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- "BabyAlpha" was revealed at a Chinese electronics show.
- Although it walks like the terrifying dog-like robots from Boston Dynamics, it's... cute.
- Who's a good boy?
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.
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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!
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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!
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