\Disclosure:
I have no useful vision. I use a cane now but have previously been a guide dog owner. I use the ‘Look and Tell’ feature on my Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses every day and bought, used, and return the Seleste glasses. Finally, I have paid the $100 deposit for the Glide and feel confident I will make the full order later in the summer.
OK, now that is out of the way, I learnt today about what, to me, seems like a lot of changes in the world of BIPED. I’ll summarise what they have to say for themselves below.
“Navigating the world as a blind or visually impaired individual can be challenging. Traditional tools like white canes and guide dogs are invaluable, but advancements in technology are opening new avenues for enhancing mobility and independence. Enter Biped AI, an innovative solution designed to transform how blind people navigate their surroundings using artificial intelligence.
Biped AI offers an advanced mobility harness named NOA, engineered to make travel safer and more intuitive. Imagine a mini-Tesla on your shoulders, guiding you through your environment with the precision and intelligence of a self-driving car. This is the future of mobility that Biped AI is bringing to the present.
What is NOA?
NOA is an all-in-one AI mobility solution that you wear on your shoulders. It’s equipped with ultra-wide-angle cameras, a small computer, and a battery, all strategically placed for optimal performance. These components work together to provide real-time obstacle detection, precise GPS navigation, and detailed scene descriptions.
Key Features of NOA
1. Obstacle Detection: One of the standout features of NOA is its ability to detect obstacles at various levels. Whether it's a low-lying hole, a head-level branch, or an electric scooter parked on the pavement, NOA’s cameras scan a 170-degree field from head to floor, day, and night. Using AI, it identifies these potential hazards and alerts you through spatial audio feedback played via bone conduction headphones, ensuring your ears remain free for other sounds.
2. GPS Navigation: NOA doesn’t just stop at obstacle detection. It offers precise outdoor navigation with GPS, guiding you turn by turn to your destination. Indoors, it helps you identify open areas and navigate through corridors, making it easier to find your way around buildings.
3. Scene Description: Ever wondered what your surroundings look like? With NOA, you can get a full, precise description of the scene. By pressing the 'AI button' on the right side of the device, you receive an auditory description of the environment, helping you visualize your surroundings in detail.”
Mobility is a very personal thing and we will all have to make up our own minds and choose and use what is right for us. I do think technology will come to mobility one day, but not today. I will know it when I see it and Biped.ai or NOA, isn’t it. Or should I say – it isn’t it for me.
Comments
It has 3 modes
Cane, dog and naked - I was told 'naked' is for folks with a lot of useful vision who need a 'helping hand' sometimes.
It will cost £3000 in the UK
Almost three times more than Glidance at the full price. I am paying £800 for Glidance, this year - a year before launch.
What we need
I've also put down the deposit for glidance. I think the thing is with glidance that nothing else has is the fact it makes contact with the ground. Although NOA and other such devices, like Dot Lumin look great, nothing quite beats that assurance of contact on the ground. I think we'll get there but there needs to be a culture shift within the blind community for us to trust anything that is whereable and not on the ground.
Ground contact
Whereas I agree that having something in contact with the ground is likely to make for a better experience, the thought of going out and relying entirely on any technology makes me feel very nervous.
A cane is relatively cheap and disposable. If a cyclist runs over it and it breaks, it's annoying and frustrating but can be easily replaced. If I've spent over a thousand pounds on something then I would be absolutely devastated.
That puts me off with the Glide. That and the way it will look to anyone else. I'm not thinking about vanity, but I want people to recognise me as being blind and no one will have any idea what this little robot shopping bag is doing there.
For biped, it says it's an all in one solution, but I presume being on your shoulders means that you could continue to use a cane with it? I don't know how that would work. But it also feels a little less precarious. This may be unfair but I have also heard it described as wearing a toilet seat but they may have improved the design since then.
I like the idea of the WeWalk in principal because I'm still going out with a cane and using it in the normal way and it's just giving me extra information. And being on top of a normal cane I don't have as big a concern about it getting broken.
There's a lot of promise in all of these and it will be interesting to see what, if any, of these devices actually work out as promised. But I'm not going to put down any money on something just based on promises and marketing.
It seems you have to use a cane or a dog
With BIPED/NOA - it isn't being sold as a robot guidedog (RGD) but as a CoPilot.
I agree with inforover
The idea of going out with nothing in my hands, nothing touching the ground - it feels weird, wrong, impossible even. Maybe the Glide will be it? I don't know - I'm ready to pay £800 to see, but the $40 a month is not to be forgotten.
The scene description takes about 10 seconds
It feels like about a thousands years when you are standing there, waiting for it, it is GPT-4, so a really nice detailed description that could be total rubbish!
Accuracy
No way is current tech so accurate that a cane or something touching the ground wouldn't still be required. I simply wouldn't trust going out and possibly tripping up curbs or steps. Or, for that matter missing the top step and falling down them. Until if ever tech can say to within 1cm where your feet are then I personally believe something touching the ground is needed.
Co-pilot
Ah OK - there was a clue in your thread title. I was just thrown by it calling itself "all in one" which isn't really the case. In which case I'd feel much more comfortable than with Glide.
I think ultimately being responsible for yourself but using tech to give you information you couldn't really know on your own is the best way forward.
Much as I like the idea of Glide and think it's likely to be the best experience if it works, I think there are too many pitfalls going that way.
I still think WeWalk is the best form factor. Because if I'm going out, I'm grabbing my cane anyway. With Biped I then have to get dressed up in the toilet seat cover and then grab my cane. But we'll see.
Audio
What intrigues me about the Glide is that has tactile feedback not just audio. I know audio is the default for most things, but that does not work for all of us in all circumstances. As for a true copilot we're probably still a couple years away from enough processing power and AI to analyze video in real-time which is what is really needed. I still am questioning if Glide will be able to do this quickly enough too.
Competition is good though. We'll see what ends up working.
This doesn't tempt me in the slightest
When I first saw this thread, it made me second-guess my decision to make a deposit on the Glide, but after reading this, I'm relieved to learn that, at least for my own situation, I didn't make a wrong choice. I may try to get smart glasses someday, but this type of wearable just doesn't appeal to me at all. Also, I know that everyone has different needs, preferences, etc., but I was very disappointed in the WeWalk cane. I actually got to test drive that through my work place, and honestly can't recall anything positive about it. Yes, it was in the familiar shape of a cane, but it was very heavy, and I remember the handle being uncomfortable to hold. Also, in my testing, it just vibrated constantly. I took it on a test walk to the dumpster at my apartment complex and actually got lost; this is a walkI routinely do with my titanium cane, or even with no mobility aid at all, so the fact that the WeWalk managed to get me completely disoriented. Anyway, I'm following all of these new tech developments with extreme interest, but at least so far, Glide is the only one that I'm feeling genuinely excited about.
@Missy Hoppe
I presume this was the first WeWalk? Not sure if the new one is going to be better.
I'm guessing that a lot of this tech is going to take a while to adjust to. I definitely have a concern over sensory overload with some of this. I guess that's where the Glide comes into its own - because it's not really giving you more information as taking your hand.