#Product Trends
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS’ NAVIGATION-AID
An autonomous robot inserted in a cane
Robots are a man’s best friend? The University of Arkansas won’t deny that saying. Indeed, its researchers have created a brainy robot, hidden in a walking stick and ready to help visually-impaired people. The seeing-eye cane is equipped with a vision and a 3D camera which enable it to guide users through stairways, potential holes and other unpleasant bumps encountered on the path.
Thanks to a bluetooth device, the operator’s attention is drawn to any dangers, permitting optimal guidance. The navigation-aid was conceived to guide users during sensitive maneuvers and initiate preferable directions. The University of Arkansas is willing to emphasize that dimension: the navigation-aid was thoughtfully named, as it suggests better directions but absolutely not decreases autonomy.
In a wider perspective, if the “obstacle detection” feature is perfect to help people with limited vision, it shouldn’t be limited to that role. Indeed, such technology opens the door to creating a new generation of autonomous robots, those capable of manipulating objects and based on a sensitive approach to their surrounding environment.
The University of Arkansas provides us with a little insight into our co-robotic future, a future where robots inhabit the objects we deal with on a daily basis. Robots possessing material items: who would have thought science-fiction would have been real so soon? Let’s just hope a robot rebellion remains pure fantasy.
