VIDEO: A Robotic Guard "Dog" Surprises a Rhode Island Family
GoLocalProv News Team
VIDEO: A Robotic Guard "Dog" Surprises a Rhode Island Family
The Rhode Island mom was taking her daughter to practice driving in the parking lot of the Citizens Bank campus in Johnston, when they came across the strange sight.
“Just minding my business, and a robot comes by,” Colaluca can be heard saying on video, as she captures the unusual encounter with a Citizens’ guard “dog.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“Here, Fido,” calls Colaluca — at which time the dog stops, and so does the video.
Colaluca told GoLocal she thought she had been “seeing things.”
“I was there teaching my daughter Alexa to drive,” said Colaluca, who had another child — Dallas — in the car with her.
“Alexa said, ‘I promise I was paying attention…but there’s a robot!’’ said Colaluca of the peculiar driving lesson. “I’ve never seen anything like it. It took a minute for my brain to process what I was seeing.”
This past Rhode Island General Assembly session, Citizens’ wrangled an additional $15 million in incentives from the state, after threatening to leave it if did not get what it wanted.
Citizens’ Security
It’s not the first “robot” to patrol the bank’s Johnston campus grounds. When it first opened in 2018, Citizens utilized a taller, egg-shaped device to interact with visitors.
Now, it has taken its surveillance to the next level — with “paw” patrol.
Last fall, Citizens Bank’ VP of Physical Security Derek Lemire joined an “advanced security robotics webinar” with Asylon Robotics.
“From robots helping fill graveyard shifts to citywide deployments of drones as first responders, the market continues to trend upward for robotic security adoption across a variety of industries,” wrote Asylon.
“In the first half of 2023, it's estimated that hundreds of robotic security assets were deployed globally. The adoption of these intelligent systems is helping security professionals accomplish more with less in an unpredictable global economy that is seeing budgets continue to tighten,” according to Asylon Robotics,” they continued.
Watch that video below.