Tag: robots

The best new science fiction books of March 2024

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A female robot is created to be the perfect girlfriend for her owner in Sierra Greer’s novel Annie Bot

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From Adrian Tchaikovsky to Hao Jingfang and Natasha Pulley, a host of big science fiction names have new titles out this month. We readers can choose if we want to peer into the ruins of an alien civilisation, follow the possibility of a coming singularity and its fallout or enter the world of a sex robot – to all of which I say,  yes please, bring it on. I think I am most excited, though, about Stuart Turton’s new high-concept thriller, in which a murder takes place on an island surrounded by a fog that has destroyed the rest of the planet – crime and sci-fi, one of my favourite blends.

If all these new titles aren’t enough to keep you busy this March, you could dive back into Cixin Liu’s epic The Three-Body Problem, in anticipation of Netflix’s forthcoming adaptation. Or why not come and join us at the New Scientist Book Club, where we have just started reading Martin MacInnes’s novel In Ascension. Moving from a mysterious trench at the bottom of the Atlantic to deep space, it is just out in paperback and is a stunning read.

Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Is Tchaikovsky propping up the science fiction industry single-handedly? He is so prolific and reliably excellent that I think he might be. Alien Clay is the first of two new novels out over the next few months and is set on Kiln, a far-distant world where the ruins of an alien civilisation have been discovered. Professor Arton Daghdev, who has always wanted to study alien life, is exiled to Kiln for his political activism, and must work in a labour camp there. Can he discover the world’s secrets before it kills him?

I am a big Turton fan: I adore his clever, high-concept murder mysteries, from his debut, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, to his most recent historical crime novel, The Devil and the Dark Water. His latest outing has a definite science fiction tinge to it. It takes place in a world destroyed by a killing fog that swept the planet. The only thing to survive is the island, where 122 villagers and three scientists live in harmony – until one of the scientists is found stabbed to death, triggering a lowering of the island’s security system that will allow the fog to sweep across and kill everyone within 107 hours if the murder isn’t solved. That is already a lot to take in, but everyone’s memories have also been wiped by the security system. This sounds complex, but I trust Turton to be brilliant, so it is next on my list.

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Mars is the setting for Natasha Pulley’s new novel

Pulley is a relatively recent discovery for me, after my mum finally persuaded me to find time to read her historical, fantastical novel The Watchmaker of Filigree Street (it was a joy). This latest is set after an environmental catastrophe. January, a refugee from Earth who is now a second-class citizen on Mars because his body has yet to adjust to the lower gravity, enters a marriage of convenience with xenophobic Mars politician Aubrey Gale – who turns out to be very different from how they appear in the Martian press. I love a good romance – couple that with a sci-fi setting, and this is a must-read for me.

2054: A Novel by Elliot Ackerman and James Stavridis

Stavridis is not just a novelist, but also Admiral James Stavridis, formerly supreme allied commander at NATO. He and Ackerman are the authors of the bestseller 2034. In this follow-up, it is 20 years after the nuclear war between the US and China when the US president collapses and dies during an address to the nation. Conspiracy theories spread, and civil war ensues. Meanwhile, computer scientists and intelligence experts believe they know what lies behind the assassination: a profound breakthrough in AI. This sounds thrilling and provocative, and one to devote a good chunk of time to reading.

The Hugo award-winning Jingfang’s new sci-fi thriller takes place in a future in which a mysterious and highly intelligent alien race makes contact. Three scientists who aren’t convinced the aliens are a threat join forces in an attempt to prevent a potentially disastrous military response.

Our sci-fi columnist Emily Wilson rates this novel very highly. Described as a great fit for fans of Never Let Me Go and My Dark Vanessa, among which I definitely count myself, it is the story of Annie Bot, a female robot created to be the perfect girlfriend for her owner Doug. Trouble is, she starts to wonder what she really wants from life.

High Vaultage by Chris Sugden and Jen Sugden

By the authors of the podcast drama series Victoriocity, this novel is described as perfect for fans of Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams – hi, that’s me. It is set in 1887 “Even Greater London”, an “urban plane” covering the entire lower half of England, where the “engineer-army” of Isambard Kingdom Brunel builds and demolishes whatever it thinks needs it. Meanwhile, Archibald Fleet and Clara Entwhistle have set up the country’s first private detective agency and take on a kidnapping case the police, unable to crack a series of impossible bank robberies, are too busy for.

This first-contact novel is the sequel to Johnstone’s The Space Between Us and sees the alien Enceladons now disappeared into the water off the west coast of Scotland. I am going to start with the first in this series I think. I really rate Johnstone as a crime author (his Skelfs series is laced with morbidly dark humour) so I am keen to give his sci-fi a try too.

This satirical slice of cyberpunk sounds like fun. It follows a TV sensation of the novel’s title, as its next season is set to be hosted in the neo-medieval statelet Inner Azhuur, which has been shut off from the world (by choice) for almost a century…until now. A group of misfits who will attempt to run the country must be assembled by the show’s producers, to entertain viewers around the world.

We are promised plant-based skyscrapers, a zombie apocalypse and the effects of time dilation on married life in Adam Marek’s third short story collection, as well as reluctant sex robots, and the bad parenting skills of billionaire space industrialists.

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Are fighting robots being manufactured in the United States? Nope, it’s special effects

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Are there really robots ready to take over the world? The robot who appears in a viral video looks ready to do just that when he does a showy backflip and throws a few punches. A number of posts online claimed that the robot was made by Boston Dynamics, an American robotics company, who were also said to have shared the video online. However, this video actually wasn’t created by the company – it was created by a digital artist, who spoke to our team.

If you only have a minute

  • A video showing a robot “fighting” has garnered more than two million views since it was posted on Twitter on April 29, 2023. 
  • The post claims the robot was made by the American company Boston Dynamics. Many of the people who have been sharing this post are worried about robot takeovers.
  • The video first appeared on a TikTok account made to look like it was the company’s official account – but it wasn’t. 
  • It turns out, the company has absolutely nothing to do with this video – or this robot. It was created by an American digital artist using special effects, as he told our team. 
  • Our team also spoke to two other specialists who showed us how to tell that this video isn’t real. 

The fact check, in detail

The video, showing a robot doing a backflip and then throwing a couple of punches, has been viewed more than 2.5 million times since it was first posted on TikTok on April 29, 2023.  

“Why is Boston Dynamics teaching their robots how to fight?” asks this Twitter user in a post shared nearly 1,500 times. Boston Dynamics is an American robotics company currently owned by the South Korean group Hyundai Motor.

“Politicians are focusing on crypto regulation, meanwhile robots and AI building essential skills to take over the planet. Boston Dynamics robots now have martial arts and fighting skills. What could go wrong…” wrote this Twitter user.

This is a screengrab of a French tweet featuring the video, posted on May 2, 2023. © Observers

Check the account

At first glance, it does look like the video was made by Boston Dynamics. The video posted on Twitter features the logo of the social network TikTok, as well as the user name @boston_dynamics. If you go to that TikTok account, then you’ll see the video, published on April 30, 2023. On TikTok, it has already garnered more than three million views.  

This is a screengrab of the video posted by the “Botsom_Dynamics” account.
This is a screengrab of the video posted by the “Botsom_Dynamics” account. © Observers

The robot actually does look like one of the robots manufactured by the company, although it doesn’t have a “Boston Dynamics” label.

Here, we’ve compared the robot that appears in the recent viral video with the Atlas robot developed by Boston Dynamics as it appeared in a video shared on January 26, 2023 on Twitter by Boston Dynamics.
Here, we’ve compared the robot that appears in the recent viral video with the Atlas robot developed by Boston Dynamics as it appeared in a video shared on January 26, 2023 on Twitter by Boston Dynamics. © Observers/Boston Dynamics

However, it turns out that this TikTok account isn’t official.

The first clue is if you go on the Boston Dynamics website. The site mentions that the company has accounts on YouTube, Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram – but not TikTok. 

Also, if you take a closer look, you’ll see that the account that shared the video is called “Botsom_Dynamics”, not “Boston”.

This is a screengrab of the TikTok account Botsom_Dynamics.
This is a screengrab of the TikTok account Botsom_Dynamics. © Observers

This pretender account has actually reposted a number of real videos shared by Boston Dynamics on its official accounts. This video, posted on the fake TikTok account on April 18, 2023, is actually an excerpt of a longer video shared on Boston Dynamics’ official YouTube page on January 18, 2023.

However, the video of the fighting robot shared on this fake account has never been shared by Boston Dynamics on any of its official channels.

Special effects

The comments section of this video is full of notes left by savvy viewers who realised the video was created using special effects. They are right.

If you type the key words”Boston dynamics 3d animation” into TikTok, then you’ll pull up the account of a man named Wayne Ryan Thompson, an American digital artist. He shared the video that has been circulating online on March 27, 2022. 

The hashtags on the video include “#bostondynamics”, as well as “#cgi” (computer-generated image), “#vfx” (which stands for visual effects or special effects) and “#3D”.

This is a screengrab of the video shared March 27, 2022 on Wayne Ryan Thompson’s TikTok account.
This is a screengrab of the video shared March 27, 2022 on Wayne Ryan Thompson’s TikTok account. Observers/Wayne Ryan Thompson

Our team contacted Wayne Ryan Thompson, who called himself “a passionate, self-taught photographer”.  He told us how he produced this video. 

After filming the backdrop with his phone, he used “motion tracking” to give the impression of camera movement using Cinema 4D software.

Once the motion tracking was completed, I took the robot 3D model (which I had purchased through the 3D model marketplace CGtrader ) and ran it through the free Adobe Motion Capture database called ‘Mixamo’. There I gave the model the fight stance animation.

On Mixamo, you can see a pre-made animation that looks a lot like what the robot does in the video.

Sur Mixamo, on retrouve en effet un mouvement similaire à celui exécuté par le robot de la vidéo.

The artist explains that he then calibrated the animation and the original footage as much as possible to get the closest possible colours and lighting. He also added some lens distortion and dirt effects to make it look more natural.

Imperfections 

There are a few clues in this video that make it easy to see that it was created using special effects says Antoine L., a 3D designer

First of all, the environment doesn’t seem to have any effect on the robot. The path is dry and dusty, but you don’t see any dust when he moves. Similarly, the grass doesn’t move either.

There are also some issues with the shadows. They are really soft, which is common with 3D software.

Also, the way that the camera is moving looks virtual. There isn’t any shaking and the movement is smooth, nearly perfect. It looks like camera animation added after the fact.  

Moreover, the video was filmed outside in the forest, which is really different from the other videos shared by Boston Dynamics, which are all filmed inside. 

Our team also spoke to Pierre Billet, the technical director at a Paris-based company called the Compagnie Générale des Effets Visuels (CGEV, or the General Special Effects Company). He added that the sound on the video was “a disaster” and that there were also issues with “tracking”, which means capturing the movement of a camera during a real filming session in order to recreate it virtually. 

The tracking makes it look like the robot is in the same perspective as the backdrop. When the tracking isn’t perfect, you can see that there is a issue between the backdrop and the special-effects generated robot. At the 8th or 9th second, you can see that the tracking isn’t working and the robot’s foot seems to slide past the ground.

Fake videos of the company already circulated in 2019

This isn’t the first time that Boston Dynamics has had an issue like this. Back in 2019, a video showing a robot participating in military training exercises went viral – and that also freaked out social media users. 

That video was actually created by Corridor Digital, an American company specialised in special effects. That video featured a spoof of the Boston Dynamics logo that said “Bosstown Dynamics”. Our team investigated the origins of that video, as well.

>> Read more on The Observers: Does an armed robot really turn on humans in this viral video?

It’s no coincidence that Wayne Ryan Thompson also mentioned this company in his post.

I was actually inspired to make this particular video after seeing Corridor Crew’s ‘Bosstown Dynamics’ on Youtube (I love their work!). I just wanted to see what I could come up with using only an iPhone and my local computer/software.



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