Glidance wins RoboBusiness Pitchfire Competition

There are approximately one million adults in the United States who have blindness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to the Perkins School for the Blind, only an estimated 2 to 8% of blind adults use a white cane to navigate the world. The rest rely on a guide dog, or, most often, a sighted guide.

For many blind individuals, this means that it’s not possible to leave the house on their own, something those of us with the ability to see take for granted every day. Glidance, the winner of this year’s Pitchfire Competition at RoboBusiness, is using robotics to give more freedom to blind people.

Glide, the company’s flagship product, is a self-driving mobility aid for people with sight loss. Glide helps a person with sight loss get around with ease and confidence by guiding them to where they want to go using advanced autonomous guiding technologies and a novel mechanical design promoting a sense of agency and independence. Glide also uses haptic and audio feedback to help provide a safe walking experience for its users.

“The Glidance solution is truly innovative and leverages robotics in a new way to improve the lives of blind individuals. Two things stood out with their business plan and solution: first with an aging population, many folks are losing their sight mid-life, which reduces their quality of life and leaves them unprepared for navigating a world without sight. This is a huge untapped market for the Glidance solution,” Mike Oitzman, a robotics editor at WTWH Media, founder of the Mobile Robot Guide, and judge in the competition, said. “Second, CEO and co-founder Amos Miller is both blind and an engineer, and he brings a unique first-person perspective to the problem and the solution. Among this cohort of pitchfire contestants, we felt that Glidance was well prepared and ready to move to the next stage of the company growth.”

Glide’s battery can last for eight hours, depending on usage, and can be charged with a standard power outlet. For most users, it takes only hours or days to get used to using Glide.

Glidance was founded earlier this year by Amos Miller and Mike Sinclair and is based in Seattle, WA. Miller lost his sight in his 20s and has struggled with using a cane. His experiences inspired him to use his technical knowledge to create a better aid for blind individuals.

Glidance competed alongside three other startups. These include:

AIVOT: AIVOT provides software for robotics to perform various open-ended tasks in unstructured environments. AIVOT learns new skills by following spoken instructions and observing human demos. The self-learning agent improves skills with feedback and experience and uses vision to perform the tasks. The end-to-end software stack can be deployed on any third-party hardware (robotic arms, AMRs, and humanoid form factors).
Staxel: Staxel automates micro-fulfillment using robots and artificial intelligence, optimizing inventory management and fleet operations. Staxel uses a unique autonomous mobile robot design that can move along floors, vertically, and between shelves. Staxel said it will soon launch a fully automated darkstore with a 10x boost in operational efficiency.
TRIC Robotics: TRIC Robotics is helping farmers control pests and diseases using ultraviolet light as an alternative to chemical pesticides. Ultraviolet light is a resistance and chemical-free solution that is more sustainable and effective than chemicals. The company’s solution is a tractor-scale robot that carries UV lights up and down the rows as a pest control service that replaces their existing pest control costs.

As part of their package of prizes and money for winning the competition, Miller will appear as a guest on an upcoming episode of The Robot Report Podcast. Stay tuned for that in-depth interview.