A robot guide dog that can speak to its owners and determine the ideal route to their destination has been developed by a team of researchers at Binghamton University, New York State.
Traditional guide dogs are considered one of the most difficult service dogs to train, with the process normally taking 1.5-2 years and often with a 50% failure rate, as the dogs must be calm, obedient and capable of independent decision-making to ensure their handler’s safety. There is currently a significant shortage of guide dogs globally. In the UK, blind people often have to wait up to two years before they can receive one.
In a bid to alleviate the shortage, the researchers have been working for several years on training robot guide dogs that can lead visually impaired people by responding to a tug on the leash.
But their new system takes the work a step further by creating a spoken back-and-forth between user and dog, and providing more control and situational awareness. The robot offers information...