Disney’s amazing bipedal robot Groot looks like Asimo discovered cosplay
He walks, he waves, he probably falls over in a strong breeze. | GIF: Disney via TechCrunch Disney's R&D labs, commonly known as its Imagineering team, does some extremely impressive - and expressive - things with robots. It's made mechanical stunt doubles, lifelike alien Na'vi, and, uh, this skinless weirdo. But the company's latest creation looks like it quite literally walked out of a Disney movie. It's a bipedal Groot that can amble about tether-free. As Disney's Pinocchio would put it: he's got no strings to hold him down.
TechCrunch's Matthew Panzarino has the low-down on this robotic milestone for Disney. It's part of the company's long-term efforts to develop autonomous robot actors for its parks, says Panzarino, under the codename of Project Kiwi." The company's engineers spent years creating their own free-standing...