Watch Creepily Lifelike Robot Dog Stare At Viewers In Mysterious Teaser Trailer
Robotics and technology company Boston Dynamics unveiled their newest creation Monday in a teaser trailer.
The video shows the new “SpotMini,” a robot dog, bounding up to the camera and peering directly at the viewer. The four-legged yellow robot then bounds away and the words “coming soon” appear on the screen. Exactly what is coming soon is a mystery. The company made no announcement beyond the video and had not yet responded to International Business Times’ request for comment. Past video showcases for their inventions tend to be several minutes long, and the SpotMini video is only 24-seconds long.
The original SpotMini had more of its mechanics showing and some models had an arm coming out of the top of its body. The version shown in the new video looks much sleeker.
Boston Dynamics is known for their YouTube videos showcasing their robots, sprinkled with bits of humor. A video for their BigDog robot shows a person kicking it and the robot re-stabilizing — the video then uses slow-motion for comedic effect. The four-legged robot was developed with funds from the U.S. military.
Boston Dynamics was acquired by Google subsidiary Google X in 2013 for an undisclosed sum and then sold to Japanese telecom and tech giant SoftBank Group. The company began as a spin-off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Its founder, Marc Raibert, was an MIT professor working on robotics that mimicked animal movements before starting the company.
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