Oh boy, this robo-dog moves so very well, you’d think it could hear the music! “Spot,” the robotic dog channels his inner Mick Jagger in the new video from Boston Dynamics, paying tribute to The Rolling Stones on the 40th anniversary of their 1981 album Tattoo You.
The greatest rock and roll band in the world has met its match in a cute robot. In a side-by-side reel that includes the original, iconic music video, a group of Spot dogs moves to “Start Me Up.” While one of them imitates the frontman Mick Jaggy with fantastic accuracy, three other Spot robots imitate Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, and Charlie Watts’ moves.
Earlier, Boston Dynamics has been using dance to demonstrate what its robots are capable of, having Spot twerk and boogie to a cover of “Uptown Funk” and choreographing a robotic dance to the classic “Do You Love Me?” involving its entire lineup.
Such displays are a visually appealing proof of how machines are evolving. The sheer fluidity displayed by these robots is so astounding that you may be taken aback. But don’t forget that hours of engineering and choreography are hidden behind the curtain.
Performing a dance routine with quadruped robots is nothing at all like traditional choreography. Spot, for example, has twice the number of legs as Jagger and his crew. And this can be more difficult than one might imagine.
There’s a Spot-Jagger, a Spot-Keith Richards, a Spot-Ronnie Wood, and a Spot-Charlie Watts in the video. Watts, the band’s legendary drummer, died earlier this year, just before the band’s current US tour. Some might notice the absence of a Spot in the role of bassist Bill Wyman (he left the band in the early 1990s).
