Wow, I also found that bit disturbing. This is the coolest (real) robot ever!

It's so disturbing that I felt sorry for it after it got kicked. That does not bode well for my survival in the coming robot apocalypse.

"KILL IT!!!"
"BUT ITS KINDA CUTE!!!"
THWACK (nail dart to the head)

Ahh I remember seeing this a while back yet they hadn't got it running on a decent power supply and the bugger needed to be plugged up to a generator.

It just looks so wrong, It gives me the creeps. Some improvements of course, maybe add a few hundred legs and make it say a chest, preferably of sapient pearwood and your good to go.

@Garrison Dean
I definitely cringed when the guy kicked it.

At certain angles it looks so alive, at others its clearly robotic. Either way its doing a great job of tricking my primate brain.

It also looks like the striders from Half Life 2.

Yawn, call me when they strap a particle cannon onto it.

I would ride this into battle and you would fear me!

@theOmegaMan: Which makes me excited that I bought the Orange Box yesterday.

They could've at least stuck a fake deer neck and head on it. I like my anthropomorphic things to have heads.

@Dr. Spaceman: Exactly. See how cute it looks with a chain gun mounted on it.

This is definitely the creepiest thing.
How do we kill it again?
@Garrison Dean: Seriously! But will a nail gun nail that sucker? Won't we have to have anti-robot robots to take it out?

I can just see the nightmarish future.. full of this buzzing sound coming ever so near.

Creepy

I actually didn't mind the kick - I've had worse happen to me during training.
The part where he's sliding on the ice and scrambling not to topple over - that's the part where I held my breath.

And at taht point it had gotten me. Cause for that one small moment I believed it had true fears and goals and desires.
Its panic and disorientation were palpable.
I truly feared for its safety.

At that point it was truly alive.

"alien whir?" Try chainsaw.

The best part was when it leaped like an effin' deer!
What this thing really needs is a saddle.

Actually the buzzing sound comes from the mobile power generator, not the engine. If you pay attention in the lab it doesn't make a noise, because they have it hooked on power cables instead of the mobile power source. I had hoped they had fixed the buzzing since the last video.

@Garrison Dean: Wow, really on a roll here aren't you?
It's anthropomorphic when it resembles a human. When it resembles an animal it's zoomorphic.

@SoulCarnival: Yeah man, that's it. What makes it creepy and disturbing is that it has to "try". Robots do, or do not, they do not try.

@JesusDeSaad: Ah... I knew it was human for anthro, but didn't realize zoo (makes sense) was assigning animal characteristics for objects. Thanks.. in the memory banks it goes.

Rather impressive, particularly the recoveries from being pushed and slipping on ice. Stop the video right at the end though and you make the alarming discovery that Boston Dynamics is being funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Big Dog is going to be a one of the dogs of war. Also wonder why they didn't use six legs. The arthropod six legged structure is much more stable and able to traverse difficult terrain than the four legged one. Maybe the Big Ant proposal just didn't fly with military pet lovers.

Thanks for my impending nightmares, io9. That part where it slipped and lunged at me? Yeah, I'm pretty sure I peed a little.

The movement is amazing. Can they get it to say "Woof, woof,woof. Hello, I'm Rags."?

Cute, cool, yes, but think bigger folks.. That is step 1 in making an AT-AT!

*Obligatory save-ass statement: I for one welcome our new robot overlords.

@Grey_Area: Woof, woof. Hello, I'm here to kill you.

That's just incredible. Forget defense, I want a little robo-dog to carry my laundry.

I was a little confused when I heard the euro-metal, because I was watching the first clip and didn't realize both were playing at the same time. It seemed odd to market your company's robot with a death metal anthem blasting in the background.

@Annalee Newitz: Oh no, another dark 'n' gritty remake! Woody Allen must be spinning in his grave.

So, what is the power source anyways? Some kinda battery I assume.

god help us that is the most disturbing thing ive ever seen

It is quite disturbing. I, too, felt...sympathy when it was kicked.

@theOmegaMan: It does remind me of that, but the first thing I thought of was a 4 legged Metal Gear.

Regardless of whatever changes or improvements that are made, considering it's inevitable military applications, there must be at least ONE model that keeps the whirring noise. That **** is downright terrifying. Good psychological warfare.

Metal pack mule... I'd love one of those for camping and hiking. hopefully they're mass produced in the next 30 years

Way cool for an imitation.. Better than a segway.. Ever notice that us dogs never look where we put our feet, and never trip or fall down? Superiority, that's what that is.. And it bet it's too dumb to chase rabbits

Robo Polo. The next international sports craze, once the Doping Olympics is made illegal.

They have robo soccer and robo sumo already, as well as the robowars.. And robot jockeys for camel races in Saudi Arabia.

If you put a gun on it, give it the portal sentries voice. "Are you still there?"

Dang, that was so realistic, I kept waiting for it to pause by a tree and lift a leg

Well, obviously you all are sissies. When it was kicked and then it recovered, my only thought was "well that will make it harder to knock down."

When it slipped on the ice I thought "damn, that thing doesn't stop."

When it clambered over the rubble and hopped 3 feet in the air I thought "so how do we get away from it?"

Can I aim for an artificial nerve stem and put it down for good? Seriously, what kind of armor are they going to put around the gearworks and processors?

@bjarmson: "...you make the alarming discovery that Boston Dynamics is being funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Big Dog is going to be a one of the dogs of war."
What about that surprises you even a little bit? War technology is pretty much the #1 reason for any techonological progress. DARPA funds all sorts of things thay may or may never enter a battlefield. It's research which MIGHT have a realworld defense application.

I like the scene of it climbing over the cynder blocks....kinda like a robotic donkey....reminds me of the old EA video game M.U.L.E

On the next episode of The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The gang goes to Boston!

Oh hell no kill it now that is going to give me nightmares. Mechanical beasts living out pathetic lives in misery and pain. We hates it

Very cool. I can imagine the Doggy Things in Snow Crash coming to market before long. "How much is that Doggy Thing in the window?"

Muffitt!? Muffitt?! Have you seen my daggit?

@ThatGuyOverThere: And "might" is used here in the broadest possible term. DARPA's approach to scientific advancement is hilarious.

Crackpot scientist: "Hey, man, I think that we could make a pretty awesome bomb if we got a colony of bats and covered them with napalm."

DARPA: "Really? Here's two million dollars. Go find out."

Wow. The Uncanny Valley just got a LOT deeper.

Metal Gear anyone? Anyone?!? sigh okay...

I WANT!!! I'm imagining riding around Chicago on the back of that thing!

How long before they're using these things to dispense tear gas and rubber bullets during crowd control situations?

I appreciate that Annalee's choice of soundtrack on the second clip is Meshuggah's "Future Breed Machine."

Awesome and creepy at the same time!

@ErasingScott: Thank you for noticing. :)

@braak: "And "might" is used here in the broadest possible term. DARPA's approach to scientific advancement is hilarious."

The government funded research in to missiles guided by homing pigeons... So yeah, hi-larious.

That thing is quite uncanny.
I bet the four horsemen of the apocalypse will be needing a few of these suckers.

Big Dog + Saddle > Segway

Wow, a couple more years and I'll be able to buy my very own chevaline: [www.technovelgy.com]

oh god hurry up and get the guns mounted on that thing. looks like something summoned from a Lovecraft book. Love it.

I've seen once a doggy without legs, I have some good news for him!

I love this robot so much! If I ever lose my legs in an accident, screw wheelchairs, I'm riding one of these bad boys! Mind control on one of these and we're away! Can it go up stairs? It certainly looks capable...

OH CRAP, IT'S THE COMBINE!

Give it six legs and it would look just like a giant flea. Luke Skywalker knew how to bring it down, though...just tie up the legs.

my boss has legs like that