Marc Raibert

Did you experience a lot of people around you kind of... I don't know if they doubted whether it was possible, but I think they thought it was a waste of time.

I think for a lot of people. I think it's been both, though. Some people, I felt like they were saying, oh, why are you wasting your time on this stupid problem? But then I've been at many things where people have told me it's been an inspiration to go out and attack these harder things. And I think it has turned out, I think legged locomotion has turned out to be a useful thing.

I think for a lot of people. I think it's been both, though. Some people, I felt like they were saying, oh, why are you wasting your time on this stupid problem? But then I've been at many things where people have told me it's been an inspiration to go out and attack these harder things. And I think it has turned out, I think legged locomotion has turned out to be a useful thing.

I think for a lot of people. I think it's been both, though. Some people, I felt like they were saying, oh, why are you wasting your time on this stupid problem? But then I've been at many things where people have told me it's been an inspiration to go out and attack these harder things. And I think it has turned out, I think legged locomotion has turned out to be a useful thing.

I mean, at first, I wasn't an enthusiast for the humanoids because, again, it goes back to saying, what's the functionality? And the form wasn't as important as the functionality. And also, there's an aspect to humanoid robots that's about functionality. all about the cosmetics, where there isn't really other functionality, and that kind of is off-putting for me.

I mean, at first, I wasn't an enthusiast for the humanoids because, again, it goes back to saying, what's the functionality? And the form wasn't as important as the functionality. And also, there's an aspect to humanoid robots that's about functionality. all about the cosmetics, where there isn't really other functionality, and that kind of is off-putting for me.

I mean, at first, I wasn't an enthusiast for the humanoids because, again, it goes back to saying, what's the functionality? And the form wasn't as important as the functionality. And also, there's an aspect to humanoid robots that's about functionality. all about the cosmetics, where there isn't really other functionality, and that kind of is off-putting for me.

As a roboticist, I think the functionality really matters. So probably that's why I avoided humanoid robots to start with. I'll tell you, after we started working on him, you could see the connection and the impact with other people, whether they're lay people or even other technical people.

As a roboticist, I think the functionality really matters. So probably that's why I avoided humanoid robots to start with. I'll tell you, after we started working on him, you could see the connection and the impact with other people, whether they're lay people or even other technical people.

As a roboticist, I think the functionality really matters. So probably that's why I avoided humanoid robots to start with. I'll tell you, after we started working on him, you could see the connection and the impact with other people, whether they're lay people or even other technical people.

There's a special thing that goes on, even though most of the humanoid robots aren't that much like a person.

There's a special thing that goes on, even though most of the humanoid robots aren't that much like a person.

There's a special thing that goes on, even though most of the humanoid robots aren't that much like a person.

I'll tell you, I go around giving talks and take Spot to a lot of them. And it's amazing. The media likes to say that they're terrifying and that people are afraid. And And YouTube commenters like to say that it's frightening.

I'll tell you, I go around giving talks and take Spot to a lot of them. And it's amazing. The media likes to say that they're terrifying and that people are afraid. And And YouTube commenters like to say that it's frightening.

I'll tell you, I go around giving talks and take Spot to a lot of them. And it's amazing. The media likes to say that they're terrifying and that people are afraid. And And YouTube commenters like to say that it's frightening.

But when you take a spot out there, now maybe it's self-selecting, but you get a crowd of people who want to take pictures, want to pose for selfies, want to operate the robot, want to pet it, want to put clothes on it. It's amazing.

But when you take a spot out there, now maybe it's self-selecting, but you get a crowd of people who want to take pictures, want to pose for selfies, want to operate the robot, want to pet it, want to put clothes on it. It's amazing.

But when you take a spot out there, now maybe it's self-selecting, but you get a crowd of people who want to take pictures, want to pose for selfies, want to operate the robot, want to pet it, want to put clothes on it. It's amazing.

What the connection was is that at that point, Boston Dynamics was mostly a physics-based simulation company. When I left MIT to start Boston Dynamics, there was a few years of overlap, but the concept wasn't to start a robot company. The concept was to use this dynamic simulation tool that we developed to do robotics for other things.