AI guide dogs help 17 million blind people in China

Visually impaired people face many challenges in their daily lives, including difficulties in navigating and avoiding hazards. Therefore, there is a need for intelligent robot projects and works using AI language models to help them navigate more conveniently and safely, effectively improving their quality of life.

So recently, researchers from Northwestern Polytechnical University in China, along with the China Telecommunications Artificial Intelligence Research Institute, have made a major breakthrough in what promises to be a boon for the country’s 17 million visually impaired. Here, they have been developing a guide dog robot using an artificial intelligence (AI) language model that promises to be of great help in providing navigation and companionship to the visually impaired.

This AI guide dog goes beyond the limitations of existing and previous electronic navigation aids. Although there have been some electronic navigation aids in recent years, such as electronic navigation helmets and electronic navigation sticks, they cannot engage in conversation with humans or fully understand human instructions, but this AI companion dog robot can do it all.

It is also capable of navigating well in environments such as streets, elevators and indoor spaces, providing significant assistance to visually impaired people in their daily activities.

Sun Zhe, Associate Professor at Northwestern Polytechnical University in China, said: “Smart guide dogs using AI language models can help make navigation more convenient and safer, effectively improving the quality of life for the visually impaired.”.

This AI guide dog project is still in its early stages of development, but the new findings published in the Communications Journal of the Chinese Computer Society demonstrate the feasibility of the project.

A collaborative effort between Northwestern Polytechnical University and the China Telecommunications Artificial Intelligence Research Institute has the potential to change the future lives of China’s 17 million visually impaired people. While there are still some challenges before widespread adoption, the researchers are committed to further developing the technology.