Creepy or cool? Robot dog can open doors

A mechanical appendage was added to the robot where its head should be. Boston Dynamics’ contraption, on the other hand, will probably let all of its little robo-friends in so they can hang out and plot humanity’s demise. There’s something to be said from the kind of publicity that Boston Dynamics’ new Jurassic Park video generates, but it’s hard not to imagine that this is hurting the company’s cause in the long run. SpotMini is also the quietest robot in Boston Dynamics’ product lineup. In November, the company posted a video online of its Atlas robot executing a backflip. Shortly after, another Spotmini comes to its aid. With only a minimum amount of adjusting, the SpotMini is able to position itself to open the door.

It’s not clear how the dogs communicate, but when the first SpotMini drops his hind legs and extends his front limbs (resembling the body language of a dog or wolf that’s crying out), doggo number two nearly instantly appears from behind a cabinet. Most have that classic scene where someone expresses concern about where technology is going, they get laughed at, and then the reckoning begins.

It’s unclear whether someone was directing the robot’s movements will opening the door or whether the SpotMini was doing it on its own.

The company has received funding from the U.S. Department of Defense, specifically its Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), as well as the Army’s Rapid Equipping Force.

Twitter usually knows how to respond to news without overreacting.

Now if you’re watching that video and don’t see what the fuss is about, I’d recommend checking out the “Metalhead” episode of Black Mirror.

But while biomimetic robots are certainly useful – the ability to copy human motion enables these robots to dexterously manipulate objects and navigate complex terrain – they still inspire more fear than awe in many people.