Groovy

Confuse your emotions by watching Boston Dynamics' robots dance

This would be adorable if they weren’t repurposed military tech.

It’s been a terrible year and the folks at Boston Dynamics thought we could do with some lighthearted fodder. In a new video meant to send us to the new year with high spirits, several of the company’s robots get down to The Contours' “Do You Love Me.” The easily recognizable Spot joins the bipedal Atlas robots with a surprise cameo from Handle, a robotic arm straight out of Tony Stark lab, in stunningly smooth choreography.

Tugging at our heartstrings, for now — Boston Dynamics often tries to make us all forget that its robots are nightmare fuel born out of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). We already knew Spot could boogie, but its Running Man demo from two years ago looks pedestrian in comparison to this new video. Each robot is showcasing remarkable agility that could have practical applications when moving through tight spaces.

It’s no secret the company has its sights set on profitability and consumer-friendly robots. Spot’s SDK was made available to the public not long before it hit the market at the completely reasonable price tag of $74,000. Now, shuffled over to Hyundai with a roughly $1.1 billion valuation and SoftBank unwilling to completely give it up, Boston Dynamics has more eyes on its future than ever before.

Still, the company has an uphill battle ahead of it. Even though we might love them when they dance from the safety of a screen, seeing them in person would be a completely different story.