Shanghai — It’s less furry than a traditional companion, but a six-legged Chinese robot “guide dog” could one day help vision impaired people live with more independence, according to its research development team in Shanghai. The robot dog, which is currently being field-tested, is able to navigate its physical environment via cameras and sensors, including recognizing traffic light signals, which traditional guide dogs are unable to do. “If this robot guide dog comes onto the market and I could use it, at least it could solve some of my problems in traveling alone,” Li said. In China, there are just over 400 guide dogs for almost 20 million blind people, Gao said. “I think this could be a very large market, because there might be tens of millions of people in the world who need guide dogs.”

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Persons: ”, Gao Feng, Jiao, Li Fei, Zhu Sibin, Li, Zhu, ” Li, Gao, “ Organizations: Shanghai, Jiao Tong University’s, of Mechanical Engineering, Jiao Tong University Locations: Shanghai, Australia, Britain, China, Labrador