RoboGuide walks and talks to assist blind and partially sighted people

A team from the University has partnered with industry and charities to develop the RoboGuide, an AI-powered four-legged robot which aims to help visually impaired people move more independently through public places in the future. 

The RoboGuide prototype integrates a range of technologies into an off-the-shelf Unitree robot to help overcome the challenges preventing robots from being more widely used to assist blind and partially sighted people. 

The project aims to bring a more complete version of the technology to market in the years to come to help support the 2.2 billion people around the world, and two million people in the UK, living with sight loss.

In a statement, principal investigator Dr Olaoluwa Popoola, of Glasgow University’s James Watt School of Engineering, said: “Assistive technologies like the RoboGuide have the potential to provide blind and partially sighted people with more independence in their daily lives.

“One significant drawback of many current four-legged, two-legged and wheeled robots is that the technology which allows them to find their way around can limit their usefulness as assistants for the visually impaired.