The Robotic Guide for Blind Shoppers

The Computer Science Assistive Technology Laboratory at Utah State University created the Robot Guide (RG) that assists blind shoppers. The RG prototype assists in a supermarket and discount department store in the university town of Logan.

The university’s Vladimir Kulyukin, who invented the RG says that without a sighted helper, blind shoppers have little chance of negotiating pitfalls in the aisles of stores and finding what they need. The idea came to him, he explained in a recent BBC interview, after several visually impaired people told him they had difficulty shopping independently.
 
If the Robotic Guide, or RG, lives up to its creator’s expectations, they will soon be able to shop alone. The robot uses a laser rangefinder to avoid collisions, and radio frequency tags to identify and locate items.
 
“The idea is that you simply come to the grocery store, grab the shopping assistant (RG) and it leads you to the different products. When you leave the store you leave it behind,” he said. A $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation paid for the prototype, and Kulyukin is negotiating with a large national retail chain to buy the units and invest in further development.
 
The RG takes instructions from the shopper via a small Braille directory of products attached to the handle, and replies with spoken answers. It steers the shopper around pitfalls - other consumers, displays and merchandise - reading electronic identification tags on the shelves of the store as it passes. When the RG reaches its target, it announces the location to the shopper.
 
Kulyukin and his team hope that with the right investment their robot could be available to blind shoppers in one to two years.
 
Sources: BBC, CIO Insight and Ergonomics Today