We may not be able to leave the house during the pandemic but that’s okay because we can now live vicariously through Boston Dynamics’ Spot, everyone’s favorite robotic dog.
As CNET puts it:
“Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot dog has a list of notable achievements under its belt, like looking after the welfare of medical staff and herding sheep like a real dog. But now, Spot is ready for its most interactive adventure yet: letting you take it for a walk.
To showcase its software, San Francisco-based Formant is offering everyday people like you and me the chance to walk Spot around the Bay Area. The best part? You don’t have to leave the house. Spot can be walked from anywhere in the world with an internet connection. Formant’s platform lets humans manage a wide range of robots — including drones, underwater robots, automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and quadrupeds like Spot — remotely through a web browser.”
Walking a robotic dog may not sound like the most exciting thing one can do but I think it’s pretty cool. It’s like a real life version of a video game where you use a controller but navigate around the real world instead of fake renderings inside a simulation. Perhaps we could even get to the point where instead of just taking a robotic dog on a walk we could actually use it as an avatar of sorts to actually interact with the environment, such as searching for items, completing tasks, solving puzzles, and racing other users, just like you would in a real video game.
Is controlling Spot remotely the Greatest Idea Ever?
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