Bouncing a ping-pong ball on a paddle isn’t terribly challenging for someone with even a modicum of hand-eye coordination, but what if you were blindfolded and had to only rely on your ears? That makes the challenge almost impossible, but unexpectedly it turned out to be an effective approach for this ball-juggling contraption

The first thing that I should say about FORPHEUS is that it’s gentle. The artificially intelligent Ping-Pong tutor built by Omron is not trying to beat you. It’s not trying to take over the world. FORPHEUS is trying to make you a better Ping-Pong player. I played Ping-Pong with this incredibly futuristic being, and…

There’s not much fame that comes with being a championship ping pong player. You don’t get shoe deals, ticker tape parades, or cameos in movies. You do, however, get to post awesome trick shot compilation videos to YouTube, leaving the internet completely jealous of your skills with a paddle.

What have we learned from this compilation of Takkyuugeinin’s “table tennis entertainment” vines?

Sure, some random objects like a frying pan and a shovel make some sort of sense to use as a ping pong paddle replacement. But an iron? A kitchen knife? A wooden spoon? A rolling pin?

Table tennis is a hard game that requires quick instincts and even quicker reflexes. But what if you had some help? Like, what if the table could tell you what to do? This ‘smart’ ping pong table shows you where to serve, tracks each shot you take, and gives you oodles of data on your game. It’s a clever projection…

Here’s a 500 watt halogen light bulb vaporizing a ping pong ball. The wimpy plastic ball starts melting and then completely vanishes in seconds, leaving behind no evidence that it ever existed in the first place. It’s like the coolest way to dispose of anything. You can see it in slow motion at the end of the video as…

Everyone assumes that one day robotic arms will be dominating human opponents at the inevitable Cyber Olympics. If IBM’s research division has anything to say about it, flying drones could pose the bigger threat to mankind’s gold medal dreams.

If you weren’t lucky enough to land your dream job at a hip startup with free lunches and ping pong tables on every floor, Suck UK has your consolation prize with a set of three notebooks that double as a pair of paddles and a net for spontaneous table tennis matches.

You probably spent weeks trying to find the perfect furniture for your living room, so why just put any old ping pong table in your rec room? If you’ve got the room (and the money to hire movers) this table, including the net, is made from salvaged rails and lumber that one supported real trains.

If there was a canine table tenis championship I'm sure this border collie would be the winner. Watch how he successfully returns one ball after another holding the ping pong racket with his mouth.

The next time you're stuck at an airport waiting for a delayed flight, instead of turning to your smartphone to pass the time, just make sure this cardboard version of table tennis is one of your carry-on items. In just seconds it can be unfolded and assembled into a working ping-pong table, complete with a cardboard…

If you feel like your table tennis set-up needs a little more... oomph, then look no further than Stiga's new Studio table: a regulation playing surface that happens to pack a 2,800 watt sound system. Beer pong will never be the same again.

Who says coffee tables can only serve as magazine storage, beverage holders, or less than comfortable footrests? Huzi Design's Ping-Pong coffee table proves they can also be a great way to entertain guests without resorting to breaking out your Catan board.

Desks are the focal point of our work and creativity, but that doesn't mean they can't be fun, too. Like the You And Me Table, which offers both a fully-functioning table tennis surface and somewhere to work, too.