Guide Dogs? There’s an App for That

Published May 16, 2012 by Michelle Reynolds. Last Updated October 14, 2013.

2 min read

Seeing is believing for a team of researchers from the University of Nevada–Reno who are developing an app to help blind people navigate independently. Giving the visually impaired more mobility without bringing more dogs into the world to serve as guide dogs certainly qualifies as progress in our book, so PETA has given the team a Proggy Award.

© Eduard Kyslynskyy/Shutterstock.com

The app functions much like a GPS system, gauging the user’s pace, warning of obstacles, and giving spoken directions. And unlike its canine counterpart, the app doesn’t contribute to the animal overpopulation crisis. Guide-dog breeders take homes away from dogs in animal shelters, as dogs who have become too old to work, along with those who don’t make the cut to begin with, must be put up for adoption. The app also doesn’t mind being required to work day after day or being forbidden from socializing while working.

We call that a doggone good invention.

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