Analog ‘Pong’ is beautiful, but so expensive

Nothing screams hipster more than a product that’s both less advanced than what’s already around, and yet far more over-engineered. It’s also not an unfair description of Universal Space’s (UNIS) analog Pong table, on show here at CES. The company has revived those chunky arcade tablets that we remember from the ’70s, but with a […]

Cristiano Ronaldo lost a game of ping pong to a former Manchester United teammate — and his reaction shows his extraordinary competitiveness

Getty Images Cristiano Ronaldo is an extraordinary competitor. World Cup analyst Patrice Evra recently told an anecdote on ITV that drove home just how dedicated the Portugal striker is to winning. Ronaldo lost a game of table tennis to former teammate Rio Ferdinand when they both played for Manchester United. Ronaldo then bought a ping […]

Latest autonomous vehicle: The Bruu beer pong robot

Beer pong Roomba: Bruu is an autonomous moving target for beer pong. Labruutories LLC says it invented Bruu to increase social interaction among disconnected phone addicts. Bruu is spill- and splash-proof with rubber gaskets to prevent liquids from entering and damaging its internals. Six infrared sensors allow Bruu to detect its surroundings and avoid obstacles. […]

Research suggests ping pong can help Alzheimer’s patients, but these folks just want to play — and win

Residents at a midtown Toronto retirement home are taking up ping pong in a big way. Staff at the home say it helps with their co-ordination and balance, and some research even suggests ping pong might ward off the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.

OMRON’s updated ping pong robot can serve and take smashes

It’s CEATEC, so I knew OMRON would once again bring out its massive table tennis robot to belittle us humans, but what I didn’t expect was a significant performance jump this time. FORPHEUS, now at its fourth generation, features improved AI to boost its responsiveness — so much that it can now predict and attempt […]

Real-life ‘Pong’ table is available as a crowdfunding project

Remember that real-world Pong table that was supposed to become a product you could buy if everything went smoothly? Well, it’s here… almost. The creators have launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to launch a production-grade, coffee table-sized version of the design. If you’re willing to pledge at least $ 1,100 ($ 990 if you were […]