Finally, a robot dog that doesn't look like it's going to murder us all
- "BabyAlpha" was revealed at a Chinese electronics show.
- Although it walks like the terrifying dog-like robots from Boston Dynamics, it's... cute.
In the 15-plus years since Boston Dynamics first introduced its first dog-like robots, people have reacted in a mix of awe and "This thing looks like it's going to murder me."
The Museum of Science in Boston has one of the 2016-era "Spot" robots, a cheerful and sleek yellow quadroped that can climb stairs and walk forward and backward — and also caused a toddler to shriek and cry in fear when I visited last winter.
There is something truly unsettling about those robots.
Futuristic, uncanny, makes us question what horrors hath we wrought with our hubris of creating this technology.
Today, that all changes. A Chinese robotics company called Weilan showed off its newest model at a electronics trade show in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province of China.
"BabyAlpha" is the updated version of their "AlphaDog" robot. And they've cracked the code: They gave it ears.
Look at this little pup! Isn't he a good boy?! He wouldn't murder us in our sleep and destroy humanity! Good doggy!
It turns out that ears are to robot dogs what legs are to people in Meta's Horizons or fingers are to AI renderings: You need them or else it all looks too weird.
Weilan's email was down and they do not have price or sales information on their website. Sorry holiday shoppers!
