The humanoid robot named Atlas made its debut in Waltham, Mass. Thursday, moving its hands and walking around, the New York Times reported.
The hydraulically powered robot, funded by the Pentagon, is designed to aid in rescue missions involving natural and manmade disasters. The Pentagon has devised a challenge for tech companies to compete for $2 million if they can successfully program Atlas to perform such functions as turning off valves, opening doors and more.
"People love the wizards in Harry Potter or 'Lord of the Rings,' but this is real," said Gary Bradski, a Silicon Valley artificial intelligence specialist and a co-founder of Industrial Perception Inc. "A new species, Robo-sapiens, are emerging."
CLICK HERE to watch Atlas perform human-like functions.
While Atlas is an example of a long-awaited humanoid robot prototype, there still seems to be a long way until it is perfected. Robotic planes already roam the skies and self-driving cars are being road-tested, but Atlas may still need some work done.
Dr. Gill Pratt, a program manager at the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, oversaw Atlas' design and financing. He compared the robot to an infant learning to walk.
"A one-year-old child can barely walk, a 1-year-old child falls down a lot," he said. "As you see these machines and you compare them to science fiction, just keep in mind that this is where we are right now."
The robot stands six-feet-two-inches tall and weighs 330 pounds, but has a barrel-like chest containing an computer and he is lit with blue LED lights.
Pratt said when Atlas does mature further he would have a number of uses, from assisting the elderly to power plant rescues.
"Two weeks ago 19 brave firefighters lost their lives," he said. "A number of us who are in the robotics field see these events in the news, and the thing that touches us very deeply is a single kind of feeling which is, can't we do better? All of this technology that we work on, can't we apply that technology to do much better? I think the answer is yes."
