Insider Brief
- Dynamic Creatures emerged from stealth to develop mobile character robots for entertainment and hospitality, backed by Eniac Ventures, Kindred Ventures, Heliad, Sunshine Lake, BlueGrass Ventures and angel investors Marc Raibert and Lukas Ziegler.
- As Boston Dynamics’ official entertainment and hospitality partner, the company is building robots designed to move through guest environments and respond to individual interactions in real time, positioning them between fixed animatronics and task-oriented service robots.
- Dynamic Creatures also introduced SnowJay, its AI and robotics platform for interactive characters, while targeting theme parks, hotels, resorts, casinos, museums, cruise ships and other entertainment venues.
Dynamic Creatures has emerged from stealth to develop mobile character robots for entertainment and hospitality. The company is backed by Eniac Ventures, Kindred Ventures, Heliad, Sunshine Lake and BlueGrass Ventures, along with angel investors Marc Raibert and Lukas Ziegler. Dynamic Creatures did not disclose the amount of funding.
As Boston Dynamics’ official entertainment and hospitality partner, the company is developing character-based experiences using Boston Dynamics and other robotic platforms, as well as fully custom robots built for specific brands, environments and stories. According to the Boston-based startup, it is already working with a large theme park and retailer on guest-facing systems.
Beyond Animatronics
Dynamic Creatures said its robots are designed to move through guest environments, interpret the context of an interaction and respond to individuals in real time.
Dynamic Creatures described what they are building as between fixed animatronics and task-oriented service robots. While hospitality robots are typically built for functions such as guidance, information and telepresence, and stationary animatronics generally perform preprogrammed sequences for groups, the company said their mobile characters robots use context from an encounter to respond to individual guests in real time rather than following a fixed routine.
Dynamic Creatures was co-founded by CEO Marc Theermann, a former chief strategy officer at Boston Dynamics and former Google executive, and CTO Farbod Farshidian, a former research leader at the Robotics and AI Institute. Farshidian’s previous research included humanoid control for Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robot, quadruped movement and transferring robotic skills from simulation to physical machines.
“Our characters do more than perform for a crowd,” noted Theermann. “They can respond to an individual and create small moments of wonder that people remember.”
Snowjay Platform
The company also introduced SnowJay, an AI and robotics platform that serves as the operating system for its interactive characters. SnowJay combines robotics, learning-based control, real-time perception, behavioral programming, character design and costuming.
“Robust and fluid movement, perception and behavior have to work as one system for a character to engage naturally in the physical world,” added Farshidian. “SnowJay brings those capabilities together, combining reliable robotic platforms with adaptive intelligence so each character can understand its surroundings and respond in a way that fits the person, place and moment.”
Dynamic Creatures said characters built on existing robotic platforms can be deployed within months and it offers leasing models for platform-based characters, plus develops fully original robots around individual projects.
The company is initially marketing to theme parks and other location-based entertainment venues, hotels and resorts, casinos, museums, cultural institutions, cruise ships and live venues. It said future applications may include luxury retail and automotive brand experience centers.
“As our official entertainment and hospitality partner, the company is combining proven robotic platforms with character design, adaptive behavior and real-time interaction to create experiences the market has not had access to before,” said Amanda McMaster, interim CEO of Boston Dynamics. “Marc and Farbod bring the rare combination of commercial and technical expertise required to turn that vision into compelling, guest-facing systems.”
Featured Image: Dynamic Creatures founders CEO Marc Theermann and CTO Farbod Farshidian (Credit: Dynamic Creatures)
