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Watch: New Boston Dynamics robot can dance like a human

Boston Dynamics released a new video that shows the robot dancing like a human.

By Herb Scribner Herb Scribnerhscribner@deseretnews.com
SHARE Watch: New Boston Dynamics robot can dance like a human
In this Thursday, May 24, 2018, photo a Boston Dynamics SpotMini robot is walks through a conference room during a robotics summit in Boston. It’s never been clear whether robotics company Boston Dynamics is making killing machines, household helpers, or something else entirely. But the secretive firm, which for nine years has unnerved viewers with YouTube videos of robots that jump, gallop or prowl like animal predators, is starting to emerge from a quarter-century of stealth.

In this Thursday, May 24, 2018, photo, a Boston Dynamics SpotMini robot is walks through a conference room during a robotics summit in Boston. It’s never been clear whether robotics company Boston Dynamics is making killing machines, household helpers or something else entirely. But the secretive firm, which for nine years has unnerved viewers with YouTube videos of robots that jump, gallop or prowl like animal predators, is starting to emerge from a quarter-century of stealth.

Charles Krupa, Associated Press

Boston Dynamics released a new video of its Atlas and Spot robot that can dance like a human, and it’s quite eerie to watch it.

  • The video shows the entire lineup of robots — from the Atlas, the Spot and the Handle versions — dance together in a routine.
  • The dance video is set to the song “Do You Love Me” by The Contours.
  • “Our whole crew got together to celebrate the start of what we hope will be a happier year: Happy New Year from all of us at Boston Dynamics,” Boston Dynamics said on YouTube.

There are some definite “Iron Man” vibes in this video, calling back to “Iron Man 2” when Tony Stark and his Iron Man suits danced on stage.

We’ve seen these Boston Dynamics robots filter online over the last few years. For example, the American engineering and robotics design company uploaded a video that showed two dog-like robots, called the SpotMini, walk around and open doors, as I wrote about for the Deseret News.