Boston Dynamics lives comfortably at the intersection between delightful and mortifying. The engineering company’s arsenal of robot dogs can be downright adorable when varied specimens are trying their hands at parkour and breakdancing, though every technological uptick to meet the breed reminds us that it’s only a matter of time until we’re the ones catering to their whim. But in the meantime, here’s another cute thing!
The latest video from the brilliant, if not somewhat diabolical, folks at Boston Dynamics shows a team of SpotMinis working together to haul a box truck down a sleepy street. As you will see below, ten automated pooches are present and accounted for to uphold the task, though suspiciously only two have heads. (As if the notion of robot dogs that’ll imminently rise to become our tyrannical overlords wasn’t chilling enough, now we have to deal with decapitated robot dogs that’ll imminently rise to become our tyrannical overlords? Oy.)
The gadgets are almost three feet tall at the head, weigh a little more than 65 pounds, and run on battery. What’s more, the summary accompanying the above video mentions that SpotMinis “are coming off the production line now and will be available for a range of applications soon.” A range from, say, cute tap-dancing numbers to—oh, I don’t know—punishing the human race for its incurable hubris? Ominous, Boston Dynamics. Very ominous.
In all seriousness, the continued technological endeavors of Boston Dynamics are always a treat to witness, and this latest effort is no exception. This could revolutionize the asking-friends-to-help-you-move industry!
Images: Boston Dynamics