Sparkles has a terrifying costume (Picture: Boston Dynamics)
Boston Dynamics’ robot dog Sparkles might just be the stuff of nightmares – even though it was meant to be quite the opposite.
For International Dance Day, the team at Boston Dynamics created Sparkles, the glittery cousin to Spot, dressed in a shimmering blue muppet-esque costume as it showed off some, arguably, killer moves.
Boston Dynamics said: ‘Spot is meeting another strange dog and making friends through the power of dance. Meet Sparkles.’
The team posted the video of the two robot dogs dancing to their YouTube channel in celebration of the day on April 29.
The dogs seem to share a kiss before breaking out into dance. And while Spot is instantly recognisable and well known, it was Sparkles that captured viewers’ attention.
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Some people took to social media to voice their opinions on Sparkles. One viewer, Alan wrote on X: ‘This dancing robot dog won’t give you nightmares at all. Nope.’
Another one, Alan Cross wrote: ‘The last thing I would want would be a dancing blue robot dog’
In the comment section on the YouTube video, one viewer wrote: ‘How nice of them to not want to scare us when we’re being rounded up by robots. Very considerate. Thanks.’
However, some people thought Sparkles is adorable.
On X one user, Kellyl8n, wrote: ‘Sparkles and Spot, robo dogs dancing… cute!’
Another user, Lisbeth, wrote: ‘When Spot twirls with Sparkles, it’s a waltz of wonder – our hearts leap, tech sings, as metal meets magic in the dance of dreams, bridging worlds with every whimsical whirl!’
And a third said: ‘Spot and Sparkles, the newest dynamic duo of the dance floor!’
Boston Dynamics explained: ‘Sparkles is a custom costume designed just for Spot to explore the intersections of robotics, art, and entertainment.’
The dogs were trained using Choreographer, a dance-dedicated system made available by Boston Dynamics with entertainment and media industry customers in mind.
The duo share a kiss before dancing (Picture: Boston Dynamics)
The fun routine highlights the complex software built to take advantage of the machine’s overall manoeuvrability, balance, and precision.
For people who want to buy Spot and make it dance, they can select ‘high’ level options instead of creating a dance for the robot to do.
‘If asked to do something physically impossible, or if faced with an environmental challenge like a slippery floor, Spot will find the possible motion most similar to what was requested and do that instead – analogously to what a human dancer would do,’ the company explains.
The new video comes shortly after Boston Dynamics revealed its new Atlas 2.0 robot, after retiring its predecessor, Atlas.