Robot Stars Target World Cup 2050 Glory
July 14, 2005
If competition for places in professional soccer teams wasn't hot enough, players in future World Cups may face the challenge of vying for selection with humanoid colleagues.
With the ultimate objective of having an artificial intelligence team ready to play against the human World Cup champions by 2050, robots from 31 countries went head to metallic head on Wednesday in the RoboCup 2005, a week long series of competitions being held in the western Japanese city of Osaka.
The prize, after 50 or so years of practice, for the descendents of the robots on show in 2005 will be a match against the living, breathing world champions of the future.
Experts predict victory against human world champs
"By 2050, a team of fully autonomous humanoid robot soccer players shall win a soccer game, complying with the official FIFA rules, against the winner of the most recent World Cup of Human Soccer," a statement by organizers said.
The robot soccer division has five leagues, with biped robots kicking the ball in the humanoid league. Aibos, the robot dog developed by Japanese electronics giant Sony, took to the pitch in the four-legged league.
The robot that wins the humanoid competition will take home a crystal cup designed by French luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton.
A total of 333 teams from 31 countries are taking part in the annual event, which has previously been staged in Japan as well as Australia, Italy, France, Portugal, South Korea, Sweden and the United States. Next year's host will be the German city of Bremen.
The event was organized by researchers and sponsored by Japanese government agencies and private-sector companies.