--- title: "Ultra-Realistic Remote Controlled Dolphin Looks Like the Real Thing" description: "San Francisco-based engineering company Edge Innovations has designed and built a robot dolphin that looks and acts just like the real thing." date: "2020-10-15" modified: "2020-10-15" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/ultra-realistic-remote-controlled-dolphin" categories: - "Robots and Machines" tags: - "artificial intelligence" - "dolphin" - "oceans" - "the digest" --- # Ultra-Realistic Remote Controlled Dolphin Looks Like the Real Thing ![San Francisco-based engineering company Edge Innovations has designed and built a robot dolphin that looks and acts just like the real thing.]() *\Image: Edge Innovations\* ## Android Dolphins San Francisco-based engineering company Edge Innovations has designed and built a robot dolphin that looks and acts almost exactly like the real thing, [*Reuters* reports](). The company is hoping to one day replace sea life imprisoned in depressing Seaworld-style attractions with animatronic ones. "There are like 3,000 dolphins currently in captivity being used to generate several billions of dollars just for dolphin experiences," founder and CEO Walt Conti [told *Reuters*](). "And so we want to use that appetite and offer kind of different ways to fall in love with the dolphin." ## Big Boy The animatronic dolphin is made from medical-grade silicone, stretches 8.5 feet and weighs about 550 pounds. The company is drawing from decades of experience — it's previously built animatronics for Hollywood blockbusters including "Free Willy" and "Deep Blue Sea." Edge Innovations envisions the dolphin as part of a hands-on educational experience for children and parents. https://vimeo.com/424593897 ## Learning Experience "Version 2.0 of the dolphin, the one featured in the more recent pilot video \[embedded above\], has enough AI to be able to do a shallow dive, remain appropriately buoyant, return to the surface, lift its blowhole to simulate taking a breath, and also to be able to realistically complete turns," Roger Holzberg, a former creative director at the Walt Disney who partnered with Edge to work on the dolphin, [told *Syfy Wire*]() earlier this year. The next version, Version 3.0 which is currently in development, will have enough battery power to swim for 10 hours without a recharge, he said. **READ MORE:** [The robot dolphin that could replace captive animals at theme parks one day]() \[*Reuters*\] **More on dolphins:** *[US Military Loads Explosive-Sniffing Dolphins Into Cargo Plane]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()