The 2024 World Robot Contest Finals, just concluded on Tuesday in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province, has captivated visitors with exciting robot battles and groundbreaking technologies.
The event consists of two major competitions: Brain-Computer Interface or BCI Brain-controlled Robot Competition and Youth Robot Design Competition.
Running from Jan 16 to 21, the event covers more than 20 major events, 50 minor events and 100 competition groups, providing a broad competitive stage for robot enthusiasts around the world.
During the six-day event, incredible displays realized by BCI technology, like typing and communicating with mind, have also taken the spotlight at the fair.
BCI refers to a system allowing a person to control a computer or other electronic device using his or her brainwaves, without requiring any movement or verbal instruction.
At the competition site, young contestants, wearing portable devices on their heads, silently controlled line-following robots to complete challenge tasks by leveraging their brainwave signals.
Wu Qin, a referee of the competition, explained that the performance of contestants is determined by their level of concentration during the event, with the data being collected from within the human brain.
"The BCI device works kind of like a fitness tracker that monitors our heart rate and blood oxygen levels," Wu added.
Meanwhile, a display and experience area, showcasing various application scenarios of BCI, have attracted crowds of visitors.
"I just experienced the mood breathing light and visual typing. Both are quite advanced. I haven't come across similar things before. This competition let us learn about these novel devices, and it's great," said a visitor.
Robot competition wows public with advancing brain-computer interface technology
Robot competition wows public with advancing brain-computer interface technology
China's outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), adopted on Thursday, maps out a systematic path toward high-quality development by building new growth drivers through the fostering of emerging and future industries.
In the latest five-year blueprint, the emerging strategic industries China will nurture have been expanded to include new sectors like intelligent connected new-energy vehicles (NEVs) and robotics. It also outlines plans to establish emerging strategic industry clusters tailored to local conditions, each with its own distinctive features and complementary strengths.
Experts suggested that this marks a shift for emerging industries -- from isolated breakthroughs to scaled, clustered development.
"During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, we aim to further promote and expand emerging industries in both scale and quality. The development of industrial clusters is a clear reflection of economies of scale. Building on the existing foundation, this will further sharpen the international competitiveness of our emerging industries. The blueprint's emphasis on new application scenarios and innovative business models will also help steer these industries toward a higher quality of development," said Wei Qijia, a researcher at the State Information Center, which is under China's National Development and Reform Commission.
The plan also identifies key frontiers to reach, including quantum technology, biomanufacturing, hydrogen and nuclear fusion energy, brain-computer interfaces, embodied artificial intelligence (AI) and 6G. Moving beyond mere technological roadmaps, it also stresses the need to build a full-chain incubation system for future industries.
"This forward-looking approach reflects a keen sense of foresight. The plan introduces mechanisms for identifying and monitoring emerging industries and making dynamic adjustments accordingly. If a particular new area or arena shows potential to foster emerging future technologies, it needs to be identified as early as possible. The blueprint's specific references to initiatives such as pilot zones for future industries and research institutes dedicated to their development also signal an important direction in terms of working methodology -- providing clear guidance on how to nurture the industries of the future," he said.
China's five-year blueprint set to foster emerging, future industries
