Unique sports festival dedicated to humanoid robots

At the World Humanoid Robot Games 2025 taking place in Beijing, China, the competitions are not only about sports but also about practical application, creating an atmosphere that is both exciting and technological.

According to VNA reporters reporting from the event, one of the most exciting competitions was martial arts. Two robots were programmed with artificial intelligence (AI) to strike, dodge and maintain balance on the ring.

Some matches ended quickly when a robot fell to the floor, but there were also long matches that kept the audience on the edge of their seats, especially when the robots demonstrated defensive and counter-attacking skills quite similar to humans.

Experts say this is a sport that "tests the overall ability" of robots, from controlling movements, recognizing behaviors to handling situations.
Unlike the intense competitions, the gymnastics events are artistic and entertaining.

Drug Classification Robot Competition. (Photo: Cong Tuyen/VNA)

The robots are programmed to dance to music, in groups or solo. The audience is surprised to see the robots turn around, move their hands, and shake their hips quite smoothly.

Some have even demonstrated the ability to synchronize to music. Although still stiff, the robots’ dancing movements represent an important step toward developing robots that can express and communicate more closely with humans.

In the 5-a-side football event, robots have to move, pass the ball and coordinate to score goals. The match has many unexpected moves, with robots often “losing the ball” or accidentally colliding with opponents. However, the audience enjoys these situations.

In addition to sports competitions, robot teams also participate in practical applications such as drug classification and accuracy testing in the medical field; material transportation and cleaning in industrial environments; rescue in complex terrain to evaluate the robots' ability to adapt and make quick decisions.

Overall, this is not only a playground that converges technology and sports, but can also produce results that can be directly applied to fields such as emergency rescue, medical recovery (rehabilitation) or service robots.

The 2025 World Humanoid Robot Games kicked off in Beijing on the evening of August 14 local time, marking the world's first Games dedicated to humanoid robots. The event, which runs until August 17, will feature 280 teams from 16 countries across all continents, with more than 500 humanoid robots competing in 26 events.

According to the Organizing Committee, in the future, events like this congress may become like the Olympic Games of artificial intelligence and robots, becoming a regular international event.

With the continuous advancement of AI and hardware technology, future competitions may see robots that can complete difficult gymnastics movements or even participate in marathons; robots that not only perform simple mechanical movements but also demonstrate the ability to "understand tactics"; combined with augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technology, creating an immersive and vivid competition viewing experience./.

(Vietnam News Agency/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/doc-dao-dai-hoi-the-thao-danh-rieng-cho-robot-hinh-nguoi-post1056136.vnp