Robo Dog Guides the Blind [VIDEO]

If you were blind, do you think you would trust a robot to be your guide?

Japanese company NSK has developed a robot-dog designed around Microsoft's Kinect video game accessory to replace seeing eye dogs.

The amazing robot has wheels for feet and uses the Kinect to scan its surroundings and direct its user where to go. (It can even speak to its user in a female voice.) When the user puts pressure on the robot's handle it signals to it to begin leading the way. While still in the developmental stages, future versions will have voice commands and an embedded GPS system.

While extremely impressive we still wonder if a robot could ever truly replace the companionship between an owner and his or her dog.

Check out the amazing (and slightly creepy) video below.

[via PopSci]