Boston Dynamics, the advanced robotics company known for displaying its machines engaged in mildly terrifying dance routines, is back at it again for the holidays. This year, the company released a brief video clip that shows its four-legged “Spot” robot tiptoeing across an icy, winter-themed warehouse floor with Christmas music softly playing in the background. The scene then cuts to its new, more slender Atlas humanoid robot draped in a Santa Claus outfit, white beard and all. A low-humming mechanical sound can be heard moments before Atlas suddenly hurls itself into the sky for a backflip. It sticks the landing perfectly. Happy Holidays y’all.

“Wishing you a holiday season full of light and laughter as we flip over into the new year!” Boston Dynamics wrote in a X post accompanying the video. 

[ Boston Dynamics gives Spot bot a furry makeover]

This video marks one of the first notable examples of the newer Atlas model engaged in the kind of acrobatics its older cousin, now referred to as “Hydraulic Atas” was known for. The older model, which weighed around 200 pounds, stunned viewers over the years as it pulled off backflips, performed parkour moves, and chucked heavy objects over its head like an Olympian. That model was officially retired earlier this year and replaced with a much smaller, all electric version geared more toward commercial applications like warehouse work. The company recently released a video of the new and improved Atlas autonomously grabbing and moving engine covers between supply containers in a mock manufacturing center. And because it’s Boston Dynamics, they later repeated the same trial only with Atas nestled in a hot dog costume.

[ Researchers tortured robots to test the limits of human empathy ]

Atlas isn’t the only robot getting festive makeovers. Earlier this year, Boston Dynamics outfitted its Spot quadruped with a custom-made, Muppet-like dog costume. Furry spot, which the company named “Sparkles” then engaged in a brief dog-inspired dance routine made possible by Choreographer, a dance-dedicated system. Sparkles can be seen wiggling its body, jumping up and down in imagined excitement and even raising its “paw.” The demonstration builds off of previous viral video showing Boston Dynamics fleet or robots dancing in unison to “Do you Love Me” by the Contours. 

Videos like these invariably received mixed reactions from viewers. While some marvel at the advanced engineering feats needed to make these performances possible, others are left with an unsettling feeling of just how far these robots have progressed. 

 

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