Boston Dynamics’ latest robodog has fur & killer dance moves

Boston Dynamics has showcased a new version of its robodog Spot and this one has fur and particularly impressive dance moves.

Robotics company Boston Dynamics, which is known for its robodogs and humanoid robots, has shown a new robot on YouTube. The bot in question is called Sparkles and it is essentially the same as the company’s existing Spot Robodog but with a fun twist. Sparkles has fur.

It’s clad in a suit of fur, a “custom costume” meant to “explore the intersections of robotics, art, and entertainment,” writes Boston Dynamics in the YouTube video’s description.

The idea here is to turn the popular robot dog Spot which has acted as the symbol of the impending robot takeover into a less scary creature straight from the Disney universe.

The video shows the furry robot dancing alongside the original Spot robodog, swaying from side to side and even touching each other’s noses at one point. However, Boston Dynamics hasn’t been very clear about the robot’s purpose. The company may simply be celebrating International Dance Day which was on April 29th.

The internet had hilarious reactions to the robot. “Finally, we have done it. Humans have invented: Dog,” says one commenter. “Everybody wants to pet the dog until its neck extends 4 feet,” said another.

“You added fur to Spot. Now the time has come to add skin to Atlas,” suggested one commenter. Speaking of Atlas, Boston Dynamics retired the humanoid robot last month and introduced an electrically powered version of it, which is much lighter and thinner.