For several years now the world has been in awe and a slight bit of worry about the robotics firm Boston Dynamics whose viral videos show robots displaying some seemingly mind-boggling feats.
But, from robot dogs to dancing robots, these advances were apparently just the beginning. A pair of videos released by Boston Dynamics on Tuesday show two of their Atlas units demonstrating some very impressive gymnastics and parkour skills including backflips.
The 4.9ft robots were first unveiled to the public in 2013 and are essentially a research project for the company and the parkour course allows them to explore the capabilities and experiment with new behaviours in the Atlas units.
Boston Dynamics adds: “Through jumps, balance beams, and vaults, we push Atlas to its limits to discover the next generation of mobility, perception, and athletic intelligence.”
While this is certainly impressive the internet couldn’t help but be slightly unnerved by what they were seeing, which looked to be like something from a sci-fi movie.
It very impressive technologically. The question that jumps out at me though is : why do we need this in the world? How does this benefit humanity? Surely if anything this is a bad thing.
— Alex Southgate (@EssexAlexUK) August 17, 2021
Genuine questions.
THIS SUCKS AND IS TERRIFYING https://t.co/e51XPKUtOz
— cleo (@mirkskunk) August 18, 2021
Ayoooooo! Dis is awesome & scary for me at the same time.. https://t.co/XDaHr17SPU
— 9beel (@9beel_J) August 17, 2021
[ The year 2035 ]
— Jason Lefkowitz (@jalefkowit) August 17, 2021
ME: Hey, do you remember all those videos Boston Dynamics used to put out of their robots doing cool shit?
POLICE ROBOT WHO IS CHOKING ME TO DEATH: No https://t.co/0FCsWXhJnT
Can't wait to be hunted by these things in a dark forest. https://t.co/lElDym3fwq
— Selfless Thoughtful Human Delight (@SavageNoMore) August 17, 2021
We'll make great pets... https://t.co/1bgkHPdYNb
— Michael E. Mann (@MichaelEMann) August 17, 2021
Some couldn’t help but compare the clips to The Terminator movies.
you forgot the music 😢 pic.twitter.com/liyKa2cqhG
— Maciej Makuła (@Wonziu) August 17, 2021
— Ricardo Batista (@RicardoABatista) August 17, 2021
According to a blog post, this particular routine took months to organise and we also shouldn’t be too concerned. Many of the moves seen in the video still come with a high rate of failure and one step featured in the video is not 100 per cent perfect.
However, if that doesn’t reassure that a robot apocalypse isn’t going to happen then perhaps you should watch this behind-the-scenes video where the units actually fall over.
