[Promotion-technology] Robots To Help Blind People Shop:

Sat May 3 19:06:11 CDT 2008

amen!
Living in a big city you sure can find some either realy stupid or iliterate 
people.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mahd, Zuhair" <ZuhMahd at DSB.WA.GOV>
To: "Committee on the Promotion, Evaluation and Advancement of Technology" 
<promotion-technology at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, April 28, 2008 3:57 PM
Subject: Re: [Promotion-technology] Robots To Help Blind People Shop:

> Some of these robots may be cleverer than most of the "human" shopper
> helpers I've worked with:).
>
>
>
>
> "There are those who make things happen, those who watch things happen,
> those to whom things happen, and those who don't even know that things
> happened" lou gerstner
>
> Zuhair T. Mahd
> Adaptive Technology Specialist
> Washington Department of Services For the Blind
> Vancouver Office
> 2214 East 13th Street, Suite 208
> Vancouver, WA 98661-4120
> Tel:       +1-360-696-6212
> Fax:      +1-360-690-4663
>
> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE:  If you have received this communication in
> error, please notify us immediately.  This message is intended only for
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: promotion-technology-bounces+zuhmahd=dsb.wa.gov at nfbnet.org
> [mailto:promotion-technology-bounces+zuhmahd=dsb.wa.gov at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Robert Jaquiss
> Sent: Sunday, April 27, 2008 8:01 PM
> To: Committee on the Promotion, Evaluation and Advancement of
> Technology; nfb-rd at nfbcal.org; nfbcs at nfbnet.org
> Subject: Re: [Promotion-technology] Robots To Help Blind People Shop:
>
> Hello:
>
>     Although a well trained human could do a better job than a robot,
> finding that human can be difficult. I live in an area that does not
> have
> public transit, so I must hire a reader to go shopping. My readers know
> the
> stores well, so I can get what I need easily. When they do need to find
> a
> staff person, even a sighted person can find it difficult. Wall-Mart for
>
> example has been trying out self-serve checkout counters. These things
> don't
> work very well, but they are trying to cut staff to an absolute minimum.
> I
> can understand why Wall-Mart or other stores would like a robotic
> solution.
>
> Regards,
>
> Robert
>
> Robert Jaquiss
> 230 Peach Tree Drive
> West Monroe, Louisiana 71291-8653
> Phone: (318) 396-1853
> Email: rjaquiss at earthlink.net
> Web site: http://www.viewinternational.org
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "David Andrews" <dandrews at visi.com>
> To: <nfb-rd at nfbcal.org>; <promotion-technology at nfbnet.org>;
> <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Sunday, April 27, 2008 5:28 PM
> Subject: [Promotion-technology] Robots To Help Blind People Shop:
>
>
>>
>>>It is interesting to see the lengths they will go, when a
>>>well-informed human being would be 1000 times better.
>>
>>
>> Dave
>>
>>
>>
>>> >
>>> >    Major Retailer Tests Robots for Blind Shoppers
>>> > By Evan Schuman   2005-05-15
>>> >
>>> > Some visually impaired shoppers in Utah can already
>>> > walk into one of the retail giant's stores and shop with
>>> > an RFID-reading, voice-synthesized R2D2 wannabe. One
>>> > large national retailer has started quietly testing a
>>> > university-created robot designed to help visually
>>> >  impaired consumers navigate store aisles and
>>> >  find their desired products.
>>> > The robot-named RG, for Robotic Guide-is the creation
>>> > of Vladimir Kulyukin, an assistant professor of
>>> > computer science at Utah State University and the
>>> > director of the university's Computer Science
>>> > Assistive Technology Laboratory.
>>> >
>>> > The initial version of RG-which weighs about 22 pounds and is
> roughly
>>> > the height of an upright vacuum cleaner-is limited to three basic
>>> > functions.
>>> >
>>> > First, it guides the consumer through the aisles and
>>> > around people, displays and merchandise using RFID
>>> > readers and 16 ultrasonic sonars. The navigation
>>> > system is sophisticated enough to handle
>>> > environments-including elevators and limited open
>>> > spaces-that usually literally trip up robots, Kulyukin
>>> > said.
>>> >
>>> > The university has posted quite a few videos of RG
>>> > in various stages of testing.
>>> >
>>> > Its second function is to communicate with the
>>> > consumer. It takes instructions via a small Braille
>>> > directory of products that is attached to the robot's
>>> > handle, and it replies to the shopper's questions
>>> > with spoken answers.
>>> >
>>> > The third function is to use its RFID reader to locate
>>> > the desired products. The store's RFID tags help the
>>> > robot navigate the lanes as well as locate products.
>>> >
>>> > "There are RFID sensors placed on the shelves in the
>>> > store. The robot has the RFID antennae and detects the
>>> > presence of those tags," Kulyukin said. "That's how it
>>> > knows it's reached the Colgate section of the
>>> > toothpaste shelf and it then announces, "You have
>>> > reached the Colgate toothpaste section, on your right.'"
>>> >
>>> > The robot has its limitations, though. Until item-level
>>> > tagging becomes the norm, the system can indicate
>>> > only the part of the shelf where the product is
>>> > supposed to be. If it's been moved-either by an
>>> > employee moving stock who forgot to move the
>>> > update the RFID tag or by another consumer who
>>> > put a tube of Aim toothpaste amidst the Colgate-the
>>> > visually impaired consumer might grab the wrong
>>> > product.
>>> >
>>> > "It certainly can be jumbled, and there is the potential
>>> > to pick up the wrong product," Kulyukin said, adding
>>> > that his team is trying to add a robotic bar code into
>>> > the system so that the robot would announce the
>>> > product being placed in the cart. That functionality
>>> > would likely address most of the mistaken product
>>> > purchases, he said.
>>> >
>>> > The robot's development is still at a very early stage
>>> > and has thus far mostly been paid for with a $500,000
>>> > grant from the National Science Foundation, Kulyukin
>>> > said. He is negotiating with a large national retail
>>> > chain to buy the units and invest in its further
>>> > development.
>>> >
>>> > Kulyukin refused to identify the chain, but an employee
>>> > in the university's public relations department, Whitney
>>> > Wilkinson, said the chain was indeed Wal-Mart.
>>> > Kulyukin also said Wal-Mart was testing it locally.
>>> >
>>> > Shortly after this story appeared, Wal-Mart attorneys
>>> > and a representative a Wal-Mart's public relations
>>> > department called Wilkinson and others at Utah State.
>>> > Wilkinson then stepped back from her comment,
>>> > explaining that she meant that the local outlet of Wal-
>>> > Mart had been testing the robot and that she had no
>>> > knowledge of anything beyond that. Kulyukin said
>>> > that the local Wal-Mart store was using the robot for
>>> >  its customers and that any references to
>>> > "negotiating" with Wal-Mart were about the terms
>>> > of the usage.
>>> >
>>> > Kulyukin also said that there is a large national
>>> > retail chain exploring a financial investment in his
>>> > department's robot, but he continued to decline
>>> > to identify the chain.
>>> >
>>> > The store manager of the Wal-Mart store in North
>>> > Logan, Utah, right near the university's labs,
>>> > confirmed that RG had arrived.
>>> >
>>> > "It's a great thing for the customers who don't
>>> > have their eyesight," said Wal-Mart store manager
>>> > Ron Tuttle. "We have a lot of customers who come
>>> > in and ask for someone to help them. I talked with
>>> > one lady and she was very excited about it
>>> > because it makes her feel more independent."
>>> >
>>> > Next Page: Keeping the cost low.
>>> >
>>> > The cost of the robots will vary depending on how
>>> > many of them Kulyukin's team is asked to create,
>>> > but he purposely kept the cost low. To create a
>>> > second robot would cost him about $10,000, he
>>> > said, adding that the per-unit cost would drop to
>>> > about $4,000 to $5,000 if thousands were
>>> > ordered and to about $1,500 if millions were
>>> > ordered. He said he will need about $3 million
>>> > to $5 million in seed money to move to the next
>>> > stage of development and production.
>>> > The technical hardware of the system is simple:
>>> > Most of the components sit in a PVC pipe structure.
>>> > The robot's microcontroller is attached to a laptop,
>>> > with which it communicates via serial cable. The
>>> > laptop also can communicate using an 802.11b
>>> > wireless card.
>>> >
>>> > Kulyukin said he has spent much of his life focused
>>> > on using technology to help those with physical
>>> > challenges, partly to help his brother, who has
>>> > always had severe hearing disabilities. "Growing
>>> > up as the brother of a disabled child, I know
>>> > firsthand how harsh the environment can be on
>>> > you," he said.
>>> >
>>> > The problem of blind shoppers is fairly widespread.
>>> > The National Institutes of Health's National Eye
>>> > Institute estimates that 80 million Americans today
>>> > have potentially blinding eye diseases and 1.1
>>> > million people are legally blind.
>>> >
>>> > "Approximately 12 million people have some degree
>>> > of visual impairment that cannot be corrected by
>>> > glasses, and more than 100 million people need
>>> > corrective lenses to see properly," the institute's
>>> > Web site says.
>>> >
>>> > Given that RG is only in very limited experimentation
>>> > today, how do most blind consumers shop? "They
>>> > simply don't go grocery shopping," Kulyukin said. "If
>>> > you happen to have a sighted spouse or a friend,
>>> > that's what you do. [RG] is an independence device."
>>> >
>>> > The business side of the retail argument for these
>>> > robots is twofold. First, the people who shop for
>>> > those blind consumers might not shop at the places
>>> > those consumers would want. These kinds of robots
>>> > would return the store-selection power back to
>>> > those consumers.
>>> >
>>> > Secondly, not many grocery stores have the financial
>>> > resources of a Wal-Mart to invest in this level of
>>> > robotic technology. Arguably, this could be a major
>>> > differentiating factor in bringing visually impaired
>>> > customers-and their friends and families-to Wal-Mart
>>> > who might otherwise have shopped at the competition.
>>> >
>>> > Kulyukin also said that having a small squadron of
>>> > robots around a retail shop could be valuable in
>>> > other ways. When there are no customers using
>>> > the robots, they can assist in moving merchandise,
>>> > carrying extremely heavy boxes and unloading
>>> > trucks. After all, what good is having a bionic robotic
>>> > arm if it's not flexed once in a while?
>>> >
>>> > The robot "doesn't have to sit idly in the store. It
>>> > can optimize the store's supply operations,"
>>> > Kulyukin said. "Instead of letting a truck come to
>>> > the store and having it unloaded manually, load it
>>> > onto the robot and then let the robot deliver it."
>>
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