Robot dog causes stir in NYC and ‘sniffs out’ NY Post newsroom
This robot dog isn’t into the ruff stuff.
Bunny, an 85-pound purebred from Boston Dynamics, hit midtown Manhattan on a visit with her owner Agnieszka Pilat this week — and she came in peace.
“I signed a pledge with some other robotics companies that you cannot use them for offensive, only defensive. So, for example, mounting a gun on the robot would be illegal,” Pilat said.
The NYPD has explored using Boston Dynamics’ robot dogs and others have speculated about their potential military use. The models are similar to Pilat’s “Bunny.”
Pilat, a Polish-born artist whose paintings fetch up to $55,000, uses Bunny to create mechanized paintings.
The robots march across canvasses with paint-covered paws.
Pilat’s works have become a favorite of Silicon Valley’s tech arrivistes.
At a charity auction for Ukrainian refugees, one creation from Pilat’s dog “spot” fetched $40,000.
The dog retails for a cool $75,000. A second robot dog Pilat owns, Basia, — which comes with an arm — goes for $200,000.
En route to a lunch at Del Frisco’s Steakhouse, Bunny came ‘face’ to face with a flesh and blood pup.
“She’s not a fan,” remarked the biological dog’s owner.
Pilat admitted that “organic dogs” don’t care for Bunny.
“They don’t smell her. So I think the lack of smell really disturbs organic dogs,” she said.
Bunny is “very curious, likes animals. And, you know, the way it moves. It’s a hybrid of machine learning and choreography. So it moves really very beautifully. and curiosity’s a number one feature of it,” Pilat added. She does not bark.
The iconic robot dog also came by for a visit to the New York Post, where she barged into offices — but didn’t bite any journos.
