MWC 2024: Meet Dynamic – TECNO’s robotic dog inspired by the German Shepherd
He’s cute. He’s quirky. He’s playful. He’s got personality. He’s everything a dog should be — except, he’s a… robot. Meet Dynamic 1, TECNO’s robotic AI dog that was unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
It came out of nowhere, and it stole many hearts.
Dynamic 1, inspired by the German Shepherd, is designed to mimic the behaviour of real dogs. I earlier referred to Dynamic 1 as a ‘he’ — force of habit; my brother has a male German Shepherd for a pet and, you know, old habits die hard.
Back to the robo-dog. The Dynamic 1 has been meticulously crafted to replicate the natural movements of a dog. Its actions, such as subtle foot stomping, head and body movements, and playful prancing, closely resemble those of a household pet. Ask it nicely, and it will even dance a jig for you.
According to TECNO, the precision in these motions is achieved through a perfectly synchronised system of motors powered by an AI Hypersense Fusion System and an 8-core ARM CPU. Equipped with various sensors, including a RealSense D430 depth camera, dual optical sensors, and infrared sensors, the Dynamic 1 captures its surroundings effectively. Additionally, it features four microphones to enable voice command recognition.
Just like that, out of nowhere, TECNO produced my favourite innovation at this year’s MWC.
‘Humans have long been fascinated with robot dogs,’ TECNO stated, adding: ‘We love dogs so much that we idealise having an immortal metal version of them.’
This didn’t entirely convince me. Like most concepts at MWC, the Dynamic 1 has no real-world purpose. Not yet.
But what if…?
No, let’s leave that question unasked, and unanswered. But seeing something made of metal and circuitry be this adorably goofy — much like Leo, my brother’s dog — was a sight to behold. As I looked at him at TECNO’s demo area, he even wiggled his backside at me, much to my amusement.
