Robot Dog Patrolling Park in Singapore
Move over Fido, you've got some competition as top dog around here.
It's bad enough with well-meaning friends and coworkers, now this thing is reminding us to remain an appropriate social distance apart. Yes, we absolutely should be staying six feet apart and wearing face masks in public. I'm just not sure I want a robotic dog reminding me.
Yes, you heard right, a robotic dog. The device, known as Spot, was created by those brainiacs at Boston Dynamics and has been seen stalking ... er ... patrolling the open park areas in Singapore to encourage everyone to practice proper social distancing. As you can see in the video most people instinctively back away, but I can't help but think that if one of these things showed up at Lucy Park on a sunny Saturday afternoon it would actually draw a crowd.
According to The Straits Times Spot has been on patrol since last Friday, May 8th, 2020, and is on a two week trial run. While he's on patrol Spot will be broadcasting a prerecorded social distancing message. He is also fitted with cameras that will allow park officials to get a general idea of the number of people utilizing the park spaces. Those cameras are said to not have facial recognition or tracking capabilities.
During his two week trial run Spot will always be accompanied by a Singapore National Parks officer.
While this is some pretty cool technology, it would have been a lot less creepy if the folks at Boston Dynamics had given him some sort of head.