Boston Dynamics Veterans Launch Dynamic Creatures to Bring Robotic Characters to Life

Dynamic Creatures, a new entertainment robotics company founded by Boston Dynamics veterans, has launched with a mission to bring robotic characters to life for theme parks, casinos, cruise ships, and hospitality settings.

Co-founded by CEO Marc Theermann, former chief strategy officer at Boston Dynamics, and CTO Farbod Farshidian, former research leader at the Robotics and AI Institute, the company name pays homage to Boston Dynamics and Jim Henson's Creature Shop.

Marc Theermann, CEO of Dynamic Creatures, stated:

"We always put out those videos, A, because it's super fun, and B, because we wanted to bring the general public along. Humans love to see robots dancing and love to see robots in these fun environments."

The company introduced SnowJay, its integrated AI and robotics platform that serves as the operating layer for natural movement and human-robot interaction. The platform uses motion capture, animations, and NVIDIA tools with reinforcement learning to teach robots organic behaviors.

Amanda McMaster, Interim CEO of Boston Dynamics, stated:

"Dynamic Creatures is opening an important new frontier for advanced robotics. 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."

Dynamic Creatures is building on third-party hardware, including Boston Dynamics' Spot quadruped and Atlas humanoid, as well as Unitree robots, with ambitions to develop its own humanoid hardware in the future.

The company has created prototype characters including a purple poodle named Danielle and a Tyrolean mountain troll, while its first partners are seeking characters from famous film and television IP.

Backed by Eniac Ventures, Kindred Ventures, Heliad, Sunshine Lake and BlueGrass Ventures, along with strategic angel investors including Boston Dynamics founder Marc Raibert, the company aims to begin managed pilot deployments in early 2027 with a mix of teleoperation and autonomy.

Theermann added:

"We want to become the best at human-robot interaction. Humanoid robot safety hasn't fully been figured out yet. We want to get to a point where you can hug the robot. We need to approach safety from a totally different viewpoint."