Welcome to Google, where a summer BBQ party means having a dancing, headless robot dog dance in a parking lot for your amusement.
A summer party hosted by Google Ventures, Google's venture arm, this week featured a drone taking group pictures, a self-driving car waiting to be used and, most memorably of all, a robotic dog that apparently knows how to dance.
Some in attendance -- investors, entrepreneurs and public relations folks -- had mixed reactions in conversations with Mashable after the event: One person was impressed by the dog's "natural movements." Another person said it felt a little bit like stepping into the dystopian future of Blade Runner -- helped along by the odd feeling of seeing a dog without a head trying to dance.
The robotic dog appears to be Spot, a shockingly nimble machine that Google came to own after buying Boston Dynamic in 2013. It was one of several robotics businesses acquired by the Internet giant. Spot made headlines earlier this year when Boston Dynamics put out a video showing the dog getting kicked but somehow managing to stay upright.
Dancing robot dogs...just another #GVBBQ A video posted by kraneland (@kraneland) on Jun 9, 2015 at 5:06pm PDT
Robot dance party @GoogleVentures summer party. Well done @kraneland @billmaris pic.twitter.com/0VKSPrKfKB— Peter Hebert (@peterjhebert) June 10, 2015
I need 4 of these Google robot dogs next to my 3 self driving cars to be complete https://t.co/PTU7wOl9Pd— Peter Pham (@peterpham) June 10, 2015
Representatives for Google did not immediately respond to our request for comment.