Understanding Expectations for a Robotic Guide Dog for Visually Impaired People

2025-01-08

AI Summary

This study addresses the autonomous mobility needs of people with visual impairments by investigating their functional and design preferences for guide robot dogs. Through a mixed-methods empirical study involving 18 blind and low-vision users—including current guide dog handlers—we integrated user-centered design, human-robot interaction experiments, and prototype testing of a quadrupedal robot platform. Results reveal strong user preferences for learnable gait control, rigid handlebars, asymmetric progressive steering, semantically rich voice interaction, and model interpretability—while underscoring critical practical constraints such as battery endurance, maintenance feasibility, and environmental adaptability. From these findings, we derive seven actionable, empirically grounded design guidelines. This work provides the first systematic, user-informed foundation for defining functionality, shaping interaction paradigms, and enabling engineering deployment of guide robot dogs.

Technology Category

• Intelligent Robots: Human-Robot Interaction
• Humans and AI: User Experience and Usability
• Computer Vision: Vision for Robotics & Autonomous Driving

Application Category

• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Practical large-scale studies of user experience
• Semantics and Knowledge: Data modeling to support human-machine intelligence, including LLMs agents, intelligent system behavior, explanations, and user-friendly interactions

Abstract

Robotic guide dogs hold significant potential to enhance the autonomy and mobility of blind or visually impaired (BVI) individuals by offering universal assistance over unstructured terrains at affordable costs. However, the design of robotic guide dogs remains underexplored, particularly in systematic aspects such as gait controllers, navigation behaviors, interaction methods, and verbal explanations. Our study addresses this gap by conducting user studies with 18 BVI participants, comprising 15 cane users and three guide dog users. Participants interacted with a quadrupedal robot and provided both quantitative and qualitative feedback. Our study revealed several design implications, such as a preference for a learning-based controller and a rigid handle, gradual turns with asymmetric speeds, semantic communication methods, and explainability. The study also highlighted the importance of customization to support users with diverse backgrounds and preferences, along with practical concerns such as battery life, maintenance, and weather issues. These findings offer valuable insights and design implications for future research and development of robotic guide dogs.

Problem

• Blind Individuals
• Assistive Technology Preferences
• Guide Dog Robotics

Innovation

• User-Centric Design
• Assistive Technology
• Personalization in Robotics