Robots to Help the Blind 195
Timberwolf0122 writes "Computer scientists in the US have developed a robot that could help blind people to shop or find their way around large buildings.
Utilising a RFID tags to find products and a laser range finder to avoid obsticals. The prototype was developed at Utah State University, is this the end of guide dogs?"
Spelling on the headline (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Spelling on the headline (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Spelling on the headline (Score:2)
What happened to just learning how to write/spell the words correctly in the first place ?
Re:Spelling on the headline (Score:2)
Maybe it's a cross between 'obstacles' and 'optical'. In other words, if you can't see it, it's not really there. However, if this is the case, I don't see how this robot is going to help out.
Re:Spelling on the headline (Score:2)
Talk about a great business model:
Re:Spelling on the headline (Score:2)
Re:Give the submitter a break (Score:2)
Daniel
Cold, Cold... Getting warmer... HOT (Score:2, Insightful)
we're almost able to replace their eyes! (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:we're almost able to replace their eyes! (Score:1)
Re:we're almost able to replace their eyes! (Score:1, Informative)
Re:we're almost able to replace their eyes! (Score:4, Informative)
Right now "vision implants" are not nearly as developed as their cousins, the cochlear implants. Those can help hearing impaired people (re)gain hearing (call it "artificial hearing", if you wish). People with CI's can learn to speak like anyone, although their hearing is still different from "typical" hearing.
It appears that, compared to the likely cost of developing artificial vision, the robot can be developed for next to nothing. And who knows, maybe it's useful for people with other ailments! Compromise: best to do both.
Artificial vision, just like cochlear implants, is really, really cool, and could help a LOT of people. I keep my fingers crossed!
Re:we're almost able to replace their eyes! (Score:2, Funny)
Re:we're almost able to replace their eyes! (Score:2)
Re:we're almost able to replace their eyes! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:we're almost able to replace their eyes! (Score:2)
My worry is if artificial vision ends up artificially expensive.
Anyway I wouldn't mind having one or two additional auxiliary "video in" ports, in addition to my eyes, if there weren't any serious side effects.
Re:we're almost able to replace their eyes! (Score:2, Insightful)
One of the things which babies' bodies learn as they are growing up as infants, is for their eyes to grow & focus; something which is gradual and not a shock to them.
Imagine someone who was born blind
Re:we're almost able to replace their eyes! (Score:2)
Grow new real eyes, and implant those. Keyed to the recipients DNA so that no rejection occurs.
Why bother with mechanical solutions when a purely biological one would probably be for the best?
Not to mention that this technique would be effective in children as well, as the organs would grow as they do.
Re:we're almost able to replace their eyes! (Score:2)
I believe artificial eyes with enough focus to distinguish the nipples in an otherwise smooth breast aren't too hard to build. The problem is developing artificial eyes able to read handwriting. How many slashdotters would volunteer to test a simulator going through first grade?
Not everyone is blind because of their eyes (Score:2)
Although I think a shopping robot is silly, it would still make this task much easier for my daughter when she is older and wants to be independent.
-- Len
Simple answer: No. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Simple answer: No. (Score:1)
A person's even better sometimes.
Actually, the dog is probably better quite often too...
Re:Simple answer: No. (Score:5, Funny)
That's not the original. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:That's not the original. (Score:3, Interesting)
If that's true and you still talk to her... (Score:2)
Re:Simple answer: No. (Score:2)
Most blind people don't use dogs. They use sticks. Quite why anyone would swap a low tech but highly effective device for one the size of a washing machine and costing as much as a car, I can't understand.
Why not have a small device, something like a bluetooth ear piece which tells you where in the shops or airpor
Well, thanks for that. (Score:2)
For an added sense of realism... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:For an added sense of realism... (Score:1)
Re:For an added sense of realism... (Score:1, Funny)
Re:For an added sense of realism... (Score:1)
Hell no the end of dogs. (Score:5, Interesting)
Robots may be fine and dandy for lab rat use, but in the real world where unexpected things happen, you need to have something that can adapt to emergencies, something that robots won't be able to do for a while.
Re:Hell no the end of dogs. (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Hell no the end of dogs. (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Hell no the end of dogs. (Score:4, Insightful)
I'll trust a well trained dog over a robot/computer any day, and I consider myself a hardened geek. I find animals much more reliable and predictable than any system I've used.
Plus you get affection - and anyone who brings up virtual pets or robots being affectionate doesn't is self-dillusional and doesn't understand the benefit of a relationship with a real living thing.
Re:Hell no the end of dogs. (Score:3, Interesting)
Then you should find better systems to use. Animals can be trained and reliable, up to a point. [cnn.com]
The difference between animals and artificial systems is that when you build things you know how they are made. Animals are closed source, you don't know how they work, all you know is a how a limited set of input/output pairs work. When a machine fails you can debug it, find what went wrong, redesign, rebuild, and retest.
If I had t
Re:Hell no the end of dogs. (Score:3, Interesting)
And complex computer programs aren't that deterministic. Not that reliable and predictable.
Just select a suitable dog, and it'll be more reliable and predictable than the blind person its supposed to help. Whereas there are many complex computer systems which don't seem to be nearly that reliable and predictable.
It'll be hard to build a machine that could do as much for a blind p
Re:Hell no the end of dogs. (Score:2)
Re:Hell no the end of dogs. (Score:2)
Simple solution... (Score:2)
(No, I'm not serious. I've played Deus Ex and DX: Invisible War too much to think this is a good idea...)
Re:Hell no the end of dogs. (Score:2)
robot saves editors (Score:1, Funny)
TFA says "no" (Score:3, Funny)
Nope, not going to replace guide dogs. Dogs have excellent senses, robots just have bits & bytes.
""We refer to it as a robotic shopping assistant," he told the BBC News website.
The guide dog won't keep hanging out by the auto parts section. who knows what the robot will do. Maybe subscribe itself to Popular Mechanics when you're not paying attention.
No. (Score:5, Informative)
If people are concerned with replacing guide dogs (as they have relatively short lives and take a long time to train), they should consider guide horses [guidehorse.com]. You may think I am crazy, but this has been successfully tested and is becoming more popular.
The horses live to be 25-40 years old, have binocular and monocular vision, and are very intelligent. They also have more instincts about safety than an algorithm, to date, can provide.
However, the robots are a very neat idea.
Re:No. (Score:2)
"People think we're trying to replace guide dogs, but we're not."
Having RTFA, I must say that the application they are using these robots for is a neat one, as the robots could be used in addition to the guide dogs. It's not like the person is taking the robot home and trying to use it as a method to cross the street. These basically amount to smart
Re:No. (Score:2)
Wouldn't it just be better to spend some time and energy sensitizing people to the needs of the blind and low-vision, and get them to feel comfortable in offering to help?
I sometimes feel a bit awkward offering to help, but that doesn't stop me (because it would bother me all day if I actually let that stop me from helping), and its' never been refu
Re:No. (Score:2)
Re:No. (Score:2)
The only vision my imagination lays before me is this: A big truck passes nearby, simultaneously avoiding the blind person and oncoming traffic. To about 100% of horses I have seen, this would be enough to freak them out and make them head for the hills. Now, imagine that one of the tires of the truck exlodes when it is passing you. I would bet couple of euros that the blind
Re:No. (Score:2)
Re:No. (Score:2)
Besides, when's the last time you saw a truck tire explode (aside from when it's being improperly inflated during installation, or already on fire)? They don't explode. They delaminate. The tread comes off, and the air goes out of the carcass.
Re:No. (Score:2)
The tires are not new. They are re-coated over and over again because they are fricking expensive. Atleast here, I think truck tires aren't competelly discarded unless they are damaged beyong re-covering.
Oh yeah, now that you asked. My house is like 3 meters from a road. There are trucks trafficking next to my house regularly. It was last week when
Re:No. (Score:2)
Guide horses? Come on! (Score:2)
By the way I do know
Re:Guide horses? Come on! (Score:2)
Sure, the guide horses are miniature horses, but I've had to take a full-grown horse through a house, and it's no big deal.
I walked in through the front door at my mothers (it was my sister's mare), and they couldn't turn it around, and were getting kind of freaked out. So I just took the reins and, instead of trying to turn it around, just led it straight through and out the back door.
But a horse in the house is nothing compared to these people - they have a
Re:No. (Score:2)
This didn't seem to go through the first time, so I am posting it again. I do not know why it didn't show up. If it does again, then my apologies, and please disregard.
Re:No. (Score:2)
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), privately owned businesses that serve the public, such as restaurants, hotels, retail stores, taxicabs, theaters, concert halls, and sports facilities, are prohibited from discriminating against individuals with disabilities. The ADA requires these businesses to allow people with disabilities to bring their service animals onto business premises in
Re:No. (Score:2)
Here's what the Department of Justice [usdoj.gov] has to say. It's an interesting read.
Tested (Score:1)
Personally, I'd like it better if they were field tested in the afternoon, when the store is open, right about the time when work is getting off. However, A number of visually impaired testers have given enthusiastic feedback...*, so this is still good stuff.
*Rest of quote - but not all of them were Braille users so were unable to use the Braille interface to find items.
Forget Dogs... (Score:1)
Think about the horses!
Oh the humanity!
No (Score:1)
No, but it sure sounds like the end of blind people. What is it with AI people? They still can't produce software with the intelligence of a lab mouse, but they've moved on to guiding the blind? Last I checked, people still had trouble getting robots to navigate a building reliably.
Re:No (Score:2)
This just in... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:This just in... (Score:2)
No. It's better.
See, now the vacuum, Roomba and your attempt at humour all suck, so that's a lot more suckage than a Roomba alone.
Soko
(OK, it's flamebait, but Monday sucked too.)
Check out the robot platform (Score:1)
No, no, no! You got it all wrong! (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The canine OS is still better for now (Score:3, Interesting)
Obligitory Something Awful Reference (Score:2)
Re:Obligitory Something Awful Reference (Score:2)
Re:Obligitory Something Awful Reference (Score:2, Interesting)
The following is provided for the 5 people who don't know what Something Awful is. Transcript as follows:
Corn_Boy - wassup
Corn_Boy - what is the time there?
Lowtax - 11 pm
Corn_Boy - wow, why are you woking so late?
Corn_Boy - what kind of work do you do
Lowtax - VE and SA stuff
Corn_Boy - whats that
Lowtax - VE - Virginian Empire SA - Secretary's Alliance
Corn_Boy - is the secretarys alliance like a union
Lowtax - Kind of. Mostly we just go over to Marcie's house af
It needs one more skill (Score:3, Funny)
They have to teach it to like peanut butter.
Re:It needs one more skill (Score:2)
Robot shopping lists... (Score:2)
Obligitary comment: I for one welcome our new robot shopper overlords...
I mis-read the title... (Score:1)
I LOL'd at the thought of some Short Circuit type robot saying "Number 5 will repair your eyeballz. Sit back and reeeelax" while his shaky uncontrollable limbs bounce about....yikes.
Dogs have many uses (Score:2, Insightful)
1) Can also be trained to fetch things like phones (very useful for when a blind person falls and hurts themselves and then cannot get up), keys, and miscellaneous items that a blind person accidentally drops and then need assistance in finding on the floor.
2) As another poster mentioned, a guide dog can provide a level of home defense against intruders. I once heard an author on NPR describe how a dog's primary sense is smell with eye
Re:Dogs have many uses (Score:2, Interesting)
[snip]
Dogs [snip] can tell when there is something "wrong" with their master.
This is absolutely true. Dogs are truly amazing creatures. Dogs in familys with new children are especially intriguing. Most will form an especially close bond with a new baby, and are often more effective at ge
Crossing the road (Score:2)
It even has an LCD display. I'm sure that'll come in handy.
Gee, this is a Wonderful question.... (Score:1)
laser range finder???? (Score:2)
It couldn't really hurt the blind much, but us people who can still see might find it a bit annoying..... I can just see how a conversation might go:
Joe: Hey bob, how'd you go blind?
Bob: I was shopping at walmart when this blind guy walked around the aisle and flashed his laser range finder into my eyes. Now I'm blind too. The bastard.
Joe: So is that the same gizmo you're now wearing too?
Bob: Yep
Joe: Oww my eyes. you just blinded me you idiot.
Robots... (Score:1)
Robot (Score:2)
*Walking*
3
2
1
*CRUNCH*
Dogs have common sense, robots don't.
Don't say Aibo didn't warn you.... (Score:1)
NFB (Score:2, Insightful)
Compare the costs (money, effort, expertise) of purchasing and maintaining a guide robot versus a guide dog. Now compare the capabilities of each. Will the robot be self-healing, last a whole day on the equivalent of a bowl of chow, and adapt to changes in the daily routine?
More importantly, which would you want
Cost benefit... (Score:2, Insightful)
This is why America is great (Score:2)
Is this the end of large dogs? Well, not really, dogs can be trained to be much more reliable impulse byuers than a robot.
It's just not the same with a robot... (Score:3, Funny)
The clerk runs up. "Sir, can I help you?"
"Naaa. I'm just looking around."
Jokes just won't be as funny with robots.
Added features (Score:2)
And if you install Ispell and Grammatik, it will also improve their visually disturbing spelling and their jarringly horrendous grammar.
"Is this the end of guide dogs?" (Score:2, Insightful)
I can say that since I RTFA:
"People think we're trying to replace guide dogs, but we're not."
Qualifications for being a /. editor (Score:2)
-=-
def:obstical
No entry found for obstical.
Did you mean obstacle?
-=-
def:obstacle
obstacle
One that opposes, stands in the way of, or holds up progress.
Obsticals (Score:2)
Can it also be used to scan for typos?
Japan going ga-ga over robots too (Score:2)
Seeing eye dogs (Score:3, Insightful)
The dog simply helps them to avoid things like curbs, stairs and so on. It does so by simply stoping at them and waiting for the blind person to give them instructions as to what to do next.
It is perfetly possible to get lost with a dog.
We have seen all sorts devices of this type all the time canes with sonar, devices with GPS, you name it. The fact remains that nothing will ever subsitute for proper mobility training for the blind.
We are the space...er...seeing-eye robots... (Score:2)
What is slashdot coming to?!
--Rob
Re:No (Score:1)
Re:No (Score:1)
Re:No (Score:2)
Considering that this robot doesn't have real vision, its a case of the blind leading the blind anyway.
Re:Modern twist to an old joke (Score:2)
We've all encountered people who've got whiney kids who won't shut up until they get what they want - just pin a tag on the brat and let the robot play "fetch". Scare the little shit into shutting up.
Or pin a tag on the robots' back and watch it go around and around and around and around and ... dead battery
Or pin a tag on the blind person ... and when scream "danger danger will robinson!"
Re:Just Great (Score:2)
Re:The end of evil RFID? (Score:3, Insightful)