New York police officials have announced plans to use Boston Dynamics’ dog-shaped robots Digidog and Spot until August, the lease term, but will cancel the deployment due to opposition from residents and politicians.
NYPD officials say they were targeted at people who would like to discuss race or monitoring, and said they had decided to stop using it early. The NYPD has been deployed and used in various scenes and hostage cases since October 2020, but at this time, voices pointing out personal issues were coming out. A spokesman for the New York City Mayor added that it was good that Digidog was disposed of. He added that the robot dog is eerie and difficult to feel intimacy, and is sending the wrong message to New Yorkers.
At the time of introduction, the police technical support unit was told that it could be sent into the dark to see what was going on inside, and the scene was not using lights due to, for example, a hostage group incident. In February, it was announced that it was evaluating methods of use such as hostage incidents and waste disposal. However, as protests emerged between residents and lawmakers, the authorities said that if they tolerate the existence of a digital dog, the method needs to be changed.
Eventually, on April 22, it was decided to end the distribution of Digidog. In addition, NYPD has been renting robots with a budget of $94,000, but in the case of rental, the contract includes costs such as regular maintenance, and the purchase price per spot is $75,000.
Anyone may be surprised when a four-legged walking robot walks down the alley without a spot that is considered to be the most attractive (?) among Boston Dynamics robots. Related information can be found here.