New pet breed turns heads in Shanghai

While it is not uncommon to see people walking their dogs on the streets of Shanghai, netizens have recently been amused at the sight of a different breed of the canine on the sidewalks and boulevards - robotic dogs.

In one short video uploaded on social media, a young woman can be seen walking a silver robotic dog in People's Square.

Named Go1, the robot was launched by Chinese start-up Unitree in June 2021.

According to Chen Xiyun, marketing manager of Unitree, the robot costs about 16,000 yuan ($2,512) and is capable of running at a speed of 4.7 meters per second.

Wang Xingxing, CEO of Unitree, first developed a robotic dog which he dubbed XDog during his postgraduate studies before launching his company in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, in 2016. The company has since launched the industrial-grade robot dogs B1, Aliengo and Laikago, and the consumer-grade Go1, A1 and BenBen.

Aliengo and A1 are currently sold online for around 300,000 and 100,000 yuan respectively. The two models are mainly used for industrial purposes such as 3D mapping, security, ordinance disposal, power inspection, and pipeline maintenance.