Field Testing: Glide Demos at ACB & NFB Conventions

Earlier this month, most of the Glidance team traveled to the annual conventions of the American Council of the Blind and National Foundation of the Blind in Florida, to show off our latest prototype and get live feedback on some of our latest developments on the design and engineering fronts.

We hosted over 330 people for demos between the two conventions in the span of a week, and needless to say, our team needed a few days to rest their feet at the end!

At both conferences, we showcased the latest Glide prototype design, named Marie. In addition to the conversations and feedback around the new Marie design, we had participants live demo and test two autonomous Glide features, which came via electronics upgrades on our older prototype designs.

The first demo was AI object recognition and tracking, which used a prototype with a single camera. In this demo, the device was set into the person tracking mode where a Glide was able to recognize a person in front of the device using AI, lock onto that person as a target, and then steer and brake as needed to follow them around a room or down a hallway.

This also demonstrated the use of the speaker and haptics in the handle as the device announced "tracking person" through the speaker when the AI successfully locked onto the target, and the haptics in the handle were activated while they were tracking. This technology showcases Glide's early capability to locate a variety of objects using AI, including doors, help desks, elevators, bathrooms, etc. to be able to help a person using Glide enter a space and scan for specific targets as they walk around.

The second demo used a prototype that had a more advanced stereo depth camera and upgraded processor, and demonstrated Glide's ability to avoid obstacles in a crowded space in a freestyle mode. In this mode the user was manually steering the Glide to follow a music source, and Glide was simply steering or braking to avoid obstacles we had set up along the way. While still a bit of a shaky ride, this showcased a mode where the person using Glide generally knows where they want to go, and Glide's job is to resist unintentional veering by holding a line (which we are still building) and to avoid obstacles like people, street furniture, curbs, pot holes, overhead obstacles, etc.

Each demo session started out with an introduction to the device, best practices on how to hold the handle and walk with the device, and a short walk in a manual mode where a Glide developer was using a remote to control the steering and braking. This training session was helpful to get people comfortable walking with and following the device, and offered a chance for a conversation around intended features and initial feedback. From there, the remote control was switched off and we let Glide autonomously navigate using the two demo scenarios mentioned above - freestyle mode and object tracking mode.  

Here's what some our demo participants had to say about their experience:

"To me as a current guide dog, and cane user, Glide is like a guide dog without the maintenance. Glide is a game changer as another mobility tool, and if you ever get a chance, give it a try! It is just like another set of eyes."

Conrad Bennett

"Using the glide is easy and comfortable. There is very little learning curve and made me feel even more confident in my mobility."

Aaron S.

"I was very skeptical about the Glide before I tried it. But after using it, I have hope that the simple task of taking a walk will no longer be a stressful chore, full of anxiety worrying about my surroundings, but rather it will again become a nice, peaceful and relaxing joy."

Scott B.

We couldn't be more grateful for all of the conversations and feedback we received at both of the shows. It is truly invaluable for us at this stage to be able to prioritize features and make necessary changes to improve the device and experience that Glide can offer. So if you were one of the over 300 people able to join us for one of these demo sessions, we'd like to share a sincere THANK YOU for sharing your time, enthusiasm, and insights with us!

PS... Wondering how you can experience and learn more about Glide? Join us for our upcoming Virtual Demo on August 14th!

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