Digital Information Strategy Office and Lighthouse Launch "Navi-Dog" Conversational Robot Guide Dog Development Project to Address Social Issue of Guide Dog Shortage
Digital Information Strategy Office Inc. (D.I.S.R) and Lighthouse Inc. have announced the joint development of "Navi-Dog," a conversational robot guide dog utilizing quadruped robots and large language models (LLMs). This initiative aims to provide a new mobility assistance option through physical AI to address the severe social issue of guide dog shortages. The project targets a service release around 2027 and aims to cover approximately 10% of the domestic guide dog supply-demand gap by 2030.
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- 📰 Published: May 11, 2026 at 19:30
- 🔍 Collected: May 11, 2026 at 10:31
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: May 12, 2026 at 08:23 (21h 51m after Collected)
Digital Information Strategy Office Inc. (Headquarters: Tokyo, hereinafter D.I.S.R) and Lighthouse Inc. (Headquarters: Tokyo, hereinafter Lighthouse) are pleased to announce the commencement of joint development of "Navi-Dog," a conversational robot guide dog utilizing quadruped robots and large language models (LLMs).
This initiative aims to provide a new mobility assistance option through physical AI to address the severe social issue of guide dog shortages.
**Development Background**
Currently, approximately 3,000 visually impaired individuals in Japan desire a guide dog (Source: Japan Guide Dog Association), while the number of active guide dogs remains at around 800 (Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, as of March 2024). This creates a gap where only one guide dog is available for every four applicants.
Training a guide dog requires over two years and costs approximately 5 million yen. Structural supply limitations exist due to a shortage of trainers and restrictions on breeding and training. Against this backdrop, there is a demand for establishing new mobility assistance methods to complement guide dogs.
**Initiative Details**
D.I.S.R and Lighthouse have embarked on the joint development of "Navi-Dog," integrating robotics and AI. This initiative is in its early development stage, and we will proceed with open development, envisioning collaboration with companies, local governments, and related organizations for the product's societal implementation.
**Product Overview**
"Navi-Dog" is a conversational mobility assistance robot combining a quadruped robot and an LLM.
It primarily supports users' mobility with the following functions:
* Route guidance to destinations
* Obstacle detection and avoidance
* Destination setting via voice interaction
* Recognition of signals and signs
* Detection of pedestrians and vehicles
The target users include not only visually impaired individuals but also those with low vision and elderly people experiencing vision loss.
**Technical Features**
The core of this product lies in the following two key technologies:
* **Co-Ego Navigation | Obstacle Detection**
Integrates two perspectives—user's viewpoint and robot's viewpoint—to instantly grasp dangers at a full-body level, from overhead signs to steps on the ground.
* **Conversational LLM | Voice Interaction**
Enables bidirectional situation explanation and action proposals through natural conversations such as "Turn at the next corner" or "Is it crowded?"
**Future Developments**
Currently, core functions such as obstacle avoidance and route guidance have completed operational verification, and the project is scheduled to transition to the demonstration experiment phase.
With a service release target around 2027, we will proceed with pilot operations in collaboration with organizations for the visually impaired and local governments. By 2030, we aim to cover approximately 10% of the domestic guide dog supply-demand gap as a medium-to-long-term goal, planning service expansion.
**Demo Video**
For smartphones, click here:
https://youtube.com/shorts/JjaFXHXHufs
**Contact Information**
E-mail: navi-dog-info@lt-house.com
**Company Overview**
Company Name: Digital Information Strategy Office Inc.
Representative Director: Masayuki Murakami
Establishment Date: April 22, 2024
Location: 1-34-19 Kitamachi, Nerima-ku, Tokyo
Website: https://disr-inc.com/
Company Name: Lighthouse Inc.
Representative Director: Ryota Hariu
Establishment: November 1, 2022
Location: 10F Tokyo Portcity Takeshiba, 1-7-1 Kaigan, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Website: https://lt-house.com/
This initiative aims to provide a new mobility assistance option through physical AI to address the severe social issue of guide dog shortages.
**Development Background**
Currently, approximately 3,000 visually impaired individuals in Japan desire a guide dog (Source: Japan Guide Dog Association), while the number of active guide dogs remains at around 800 (Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, as of March 2024). This creates a gap where only one guide dog is available for every four applicants.
Training a guide dog requires over two years and costs approximately 5 million yen. Structural supply limitations exist due to a shortage of trainers and restrictions on breeding and training. Against this backdrop, there is a demand for establishing new mobility assistance methods to complement guide dogs.
**Initiative Details**
D.I.S.R and Lighthouse have embarked on the joint development of "Navi-Dog," integrating robotics and AI. This initiative is in its early development stage, and we will proceed with open development, envisioning collaboration with companies, local governments, and related organizations for the product's societal implementation.
**Product Overview**
"Navi-Dog" is a conversational mobility assistance robot combining a quadruped robot and an LLM.
It primarily supports users' mobility with the following functions:
* Route guidance to destinations
* Obstacle detection and avoidance
* Destination setting via voice interaction
* Recognition of signals and signs
* Detection of pedestrians and vehicles
The target users include not only visually impaired individuals but also those with low vision and elderly people experiencing vision loss.
**Technical Features**
The core of this product lies in the following two key technologies:
* **Co-Ego Navigation | Obstacle Detection**
Integrates two perspectives—user's viewpoint and robot's viewpoint—to instantly grasp dangers at a full-body level, from overhead signs to steps on the ground.
* **Conversational LLM | Voice Interaction**
Enables bidirectional situation explanation and action proposals through natural conversations such as "Turn at the next corner" or "Is it crowded?"
**Future Developments**
Currently, core functions such as obstacle avoidance and route guidance have completed operational verification, and the project is scheduled to transition to the demonstration experiment phase.
With a service release target around 2027, we will proceed with pilot operations in collaboration with organizations for the visually impaired and local governments. By 2030, we aim to cover approximately 10% of the domestic guide dog supply-demand gap as a medium-to-long-term goal, planning service expansion.
**Demo Video**
For smartphones, click here:
https://youtube.com/shorts/JjaFXHXHufs
**Contact Information**
E-mail: navi-dog-info@lt-house.com
**Company Overview**
Company Name: Digital Information Strategy Office Inc.
Representative Director: Masayuki Murakami
Establishment Date: April 22, 2024
Location: 1-34-19 Kitamachi, Nerima-ku, Tokyo
Website: https://disr-inc.com/
Company Name: Lighthouse Inc.
Representative Director: Ryota Hariu
Establishment: November 1, 2022
Location: 10F Tokyo Portcity Takeshiba, 1-7-1 Kaigan, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Website: https://lt-house.com/