Sony Built a Robot to Become Better at Table Tennis. We Built Technology to Make Humans Better at Table Tennis.

Sony AI’s Project Ace is an impressive achievement.

Table tennis is extraordinarily difficult for robotics: speed, spin, trajectory, positioning and reaction all have to be processed in fractions of a second.

Their goal is fascinating — teach the machine to become a better table tennis player.

At Fastpong, we approached the same sport from almost the opposite direction — use technology to help the human become better.

Fastpong combines an integrated ball shooter, interactive targets and software to turn repetitive training into measurable, responsive practice.

• Every shot has a purpose.
• Accuracy can be measured.
• Progress can be tracked.

And, importantly, training becomes fun.

Experienced players use it seriously for training, while beginners quickly find themselves chasing targets, scores and another attempt.

We've seen this first-hand at exhibitions and competitions, and on a much larger scale through the hundreds of Fastpong systems already being used by clubs, federations and high-performance centres around the world.

So while much of the conversation around AI asks:

“Can machines outperform humans?”

I think there is another equally interesting question:

“How much better can technology help humans become?”

Sony is exploring one side of that future.

At Fastpong, we’re working on the other.

This idea also sparked a discussion on LinkedIn — you can read and join the conversation here.