[NAGDU] FW: AI robot aims to replace canes and guide dogs

Sat Mar 9 06:14:38 UTC 2024

Good grief, indeed! The author is correct that the price of training the dog from the time it is born possibly even before that one following the pregnancy of the mother), the raising of the puppy, the training of the dog, and the matching of dog in person, may cost $50,000 or more depending on the US school. However, for those schools that do charge a nominal (I emphasize nominal) fee, The price of the first dog is $150. The price for each successor dog is $50. If you're a veteran, you only pay one Buck. 

And regardless of whether you use a cane, a dog, or some kind of gizmo, you still need to know where you're going. Even if a GPS is built in, sometimes they are not accurate (point out a location in the wrong direction, etc.). And at some point, just as we have to retire totally used to death canes or dogs that are ready to retire, technology poops out and at some point has to be replaced. I think I'll stick with the dog.

It's as if the author/developer of this device seems to imply that when we use his product, we can just shut our brains down, kind of take a nap, and just let the thing take us where it seems to know we want to go. Ain't such an animal that works like that. Orientation and mobility skills still have to be utilized. Yikes!

Now, can adjusting to blindness when you lose your sight as an adult, or even as an older child, be initially challenging? Yes. Anytime we face some new situation in our lives whether it is related to blindness or not, a learning curve is expected. But you motor your way through that learning curve until the skill that you need to achieve has successfully occurred. it requires hard work, but hard work didn't hurt anybody. 

I was dragged to job access with speech, Abril display later followed by a braille note taker, and the iPhone kicking and screaming. The learning curve drove me nuts with each of those pieces of technology (especially the iPhone). But I mastered all three of those assistive technologies, and I use them on a daily basis. Hard work, yes. Was it worth it, yes. Did it drive me nuts at times, yes. But I survived. I got through it. I learned what I needed to learn.

My dad has recently moved into an assisted-living facility, and I need to learn how to get from the front door of the building to his room, and then reverse the route. Thus far, I am more comfortable with the route that is needed to exit the building then I am with the route to take to get to dad's room. On some occasions, I can't reverse some routes initially. But overtime, I will. I will use specific techniques with the dog to help both of us figure things out. He's actually getting the hang of it more quickly than I am, but we're a team, we will use our O and M and dog handling skills to figure things out. 

OK user would have to do the same thing (find landmarks within the building that would help him or her navigate the hallways in the assisted-living facility. Someone using this new gizmo would have to do the same thing. The place is huge, is crawling with hallways, so you can't dismiss the fact that you need to use your own skills to figure out where things are regardless of what type of mobility age you use.

OK, I'm going to go back under my rock and hide.

Vanessa and the zoo  
Sent from my iPhone

> On Mar 7, 2024, at 9:29 AM, Tracy Carcione via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Good grief.  Another whiz-bang that's supposed to replace dogs and canes.  It could have some uses, but I'm not giving up my dog any time soon.  And the article is full of inaccuracies.  A guide dog does not cost the user thousands.  And I have often used my dog or cane to explore a new area or go somewhere I've never been before, and it wasn't a big deal.  The whole tone of the thing is rather insulting.
> Sorry the article also has teasers for other articles, but here it is.  Just keep going past the teasers.
> Tracy
> 
> From: tech-vi at groups.io <tech-vi at groups.io> On Behalf Of David Goldfield
> Sent: Wednesday, March 6, 2024 5:38 PM
> To: List <tech-vi at groups.io>
> Subject: [Tech-VI] For the vision impaired, this AI robot aims to replace canes and guide dogs
> 
> 
> 
> Latest articles for ZDNET - Wednesday, March 6, 2024 at 2:53 PM
> 
> 
> For the vision impaired, this AI robot aims to replace canes and guide dogs
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You know you've arrived when music legend Stevie Wonder, who is blind, takes your brand new robotic device for the blind for a spin <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hbE23zyQ6M>  at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
> 
> Outfitted in his trademark dark glasses, Wonder pushes what looks like a miniature vacuum cleaner -- with big wheels attached to a stick -- along a corridor, makes a turn, and comes back.
> 
> Also: The 15 best robots and AI tech we saw at CES 2024 <https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-14-best-robots-and-ai-tech-weve-seen-at-ces-2024-so-far/>
> 
> It may not look very sophisticated for a robot, but Amos Miller <https://www.linkedin.com/in/amosmiller/>  -- founder and inventor of the 'Glide' -- thinks it will transform the lives of those who suffer from impaired vision.
> 
> American Community Survey says that there were 547,083 children with vision difficulty in the US in 2019,  and millions more people go blind during their lives as a result of diseases like diabetes or glaucoma <https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/diabetes/overview/preventing-problems/diabetic-eye-disease> .
> 
> 
> A world in darkness
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> 
> Amos Miller started going blind in his late twenties because of retinitis pigmentosa <https://www.nei.nih.gov/learn-about-eye-health/eye-conditions-and-diseases/retinitis-pigmentosa#:~:text=What%20is%20retinitis%20pigmentosa%3F,that%20people%20are%20born%20with.> , a genetic condition that breaks down the light-sensitive tissue in the back of the eye, called the retina.
> Miller was finishing up his computer science degree and looking forward to a career in technology when he lost his sight.
> 
> He is among some 7.6 million <https://nfb.org/resources/blindness-statistics>  people in the US today who have suddenly faced this devastating new reality where nothing is as it used to be. Everything has to be re-learned.
> 
> Simple tasks -- going to the bathroom or fixing a sandwich -- become an ordeal.
> 
> "Going to the fridge to get a glass of milk used to be something I could do half asleep; after I lost my vision it became a multi-step process, and any error meant I found myself standing, lost in a house I'd lived in for years," says Kim Tindall who, like Miller, went blind as an adult.
> 
> Tindall had to re-learn practically everything. She attending a course <https://nfb.org/sites/default/files/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm14/bm1404/bm140414.htm>  at the Louisiana Center for the Blind (LCB).
> 
> Also: Instant evolution: If AI can design a robot in 26 seconds, what else can it do? <https://www.zdnet.com/article/instant-evolution-if-ai-can-design-a-robot-in-26-seconds-what-else-can-it-do/>
> 
> Miller started his adaptive journey by learning how to use the most pervasive and cost-effective technology that blind people employ to navigate their world -- a cane. Over time, he graduated to a service dog. Yet, the more familiar Miller became with the limitations of canes and dogs, the more convinced he was that there had to be a better way to navigate this technology-saturated world.
> 
> Now, a guide dog <https://qz.com/1049443/the-sad-truth-about-guide-dogs-will-make-you-love-them-more>  can serve as a much-needed companion as well as an indispensable navigational aid.
> 
> But they don't come cheap. Guide dogs can each cost <https://qz.com/1049443/the-sad-truth-about-guide-dogs-will-make-you-love-them-more>  up to $50,000 to breed and train, and they age quickly. In five or six years, these dogs have worn themselves out and need to be replaced, which makes the whole enterprise both emotionally and financially taxing.
> 
> Moreover, replacements aren't exactly cheap or easily available; only around 10,000 dogs are available every year for a visually impaired population of 7.6 million.
> 
> Also: Robots plus generative AI: Everything you need to know when they work as one <https://www.zdnet.com/article/robots-plus-generative-ai-everything-you-need-to-know-when-they-work-as-one/>
> 
> The cane, priced at only $35, is a much less expensive solution than the canine -- but it too has considerable limitations.
> 
> The user of a cane has to employ a technique called 'shorelining <https://www.massrobotics.org/glide-to-work-with-people-with-blindness-to-navigate-the-world/> ' -- essentially tracing the tip of the cane along a curb or the walls of buildings to stay on track. Getting the hang of this typically requires 100 hours of training.
> 
> 
> 
> Amos Miller/LinkedIn
> 
> Also, the similarity -- and problem -- with both canes and dogs is that the blind user must have a very good idea of where they're going, which means a thorough familiarity with their route, their surroundings, and markers on the way such as mailboxes and trees.
> 
> Wending your way through a cityscape blind requires immense concentration as well as the mental strength to remain unflappable during wrong turns and other navigational mishaps.
> 
> Also: This AI app will soon screen for type 2 diabetes using just a 6-10 second voice clip <https://www.zdnet.com/article/this-ai-app-will-soon-screen-for-type-2-diabetes-using-just-a-6-10-second-voice-clip/>
> 
> Consequently, only 2% to 8% of those with impaired vision use canes along with the 2% who use dogs. This means that over 90% of the blind population lead intensely limited lives.
> 
> 
> The 'Glide' dog
> 
> 
> As a software professional, Miller was perfectly suited to dream up a better solution.  
> 
> Miller has served as chairman at Guide Dogs for the Blind (UK) <https://www.guidedogs.org.uk/> , and is also a former product strategist <https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/podcast/soundscaping-the-world-with-amos-miller/>  at Microsoft Research, where he was instrumental in developing Soundscape -- an app that fosters mobility independence through audio.
> 
> It's not surprising, therefore, that Miller's Glide <https://arxiv.org/pdf/2301.02336.pdf> , 9-by-9 inches in size, is both sophisticated and bare-bones elegant.
> 
> 
> 
> Glidance/ZDNET
> 
> The robot doesn't have a motor attached to its wheels--it moves around using passive kinetic guidance as a propulsive force. The user simply has to push it forward to get it moving, the robot comes to a halt when the user does.
> 
> For the visually impaired, the passive kinetic guidance is a crucial feature. The worst thing you can do when guiding a blind person is to drag them along, thereby robbing the individual of any agency or control.
> 
> Being motorless also makes the Glide incredibly lightweight. At a svelte 3 pounds, the device can be hauled over stairs quite easily, which makes it manageable and appealing.
> 
> The Glide's wheels have cameras and sensors <https://arxiv.org/pdf/2301.02336.pdf>  affixed to them, which help users to either maneuver around objects or to simply apply the brakes. This is accomplished via an elegant feature -- a haptic handle (outfitted with six vibrotactile actuators) that receives feedback from the unit traversing the ground.
> 
> Also: From automated to autonomous, will the real robots please stand up? <https://www.zdnet.com/article/from-automated-to-autonomous-will-the-real-robots-please-stand-up/>
> 
> The haptic handle, in turn, relays information about the terrain to the user.  For instance, a double tap transmitted to the user's handle means "slow down."  
> 
> The Glide truly hits its stride when it comes to navigation. With apps like Google Maps integrated into the system, a user will now have a much more precise -- and reassuring -- way to get to their destination.
> 
> This also helps contribute to the in-store shopping experience -- which can be a nightmare for those who struggle to navigate their way through supermarket aisles looking for products. The Glide can plug into store apps, enabling a user to create their shopping list, after which the Glide will guide them to each item.
> 
> Glide inventor Miller says that his company, Glidance <https://glidance.io/> , is still working out pricing details but notes that the product's cost will be comparable to mobile phone subscription plans.
> 
> Glidance notes that its product currently is optimized for indoor use only, with development ongoing to make it ready for "more complex environments with overhangs, stairs, elevators, ramps, etc.," -- and most importantly, the outdoors.
> 
> You can sign up for a beta version that is scheduled to be released imminently on the company's website <https://glidance.io/> .
> 
> Also: How Google Lookout's AI can describe images for the visually impaired <https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-google-lookouts-ai-can-describe-images-for-the-visually-impaired/>
> 
> As the number of Americans aged 65 and older is projected to increase <https://www.prb.org/resources/fact-sheet-aging-in-the-united-states/>  from 58 million in 2022 to 82 million in 2050 (a rise from 17% to 23% of the population), the number of people experiencing vision loss through age-related diseases such as glaucoma or diabetes is expected to mushroom.
> 
> Glide, and its future avatars, could play a key role in mitigating the trauma associated with this surge in aging and blindness.
> 
> https://www.zdnet.com/article/for-the-vision-impaired-this-ai-robot-aims-to-replace-canes-and-guide-dogs/#ftag=RSSbaffb68
> 
> 
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> 
> David Goldfield,
> 
> Blindness Assistive Technology Specialist
> 
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> 
> If you need help using your assistive technology learn about my training services by visiting
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