This guy makes R2D2 look cuddly.
A child-sized robot with dreams of being a doctor is working its way up the ranks at a Big Apple vein treatment clinic — and might one day be the one wielding the knife.
Astra, a 4-foot-tall silver cyborg, is still in training, and her gig at Astra Vascular so far includes waving at customers, running down the sidewalk and handing out flyers on Stienway Street.
But Dr. George Boltin has higher hopes for his robot. He believes it will one be able to scrub into his operating room and serve as his assistant, handing him the tools he needs for procedures and maybe even rattling off medical tips as they work.
“Right now, he’s mostly for promotion, but I really foresee him having a role in something, at some point, [helping with surgery],” said Dr. George Bolotin, the owner of both Astras and a vascular specialist and self-proclaimed tech nerd.
“Until he scrubs in, he’ll do basic things. That’s still around the corner.”
Bolotin, 39, bought Astra back in the spring for a whopping $20,000 — after sitting patiently on a year-long waiting list — and has been putting it to work at his three locations across the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens.
For now, the robot has to be controlled by the doctor, and its job is to walk around the neighborhood as a mobile advertisement. The bot is now just a prototype, but Bolotin says that future software updates will likely increase its capability and eventually enable it to act autonomously.
The bot is the same Unitree model as the trash-talking Rizzbot that’s gone viral on social media for throwing up the middle finger and dancing with strangers.
Astra is still considered a prototype and isn’t equipped with the same technology that makes the Rizzbot so vulgar — operators can “jailbreak” the models to install their own software, but Bolotin only sticks with the company-advised, PG software made specifically for his toy.
That means Astra can still only perform very basic tasks. The 100-pound bot can pick itself up off the floor, tell a joke and blow kisses — and most eerily sprint at about 3 miles per hour under his control.
“To see him run was like, ‘oh sh–!’” said Bolotin.
He uses a controller that attaches to his phone to control the bot, a system he is still getting used to — occasionally running Astra into a doorframe or a trash can.
If Astra becomes autonomous, as Bolotin expects, it could help him out in the operation room — and yes, that means ultimately trimming down his humanoid staff.
“It’s really tough to find reliable staff sometimes for certain roles, so I think that’s where [Astra] would come in,” explained Bolotin.
“Astra is never going to miss work, he’s always going to have a battery I can charge.”
The doctor — who described his relationship with the bot as “very close” — isn’t afraid of a robot revolution, however. It’s the people who might have the ability to hack the programming he has concerns about
“It’s certainly feasible someone can hijack the network … I think about, if somebody were to program Astra to have a knife in his hand — because he can do stuff with his hands — and have him murder somebody, how do you prove who did it? I’m sure they can use VPN and track down who actually did it, but I can see it being a very big problem,” Bolotin said.
Astorians who witnessed Astra storming down Steinway on Friday, however, were split on the robot — but nearly everyone who walked down Steinway whipped out their phones to document the cyborg.
“Imagine seeing that thing at night? I will punch it, easily; I will kick it. Look at it run, it’s weird as hell,” said Andres Narvaze, who, despite leaving his kickboxing class, had little faith he could best a bot.
“I believe it can beat me up. Maybe I can beat him, but it looks strong.”
Jenny G., a hotel customer service representative, feared that Astra could mark the start of the robot takeover.
“I kinda know that the robots will be taking over eventually. Everything’s going to computers anyway … It’s the new era,” said Jenny, who was surprised by the bot.
“I don’t want it to take away the jobs from the other people. But I think it’s the future.”
Jimmy Phillips, a retiree visiting from Florida, was mystified by Astra, saying it reminded him of autonomous vacuums like Roombas.
“It’s great. It’s almost human. It doesn’t talk, but he runs. Look at him!” said Phillips.
“He runs like my wife. It’s a good thing, he has energy.”
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