Humanoid robots show diversified applicable scenarios at World Robot Conference 2024

Humanoid robots are showcasing intriguing wizardry at the ongoing World Robot Conference 2024 (WRC) in Beijing as they have made stunning outperformance in multiple applicable scenarios from cooking to instrument performance.

At an exhibition area of the 2024 WRC, a unique football match captures people's attention. Attendees gather here to applaud and cheer for the robot-players.

"It's different with the football matches we normally see, matches played by humans are more intense. I hope the robot players can run faster and become smarter in the future," said a boy at the exhibition area. Robots can applicate what they learn from virtual environment into the real world. The football matches could test and optimize algorithms empowering robots so that they would get more autonomous and coordinated while performing tasks, according to the exhibitor.

At other exhibition areas, humanoid robots continue to amaze people as they are seen making burgers with advanced bionic robot arms, practicing Chinese calligraphy, exercising martial arts and playing Yangqin, a traditional Chinese instrument.

"Those robots are capable of doing a lot of work, from cooking to chores, and their edge lies at being able to quickly learn and command human capabilities. For example, learning how to play the instrument Yangqin from a teacher, a robot can reach level 10 just in a couple of hours," said Lai Jie, founder of the Chinese tech company Astribot.

There are also bionic humanoid robots that look, act and talk more like human at the venue. Their human-like appearances and stunning capacities of fast learning and interaction attracts attendees.

"The robot can comprehend what is happening through its own observation, and then generate contents and behaviors based on our requests. In the future, it will be a customer-oriented smart product catering to personal needs, such as house-keeping, babysitting and tutoring," said Li Boyang, CEO of EXrobots, a Dalian-based Chinese tech company.

The 2024 WRC opened in Beijing on Wednesday, bringing together hundreds of industry professionals and highlighting a number of cutting-edge developments in the fast-evolving robotics industry.

According to the organizer, 169 global companies, including ABB, Tesla, Kuka and SMC, are presenting their 600-plus knockout exhibits throughout the five-day event.

Humanoid robots show diversified applicable scenarios at World Robot Conference 2024

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) decided to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged at around 1.25 percent after concluding its two-day monetary policy meeting on Friday.

The widely expected decision came after the central bank raised the key rate by 0.25 percentage points to a 31-year high of 1.25 percent at its previous policy meeting in September.

In its quarterly economic outlook report released after the meeting, the BOJ said that with the policy interest rate now higher than in the past, it is important to examine how financial conditions change under such circumstances.

The BOJ also said that Japan's underlying inflation has "generally" reached its 2 percent price stability target, nearly 14 years after the goal was set as part of efforts to end decades of deflation.

At a post-meeting press conference, BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda said the central bank's monetary policy will increasingly focus on keeping underlying inflation firmly anchored around 2 percent, signaling that the BOJ could raise rates further to prevent price increases from overshooting the target.

The BOJ cited higher prices of crude oil, semiconductors and other items, as well as the yen's depreciation, among the factors currently pushing up prices and likely to keep doing so for some time. It said it will closely monitor the impact of the situation in the Middle East, global demand related to artificial intelligence, and foreign exchange rate movements on Japan's economic activity and prices.

In the outlook report, the BOJ raised its core consumer price inflation forecast for fiscal 2027 to 2.6 percent from 2.4 percent, while lowering its real GDP growth projection to 0.7 percent from 0.8 percent.

The BOJ first adopted its 2 percent inflation target in January 2013, initially aiming to achieve it in about two years.

In April that year, under then-Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, the central bank launched an aggressive monetary easing program, but the target remained out of reach, with the BOJ repeatedly pushing back the timeline.

Japan's recent inflation has been fueled largely by external factors such as higher energy prices, and analysts said sustained wage growth would be key to creating a virtuous cycle of rising wages and prices.

The BOJ has one more policy meeting this year, scheduled for Dec. 17-18, at which markets increasingly expect another rate hike.

Japan's central bank keeps interest rate unchanged