BTS Engages in Robot Dance-Off to Welcome Hyundai and Boston Dynamics Acquisition
Seven Spot robots also dance in unison to “Ioniq: I’m On It.”
After completing its $1.1 billion USD acquisition of Boston Dynamics, Korean automotive manufacturer Hyundai is welcoming the robotics company with one of its countries biggest exports — K-pop.
Professionally choreographed by Monica Thomas, its partnership video sees Boston Dynamics‘ Spot robots dancing in unison for a 77-second masterpiece — all done to the beat of BTS‘ “IONIQ: I’m On It” track. “There were a lot of challenges around getting the vision of our choreographer, who’s used to dealing with human dancers, into our software,” notes Eric Whitman, a Boston Dynamics roboticist. “Everything had to be worked out in advance and scripted precisely. Robots have the advantage over humans in that they’re very repeatable: Once you get it right, it stays right. But they have the disadvantage that you have to tell them every little detail. They don’t improvise at all.”
On top of the well-choreographed dancing of the Spots, Hyundai and Boston Dynamics also launched a clip documenting the meeting of BTS with the Spot robot. The Atlas also makes a special appearance. The Spot along with the boy band get acquainted before engaging in an all-out dance-off. Watch the “Spot’s On It” video above and catch the dance-off below.
In other tech news, Heineken’s robot cooler delivers ice-cold beer to you.
