This robot dog will help identify safety issues in Pompeii

According to Boston Dynamics, Spot will be able to inspect the smallest of spaces previously unreachable, thanks to four flexible legs that can clamber over all kinds of terrain. No word on whether it can bark yet, mind.

In a statement, the director of Pompeii archaeological park, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, said that progress in the robotics industry – particularly AI and autonomous systems – has ‘produced solutions typically associated with the industrial and manufacturing world.’

He added that Pompeii offers a unique opportunity for robotics to venture into new architectural spaces. Until now, the strides made in artificial intelligence weren’t able to be utilised on sites such as Pompeii due to ‘the heterogeneity of environmental conditions and the size’ of historic, culturally important areas like this.

Spot will also be tested in underground tunnels made by tomb raiders, who made money for many years by digging into the ruins and stealing valuable relics. Italy’s police cracked down on the practice in 2012, but the tunnels still exist – and Spot will be able to identify which ones are safe to enter ten years later.

Zuchtriegel said that Spot ‘could signify a breakthrough that would allow us to proceed into the site with greater speed and total safety’.

Here’s hoping we branch out to new animals. How about a robotic elephant, or horse? The possibilities are endless, though how useful they’d be is a different question. Your move, Boston Dynamics.