Here is the Kings owner hanging loose with the team’s new creepy robot narc

Here is Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadive doing the universal gesture for “hang loose” alongside what appears to be a Dalek:

We did a little poking around to find out what thing is, and it’s ... uhhhh ... super creepy. It decidedly does not hang loose. The Knightscope K5 is basically a robocop that beep-boops around employing video cameras and infrared scanners to detect suspicious stuff in its surroundings:

Q: What kind of photos or videos is the robot taking?

A: The Knightscope K5 visually observes its surroundings through the use of video cameras and license plate recognition devices. While the K5 is unique in appearance and delivery system, the security service that it provides is already commonly accepted in the public domain with fixed security camera systems. It is proactively seeking out anomalies that might suggest criminal activity -- e.g., aggressive or furtive gestures -- and alerting proper authorities when a concern is detected.

It recognizes faces and license plates, and via this grim TIME video, it detects stuff like “rapid hand gestures” and “persons horizontal”:

Basically, this thing is going to roll onto the court at a Kings game and try to arrest DeMarcus Cousins for bad body language. Enjoy hanging out with the horrifying robot, Kings fans.

(Previously in Vivek/technologies)