuan, reaching 800,000 yuan ($122,000 USD) last October. The Pudding robot is currently available for 999 RMB ($153 USD) on JD.com.

3. Alpha 2

Created by a Chinese team based in California, Alpha 2 is a humanoid robot with 20 joints that can replicate human motion. The robot can be connected to the user’s mobile phone to read and send texts and emails, and control WiFi office equipment such as printers and fax machines. It can also take photos and videos, and control lights and locks. Alpha 2’s crowdfunding campaign closed at $1.2 million USD on December 31st, surpassing its Indiegogo goal by 13 times.

UBTECH, the makers of Alpha 2,  operates its own open system called Alpha Store where users can download new apps to keep the robot learning.

4. Jett Companion Robot 

Jett is a companion robot for preschoolers based on the character from the popular animated series, Super Wings‘. Through the cloud of big data, the robot can constantly update its knowledge and skills, and can teach children language and science.

Equipped with the Turing OS operating system, the robot boasts voice recognition, semantic analysis, emotion recognition, visual identification, and self-learning capabilities. Its built-in camera analyzes children’s emotions, and the robot will tell jokes and sing when it finds the child unhappy. Finally, the robot will give “Daily Growth Report” to the child’s parents, to list what courses, songs, and stories the child had gone through with the robot.

The robot was introduced to public last June by Alpha Smart Technologies at a technology conference held in Beijing. The company also announced its strategic partnership with Blue Frog Robotics and Turing Robot, to build China’s ‘Smart Home Ecosystem.’

Image Credit: Rokid, Hksilicon, Pudding, Alpha2

In a show reminiscent of the 2008 Beijing Olympics drumming spectacle, state broadcaster CCTV aired a dance routine by 540 synchronized robots accompanied by 29 neon drones on Sunday.

The annual Chinese New Year Gala, which attracts some 700 million viewers every year, is an epic live variety show showcasing Chinese culture with a healthy dose of 爱国 (patriotism).

China has invested heavily in kickstarting an innovation economy amid turbulence caused by a slowing economy, and nothing showcases a newfound commitment to hi-tech like half a thousand dancing mechanical men.

The bi-pedal performers must have undergone some serious training because not a single one seemed to break unison during the performance:

Please note you may need a VPN to view this video from within the mainland.

Christmas is over, but there’s always room in the stocking for one more gadget. In case Santa left you feeling a little disappointed, here are five great Chinese products that met their crowdfunding goal this Christmas:

1. sProjector

The sProjector is about the size of an iPhone and very lightweight (150g). This projector, worth $190 USD, was made by a Beijing-based team. The projector supports 1,000 lumens projection and a  battery boost, it can last for up to five hours of projection without external power supply. Its energy-efficient design provides an auto lamp dimming function and auto brightness adjustment function to lower the total cost of operation. The campaign closed on December 25th, and surpassed its Indiegogo goal by almost fifty times, with over $498,000 USD pledged of a modest $10,000 goal.

2. Seed Smart Water Bottle

Shenzhen-based Seed is a smart water bottle that tells you when to drink more water. It tracks a user’s water consumption and provides reminders to meet a daily goal. The lid features an LED touch screen display, and shows the real-time water temperature when touched, as well as the percentage of daily intake consumed. Moikit app, available free on iOS and Android, integrates seamlessly with third-party apps and devices via Bluetooth, including Jawbone and Apple’s HealthKit. The battery will last over a year and can be replaced easily by users. This project doubled of its goal $20,000 USD, reaching $50,450 USD with 16 days left to go.

3. Czur Scanner

Conventional scanning can leave documents with flattening curves, fingerprints and other frustrating glitches. Czur Scanner makes it easier to scan pages, books, and even sculptures. Its smart algorithm can automatically flatten the curve, erase the fingerprint, purify the background, and correct the distortion. Sold at $299 USD, a fraction of price of traditional scanners, Czur Scanner is also 20 times faster. It can be also used as a video presenter by connecting the screen through HDMI. Developed by a Shenzhen-based team, the project has reached over thirty times its pledged goal, raking in $682,588 USD in funding as of December 7th.

4. Robotic Arm Dobot

A Shenzhen-based team created a desktop industrial robot arm, Dobot. The arduino-based Dobot Arm can perform repetitive actions like writing, printing and drawing with its 0.2mm precision mechanism. The robotic arm can be controlled by PC, app, leap motion, gesture and voice. Dobot is open-sourced and supports three types of OpenSource Firmware for special applications and developers with different programing preferences. A robotic arm sold at $499 USD, the campaign reached over twenty times their goal and completed $13,188 USD in funding as of December 23th.

5. LIVALL Helmet

These Shenzhen-based makers were passionate about bikes, and wanted to proved that helmets can be smarter. The LIVALL helmet enables cyclists to communicate with each other. The helmet comes with an app, Windbreak mic and Bluetooth Speaker, which lets users speak to other cyclists via walkie-talkie, as well as listen to music while cycling and covert messages into voice messages. When a rider falls, the G-sensor on the helmet will sense an unusual gravity acceleration and send an automatic alert to emergency contacts. Total funds of $257,835 USD were raised as of September 30th, more than 10 times their goal.

Image Credit: Indiegogo

It’s not a lazy button

This year’s Techcrunch Shanghai featured everything IoT for the home from connected door handles to soothing smart sleep masks. But according to China’s leading voices in robotics, the most exciting addition to our homes in the next five years will be our AI helpers.

“In the next five years Robotic companies will nurture the market, and you will have at least one or two robot appliances at home,” said Yao Kong, Founder of Ming Robot. Kong spoke alongside Ricky Ye, CEO of DFRobot, and Zhichen Yu, founder of Tuling123 at a panel on the development of China’s robotics industry.

While the exhibition floor was light on robots, it’s been a big year in robotics in China. At this year’s GMIC in Beijing several new robotics innovations were unveiled including the very humanoid YangYang, a life-size robot co-created by Japanese robotics guru Hiroshi Ishiguro and Chinese robotics professor Song Yang at the Yangyang Intelligent Robot Science Service Centre in Shanghai.

According to Ye, years of perfecting robots will finally see mass consumer adoption over the coming years. “If you look at PCs, the revolution happened in late 80s. However, it made rapid growth only 10 to 15 years later,” Ye remarked, drawing parallels with China’s growing robotics industry.

“Robots can serve in diverse industry areas. The mission for those companies will be focusing on one sector as well as special key functions of robot.” said Ye.

“There are two opportunities in robotics,” added Zhichen Yu “a robot that has single functionality which works simply and well enough, or robots that go deep in artificial intelligence that can be used in multiple verticals.” 

“Robots will be used guide in shopping malls, server in shops, dish washer in restaurants, companion for children. If you look at the ten year time frame, senior care will be another market.”

Yu’s Tuling123 was showcased in the startup alley, it’s able to dance along with music as well as make a series of complex bipedal movements. The Robot also demoed at GMIC in Beijing a few months earlier. 

Robots Currently In Use

The panel also introduced some of the interesting robots already working in the field;

• Receptionists: Saya the secretary robot respond to questions and hold a basic conversation in Japan
• Security guards: Bob patrols office headquarters and scans rooms using its 3D sensors in Japan.
• Chefs: A noodle-slicing robot named Foxbot can be found at in China’s Dazzling Noodles.
• Surgeons: Surgeons already use automated systems to assist them with low-invasive procedures. 
• Reporters: Associated Press has been automatically generating over 3,000 stories about US corporate earnings each quarter since June 2014.
• Musicians: Toyota has created a violin-playing robot to introduce it to nursing homes and hospital.
• Actors: British company made Robo Thespian robot can make jokes and break out into song.
• Hanson Robotics came up with ‘Han’ and ‘Sophia’ resemble human faces using over 40 motors.