There’s a new breed of performers in China that awed millions of televiewers on 16 February.
The annual CCTV Spring Festival gala showed them doing mock sword fights, nunchuck demos, and martial arts moves, only they were not human.
They were humanoid robots developed by local tech startups Unitree Robotics, Galbot, Noetix and MagicLab.
One robot imitated the “drunken boxing” style of kung-fu popularized in a movie of Chinese action star Jacky Chan. Noetix robots then joined human actors in a comedy skit while MagicLab robots performed with human dancers, NBC News reported.
Not to be outdone were Thai police officers, who also used dance moves to fight crime.
The Bangkok police department was facing the challenge of apprehending an elusive serial burglar whose victim was one of their colleagues. The 33-year-old suspect allegedly broke into the home of a local police commander in Bangkok three times earlier this month, stealing 2-million baht worth of Buddhist objects, including a Buddha statue, The Standard and WOWT reported.
Police always lost the thief, an alert and fast runner, whenever they spotted and pursued him. So they came up with a unique plan to catch the burglar.
During a Lunar New Year fair at a temple in Nonthaburi province outside Bangkok on Wednesday, police in disguise were on a stakeout for the burglar whom they expected would be there selling the stolen charms.
Officers performed the traditional lion dance at the fair, a common sight during Chinese New Year celebrations. That was when they spotted the suspect, who did not notice them as they were under the colorful lion costume and giant head.
The lion-dancing police got close to their target and then pounced on him, pinning him to the ground and cuffing his hands.
A police bodycam captured the dramatic arrest and the video was shared with the public on social media.
Police said the suspect confessed to the burglaries, saying he stole to gamble and buy drugs, according to WOWT.