I got this off of another list and thought it was intresting and wanted to
share it. It is very much off topic though.
Amy
>
> Wal-Mart Tests Robots for Blind Shoppers
>
> By Evan Schuman
>
> Wal-Mart on Thursday 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.
>
> The store manager of the Wal-Mart store in North Logan, Utah, right near
the
> university's labs, confirmed that RG had arrived on Thursday.
>
> "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."
>
>
> http://www.cioinsight.com/article2/0,1397,1813645,00.asp
>
>
>
>
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