Meet Cassis, Rakuten’s unbeatable rock-paper-scissors AI

Think you have what it takes to beat Cassis in a game of rock-paper-scissors? Think again.

Developed by the Rakuten Institute of Technology, Cassis is an innovative AI machine that can read human hand gestures. When it was installed at the entrance of Rakuten Crimson House in autumn 2016, it maintained a flawless record in the Japanese game janken (or rock-paper-scissors, as we know it in English).

Named after Viber Japan’s popular monkey mascot, Cassis recognizes the gestures of its adversaries through a Kinect 3-D sensor on top of an attached monitor and is equipped with a deep learning technology which studies the shape of human hands. It is able to identify which shape its opponent is about to present and determine which shape it needs to win. All in less than a second.

So, no matter how good your poker face (or poker fist, as it were), Cassis is always a step ahead. But don’t take our word for it, check out Cassis in action in the video above.