[nagdu] Fw: New From Japan: Robotic Guide Dog.

Pickrell, Rebecca M (TASC) REBECCA.PICKRELL at tasc.com
Thu Nov 17 12:55:43 UTC 2011


It's not speed but how we process, computers process in sequence animals and humans don't. 
Thank you for writing this. 
To me, if I couldn't trust the technology to help me cross the street, then I couldn't trust it at all. I think that's what confused me about your example.

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Tami Kinney
Sent: Wednesday, November 16, 2011 4:51 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Fw: New From Japan: Robotic Guide Dog.

Rebecca,

Well, when i said that I wouldn't want to use the robotic dog to cross 
the street, I was using that example to encapsulate my basic impression 
of where I would find the robotic guide to be an inferior solution over 
the poodle.

Let's say that artificial intelligence is way more mature than it is now 
by the time the robotic guide comes on the market... So then this 
robotic dog could respond predictably and well to a changing environment 
and even learn as it gains experience... Let's say, furthermore, that 
processing speed in microchips has crossed that barrier predicted by 
some for as early as 2016, where computers begin to process more 
calculations per second than the human brain.

When I'm in the middle of downtown anywhere, standing on a street corner 
listening for the best instant to say "Forward!" wile pedestrians and 
cyclists and baby carriages and small human children and skateboarders 
and who knows what else move randomly and unpredictably all around me... 
Organic processing and response speed still win hands down over 
robotics. In my mind, at least.

Other examples that crossed my mind:

- Hustling through a crowded airport to catch a plane.
2. Passing through a crowd of people on a sidewalk or in a grocery 
aisle, where every single member of the crowd is not paying the 
slightest attention to where they are or what is happening around them.

That sort of thing. In my lifetime, at least, organics will always beat 
AI and robotics hands down for response time and follow through, as well 
as for prediction of human behavior.

On the other hand in addition to the obvious benefits some find in a 
robotic guide over a living guide, the robotic guide is not going to 
suddenly have a mood because you're screaming off to the airport without 
having paid enough attention to the little rituals the guide needs to 
feel good about things. It won't have to find a handy spot of grass 
outside the airport while you need to find your own equivalent. Also, 
you can just put it into standby mode on the airplane and read your book 
without thinking about it. Stuff like that. Nobody can complain about 
how you're bringing it into their precious store because it won't cause 
allergies or shed hair or eat the merchandise or whatever it is any 
given access challenger might want to use to violate your civil rights. 
Stuff like that.

So I sum that up to myself as, "I sure wouldn't want to cross the street 
with one!" /grin/

Your dad is almost certainly correct in his assessment that the robotic 
guide is "just not there yet." When you ask him, though, I'll be 
interested in what his reasons are. /smile/
More interested in what you think of what he thinks...
Tami



On 11/16/2011 09:38 AM, Pickrell, Rebecca M (TASC) wrote:
> Tami, why wouldn't you use this to cross streets?
> Showed the video to my dad and he said this thing is way far from being done. Not sure what he means so will ask. He does say that it looks like a dog.
> And for those that want it, here's the link
> http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/08/japanese-company-developing-robotic-guide-dog/
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Tami Kinney
> Sent: Wednesday, November 16, 2011 11:43 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Fw: New From Japan: Robotic Guide Dog.
>
> Well, my inner science geek is just tickled pink by the whole notion of
> the robotic guide dog. Cool toys just flip my switch and I can't help
> it. /lol/
>
> The rest of me just does *not* know what to think. Okay, so it can take
> me safely up and down stairs... Would I cross the street with it? Nope.
> I want poodle power and poodle brains for that!
>
> Interesting times, I guess.
>
> Tami
>
>
>
> On 11/16/2011 05:53 AM, frandi.galindo at gmail.com wrote:
>> I don't know about you all, but I would feel extremely and I mean
>> extremely weird if I had a machine as a guide. Especially one that looks
>> like a dog. Its just not normal. Ok, I know we have Global positioning
>> systems that many of us blind or visually impaired individuals use to
>> help us get around, but so do the sighted. A machine can't show you the
>> emotional support that a real live dog can. I will stop now before I go
>> in to a book long rant, but do you see where I am going with this?
>> Nothing is as good as the real thing. The living will always do better
>> than the machine. At least with guiding.
>>
>> -----Original Message----- From: Ed Meskys
>> Sent: Monday, November 14, 2011 4:56 PM
>> To: nagdu ; dogGuideUsersNH at yahoogroups.com
>> Cc: Toni Piper ; Jessie Laurie ; jeanne wardwell ; Joannie Cirnigliaro ;
>> Cornelius McIntire ; Gene Major ; Pat Pike ; Jody Pelillo ; David Palter
>> ; Richard Little ; Heather Aicholtz ; Tom Morse ; Roy&  Barbara Putnam ;
>> BJohn Trimble ; Meryl Meloy ; JOHN DUFFY ; Mark L Blackman ; Deb Braley
>> ; upstreamer ; Chris Tromborg ; Penny Duffy ; Peggy Martel ; Curt
>> Phillips ; Jack&  Kristin Page ; Joe Christopher ; David Jenne ;
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>> Matthews ; Virginia Dearborn ; Tom Easton ; Sheryl Dutton ; Tony Bonanno
>> ; JOHN CHLUPSON ; Ned Brooks ; Marcia Hamel ; Brenda Daly ; Alice Savage
>> ; C D Carson ; Harry Andruschak ; Ray Hart ; Marie Johnson ; Jim Cullen
>> ; Dave Locke ; Craig Miller ; D Gary Grady ; Michael J. Lowrey ; Graham
>> Darling ; Stanley Meskys ; Donald&  Carol Mosman ; r-lorraine tutihasi ;
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>> Yvonne Penney ; Jim&  Helen Sycovaris
>> Subject: [nagdu] Fw: New From Japan: Robotic Guide Dog.
>>
>> Subject: New From Japan: Robotic Guide Dog.
>>
>>
>> BITS.
>> New From Japan: Robotic Guide Dog.
>> NY Times Monday, 2011_11_14
>> By NICK BILTON. Guide dogs for the blind
>> could soon be out of a job.
>> NSK, a Japanese company, is hard at work on a robotic dog that can roll
>> across
>> floors,
>> climb stairs and assist those with limited or no sight. The robots, which
>> can be
>> seen in the video above, have been in the works for several years. The
>> latest
>> version
>> is the third.
>> The newest robot can move up to 10 times faster than the company's previous
>> ones.
>> Its legs have been improved to help it avoid collisions and tripping over
>> itself.
>> According to NSK, the machines are technically called 'quadruped walking
>> robots,'
>> because they use four legs to move.
>> Robotics researchers have also given the latest guide dog the gift of sight
>> by
>> adding
>> a Microsoft Kinect camera to its head. This can help it to navigate stairs
>> and
>> other
>> obstacles. Kinect cameras are traditionally used for video games on the
>> Microsoft
>> Xbox 360 but are also often used in robotics projects.
>> The company will exhibit the latest version of the robot this week at the
>> 2011
>> International
>> Robot Exhibition in Ariake, Japan.
>>
>>
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