Researchers at Shanghai’s Jiao Tong University introduced a six-legged robotic guide dog to aid the blind, as a new development in the sector. This innovation could offer a solution to the acute shortage of traditional guide dogs: there are just over 400 guide dogs available in China for nearly 20 million blind people.
This prototype of the robotic guide dog uses advanced technology to see its surroundings, with cameras and sensors that can detect traffic light signals, something normal guiding dogs can’t. It responds to its user by using voice recognition through A.I. artificial intelligence, hence providing a two-way communication system by giving feedback on their surroundings and gait in real-time.
Professor Gao Feng of the School of Mechanical Engineering, who headed a research team working on the project, pointed to the stability of the six-legged design. “When three legs are lifted, there are still three legs… It is the most stable shape,” he said, using a camera tripod to illustrate his meaning.
It’s about the size of an English bulldog, perhaps a bit wider. The compact design implies that it would also provide greater stability and smoother movement, thus balance to the user who is blind. The robot is being tested by people such as Li Fei, who is completely blind, and Zhu Sibin, who has limited eyesight and usually navigates with a cane.
Li Fei was optimistic regarding the probable effect that a robotic guide dog could have on his daily life. “If this robot guide dog comes onto the market and I could use it, at least it could solve some of my problems in travelling alone,” he said. In that case, he would be capable of navigating to work, the hospital, and the supermarket all by himself and without family or volunteer assistance.
The development of robotic guide dogs is not confined to just China; similar projects are underway in Australia and Britain. However, the great shortage of usual guide dogs, coupled with the relatively new idea of keeping pets and service animals in this country, makes this innovation particularly appropriate here.
Indeed, Professor Gao pointed to the high scalability of producing robotic guide dogs, especially in a manufacturing hub such as China. “It’s a bit like cars. I can mass-produce them in the same way as cars, so it will become more affordable,” he said. Gao imagines that millions of people worldwide, all tens of millions who need guide dogs, will someday use a market for them.
While so, mass production sooner or later is staring the prototype down the road as it undergoes continued testing and refinement, promising a new age of independence for blind people.