The Travelogue of 2018 the Silk Road Rediscovery Tour of Beijing – Science & Technology

Evelyn Yu Yu Swe was taking a selfie with the toy clawed by Fabo E01. （Photo by Yangbin）

Day One

We started bright and early in the lobby of the Novotel where I was introduced to Cissy whom I had been in contact with while planning the trip. We hopped on the bus and started with a stop at the offices of Beijing Evolver Robotics, a company that built domestic service robots for families in China.

Greeting us at the door of the office was a little robot on wheels, about 40 kilos, that looked like a cross between a penguin and a Roomba. That was Fabo E01, designed to respond to the social needs of children, the elderly, and others who need accompaniment. The robot had many capabilities, including operating an embedded projector, teaching children English, and… strangely enough... operating an arcade-style claw machine. Of course, I won at the first go.

While many robots have been researched and developed all over the world, none of the prototypes except this (perhaps another in Japan) were ready for mass market penetration. In three and a half years, Beijing Evolver Robotics seems to have created a robot that could be rolled out on the Chinese market. An impressive feat!

We spent the rest of the morning at the offices of Leyard, a transnational group that focuses on creating LED displays, urban landscape lighting, cultural and technical integration, and virtual reality. Their offices boasted an impressive array of products and gadgets, including an LED television that displayed in 3D. I suppose I can’t be the only one excited about being able to see a 3D movie without having to throw on those pesky 3D glasses. The only caveat is that the user must be at least 6-8 meters away from the screen for the 3D to render properly, and I suspect this might be an issue for home theater use.

Evelyn Yu Yu Swe was taking a photo of LED display screen in Leyard. (Photo by Chengxi)

Of course the team at Leyard saved the best for last, as we were treated to a chamber of various AR and VR games. We zoomed across the galaxy in a rocket ship and fought zombies in a laundromat before concluding this segment of our trip and headed to lunch.

Evelyn Yu Yu Swe was playing VR games in Leyard. (Photo by Chengxi)