Chinese street dancer Wu Yufei and his robot crew, Homies, have made it to the final of America's Got Talent. Wu, a 27-year-old Sichuan native, has spent most of his 13-year career performing solo. He told AFP that dancing with robots gives him a "very magical feeling". The robots, made by Chinese robotics group Unitree, have been training with Wu for months. He said they now feel like more than just "cold, lifeless machines".
Robot dancing has become a huge craze in China after Unitree robots performed in a breakout performance at China's annual Spring Festival gala. Businesses and event planners across the country have since rushed to hire robots to perform and attract visitors. Wu and his robot crew will perform in the AGT final, with their art director, Fang Zhenghua, describing the process of training a robot to dance as "creating a soul".
Training robots to dance involves capturing intricate human movements, running computer simulations, and then transferring results to the robots. Industry insiders said it takes a lot of fine-tuning, with a 30-second dance routine taking days or even weeks to perfect. Liu Zhiquan, commercialisation lead at robotics motion-capture firm BridgeDP, said performers need to be willing to compromise, and if dancers are not tech-savvy, there will be a lot of re-takes.
Wegers Wei, from Shanghai-based dance studio Limit Crew, said that when designing routines for robots, he avoids movements that he knows will be difficult for them. Robots are good at rotating moves, but routines that require body flexibility are extremely difficult. Another blind spot is musicality, as robot dancing is mostly scripted playback and they cannot improvise or make on-the-spot adjustments.
While the general public in China mostly sees robot dancing as entertainment, industry insiders see it as a chance to show off robotic designs, capabilities, and reliability. Guo Renjie, founder and CEO of robotics engineering company Zeroth, said that's why everyone is keen to perform high-skill dances. A recent Morgan Stanley report forecast that China's humanoid robotics market could reach $2 billion in value this year.
The Chinese industry faces increasing scrutiny from investors and policymakers, with many companies struggling to find commercially viable uses for their humanoids beyond entertainment. Executives at humanoid robotics companies have publicly acknowledged that the industry is still years away from its own "ChatGPT moment". Zeroth's Guo said the industry needs time to reach its full potential.
Unitree made a blistering debut on the Shanghai stock market in August, surging 629 percent through the first day's trading. Wu pointed to another robot benefit - how quickly his robot crew could learn routines. He said their knowledge can be replicated extremely quickly, and not only does a single robot learn quickly, but they can all learn the same things at the same time.
Key points
- China's robot dancers, led by Wu Yufei, are set to perform in the Season 21 finals of America's Got Talent.
- Robot dancing has become a huge craze in China, with businesses and event planners rushing to hire robots to perform and attract visitors.
- The Chinese humanoid robotics market could reach $2 billion in value this year, according to a Morgan Stanley report.
