Walking a robot dog around Barcelona to 'help society' spreading assistive technology

'La patita.' Sit. Good boy! Dozens of passersby on Tuesday morning in Barcelona stopped in front of the Catalan News' headquarters for a few minutes to meet Khlipper.

It is not a normal dog, but rather a unique and not-very usual to see down the streets as it is a robot dog. 

"The idea of the Khlipper project is to make a robot dog that can help people and society," Enric Lucea, owner of the robot dog and promoter of the project, told Catalan News. 

His goal is to use the open source code in the robot to program it so it can help people with functional disabilities, the elderly, and society in general.

Lucea walks Khlipper around Barcelona so people become familiar with the technology and know that it is "already here and that we can use it in our everyday lives." He says spreading the assistive technology can make people more used to being surrounded by devices such as Khlipper.

Wearing a red and black jacket, this four-leg metallic semi-autonomous robot is controlled using a remote or tracker. Khlipper has its collar chip and it even features the scheme's logo.

Despite the cost, Lucea highlights that guide dogs cost around €30,000 and €45,000 therefore, "the cost of Khlipper is very competitive compared to other animals," as if the project develops a "useful tool, its economic value will not be a stopper compared to the results it will offer."

When walking around the streets, many people stop, take photos, and play with Khlipper. Its owner says that 90% of the people "answer in a good way and want to shake hands or play a little bit with him," but there are always some people who are scared of the technology as "they have watched it in a Black Mirror episode."

He adds that the "overall reaction is quite positive, especially as there is much more than Khlipper could do rather than just being an actual pet."

Lucea's project is intended to help those with functional disabilities, although he says it will "not become a replacement of the actual animal." "The idea is to have more tools for the health and care of people," he added, which is why he opened a crowdfunding campaign to achieve his plans.