Product Idea: LAIKA — AI based Guide Dogs

Yasar Siddiqui
Sep 9, 2018 · 4 min read
Laika — The First Dog in space

Introduction

We all remember the sight of dogs helping old or visually impaired people cross road or carry out mundane navigational tasks. The dogs are very good companions also. This help them be a natural fit in the role of guide dogs.

I wish to stretch the boundaries of our imagination today. I suggest we use the same technology used in self driving cars to help the visually impaired navigate the side walk better.

The Product — Laika, AI based Guide Dogs

The product that we want to cover is named Laika, after the famous the dog that the soviets sent into space way back in 1957. She was the sole occupant of Sputnik 2 and help us cross a technological barrier at the time.

The Laika today, will help us in enhancing the lives of our elderly and visually impaired. It is based on the same technology as self driving cars are.

The self driving cars are able to recognise objects and chart out a course that is essentially obstacle free. If we can use the same technology to invent a AI based guard dog, we not only improve on the navigation but can also add other services like — emergency response, GPS tracker, exercise monitor etc.

How Waymo self driving car sees, Courtesy — Waymo.

Imagine the same technology being mounted on the end of stick. It is able to guide you across a pavement pretty much as a self driving cars navigates the roads.

Dashboard for Loved ones to keep a track, Image Courtesy -wagwalking.com

Not only navigation, it can also keep a track of the person it is assisting using GPS tracker and update that in a dashboard for loved ones to see.

It can keep a track of the persons exercise schedule, ensuring they get the minimum physical workout required. It can even prompt the owner, “It’s time for a walk”. Pretty much similar to a actual guide dog.

During a stroll Laika will be monitoring the vital signs, if something is a miss it has a emergency response module which can either call 911 or the loved one of your choosing.

Usually guide dogs are reserved for tasks that are outdoors — Laika can also be used indoors and maybe voice activated to help the owner communicate effectively with it.

Example of Indoor Navigation for assisted living

Not only will it help the visually impaired but will also help the elderly and people who need assisted living.

Market Analysis

The elderly or visually impaired needing a guide dog or assistance service is ever increasing. Most guide dogs take around 2 years to be fully trained. According to a report there were around 200,000 guide dogs in the world in 2010 and the number would have increased with time.

Usually mobility is a major problem with guide dogs specially during travel to other cities and countries. with Laika mobility is not a hinderance but an essential feature.

Considering that Laika is not only looking to augment the Guide Dog market but also help people who require some assistance even indoor the market opportunity seems huge. We cannot put a hard number on it because the data around Guide dogs is really hard to come by.

But the numbers are available for visually impaired people in the world. There are total of 285 Million people who suffer from visual impairment and need help.

Even if we tap 10% of the market that totals ~ 3 Million units.

WHO Report on Visually Impaired — 2017

Key success factors

Trust will be the key thing for the product. Like the self driving car we will need to prove that the product can cope and perform in real life situations.

It will require hours and hours of testing and training. But once we are able to prove to our customers that the product performs at least as well as trained guide dog, the sales are predicted to lift off.

Key Opportunities

The key opportunities in this product space are really unlimited. Laika’s primary function is as a navigation assistant but depending on the person being assisted medical and health add Ons can really generate value for the end customer

If we can build a functional companionship model also, it will be able to provide an healing touch to all those involved

Key Threats

There are a number of key threats to the product

  1. It is really difficult to replace the companionship a dog bring to a relationship
  2. The hours of testing the product in real life scenarios
  3. Regulatory compliances can also cause a hinderance to the market for the product.

Conclusion

With more and more technology breaking ground, we are re-evaluating traditional solutions for those that are more innovative and customer centric.

Laika is not only innovative, it also looks to fill in gaps when it comes to taking care of the vulnerable section of our society.

Hope you enjoyed the articles, please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. If you would like to cover a topic please email me at me@yasarsiddiqui.com

Yasar Siddiqui’s Blog

Sharing various Product Ideas, Emerging Technologies and Opportunities.

Yasar Siddiqui

Written by

Engineer, Ideator, Thinker. Churning Product ideas on medium.com/yasar-siddiqui. Reachable at me@yasarsiddiqui.com

Yasar Siddiqui’s Blog

Sharing various Product Ideas, Emerging Technologies and Opportunities.

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