Guide dog versus robot dog: assembling visually impaired people with non-human agents and achieving assisted mobility through distributed co-constructed perception

Guide dogs are sense-able agents that can assist Visually Impaired Persons (VIP) to achieve mobility. But could a guide dog be replaced by robot dog? Based on video recordings and ethnomethodological ‘conversation analysis’ of VIPs who mobile in street environment with remotely operated robodog or dog, respectively, this paper shows the multisensory semiotic capacities non-human as assistants navigational activities. It also highlights differences between their type agency sense-ability, thus different roles situations assisted mobility disability This contributes research humans non-humans showing how they work not individual agents, but ‘VIP + dog’ operator’ assemblages, demonstrating these assemblages distribute co-construct practical perception material world which is necessary for accomplishing