In a move set to raise the bar with multi-billionaire entrepreneurs everywhere (I’m lookin’ at you, Elon), Jeff Bezos walked into the annual MARS conference piloting a 13 foot tall, one-and-a-half ton robot.
The MARS conference (which stands for Machine learning, home Automation, Robotics, and Space exploration) is a mysterious, invitation-only affair hosted and run by the largest internet retailer in the world, Amazon. Details regarding the conference are hard to come by, however previous year’s attendees included Toyota executives, iRobot co-founder Helen Greiner, and even B-list celebrities.
With such an audience the pressure to impress is intense, and what better way to do it than walk out in a multi-ton machine capable of crushing all opposition?
That actually may be overstating things a bit. The robot in question,“Method-2” from Korea-based Hankook Mirae Technology, is barely ambulatory as can be seen in test footage available on YouTube.
Their website doesn’t give too many details either, however in an interview with The Telegraph the company revealed the price tag to be a cool $10 billion won (that’s about $9 million).
Jeff himself did little more than the robot equivalent of jazz hands, and can clearly be seen requiring heavy-duty chains to keep the whole machine from toppling over. It’s doubtful the arms could lift much more than a Kindle Fire, but since it was partially designed by Vitaly Bulgarov (the same guy who drew the robots in Transformers) you know it’ll look damn good doing it.
@JeffBezos "Why do I feel so much like #sigourneyweaver ?" @amazon #MARS2017 #openpodbaydoors ?? pic.twitter.com/HRRzmQtZbh
— Caleb Harper (@calebgrowsfood) March 20, 2017
Still, a partnership with Korean robot designers is a good indication of where Amazon is headed. First, drone operated delivery service. Second, Kaiju defense contracting. We here at GeekReply have the utmost confidence in Mr. Bezos to use this technology to protect our coasts from incursions of apocalyptic monsters born in the depths. Do you?
RSS