Sports on a Whole New Level

I been receiving alerts all day about RoboCup 2007. At first I thought it had something to do with a robotic coffee cup until I saw the homepage of Planet Robo telling me otherwise.

The Japanese have taking sports to new height by introducing 1 foot tall robots with full mobility and flexibility allowing them to have full control of the little guys on a table top soccer field. The teams consisting of three robots per team all control by individual humans follow all the standard soccer rules. For a video clip of the live action click here.

I believe this to be a great step in the robotics arena, but I see it as yet another reason to have the teenagers stay home and work out their thumbs instead of their bodies. No wonder this society is heavier than ever. Don't get me wrong, I'm all up for automation and technology, but when it comes to sports and outdoor fun, I prefer to make mine physical. It is the one thing I admired by the latest Nintendo Console, the WII, it truly gets the kids back into becoming more physical while still enjoying the best of technology.