2 Current Situation of Museum Robotics in Europe

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PUBLIC PROJECT DELIVERABLE
PROSPECTS OF MUSEUM
ROBOTICS IN EUROPE
Shared-cost RTD
Project acronym: TOURBOT
Project full title: Interactive Museum Tele-presence through Robotic Avatars
Contract Number: IST-1999-12643
Key Action:
3
Action Line:
3-2-3
Prospects of Museum
Robotics in Europe
Public Project
Deliverable
TOURBOT: Interactive Museum Tele-presence Through Robotic Avatars
Public Project Deliverable:
Prospects of Museum Robotics in Europe
Date Produced:
December 28, 2000
Authors:
Alexandra Reitelman and Panos Trahanias
Contents
1
2
Introduction .................................................................................................................. 3
Current Situation of Museum Robotics in Europe ....................................................... 3
2.1 Web-cams in Museums ......................................................................................... 5
2.2 Robots in Museums ............................................................................................... 6
2.3 Remarks ............................................................................................................... 12
2.4 Conclusions from the Current State..................................................................... 13
3 Museum Robots in Daily Practice .............................................................................. 14
3.1 Acceptance by the Visitors of the Museum ......................................................... 14
3.2 Acceptance by the Museum Staff ........................................................................ 16
3.3 Acceptance by the Market ................................................................................... 16
4 Conclusions and Prospects ......................................................................................... 18
Annex I - List of Museums Using Web-cams or Robots ........................................... 21
Annex II - List of Manufacturers ............................................................................... 23
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Introduction
The use of mobile robots is currently an area of high interest since research in this field
promises access to interesting technologies. The mission of a mobile robot on Mars, for
instance, is an interesting and spectacular example of mobile robot-application. But there
are also more earthly examples of mobile robot use. One of these earthly applications is
to be found in the field of museum robotics. Some museums in Europe are already
involved in projects with museum robots, as for example, the Museum für
Kommunikation in Berlin (Germany), the Technorama in Winterthur (Switzerland) and
the City of Kids in Genoa (Italy). This indicates that there is both a need and an interest
in obtaining and using museum robots. The present situation in European museums is
characterized by attempts to assess and evaluate the use of museum robots, which will
clearly affect the future employment of robots in museum environments.
The current report constitutes a public deliverable of the EU-IST funded TOURBOT
project and describes the present situation of use of museum robots in Europe. It further
outlines the factors that will mostly influence the acceptance or rejection of mobile
museum robots. Evidently, this influences and has a direct impact on the future of
museum robotics.
2
Current Situation of Museum Robotics in Europe
The best way to introduce the prospects of museum robotics is by describing and
analysing the current situation in the sector. Museum robotics is a very recent discipline
and only few museums in Europe (and worldwide) are actually using robots that were
developed and constructed in the framework of this new scientific discipline.
Nevertheless, one aspect is obvious: the desire and/or the necessity of the museums to
communicate their activities to the paying public is more and more evident. New
technologies, like the Internet and the World Wide Web, with the possibility to post a
web-site in this growing market, clearly offer the means to convey information to
interested users. Nowadays, even small museums aim at obtaining their own webpresence and own domain names in order to be easily accessed via the web.
The establishment of web-presence is usually the first step in museums for broad
provision of information. Currently, there is a trend in a follow-up activity, namely the
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introduction of web-cams in the museum context. Web-cams are cameras taking photos
mostly from the inside of the museum and display them on a particular page of the
museum’s web-site.
Prior to the employment of web-cams in a museum context, they have often been used in
the tourism sector. Cities often have mounted web-cams taking pictures of prominent
places, like the web-cam mounted on the city hall in Bonn showing the market place of
Bonn (http://www.general-anzeiger-bonn.de/neteye/markt_gross.html). The image is
actualised several times a day. No particular frequency of refreshing the image is given in
this example. As a rule of thumb, the actualisation frequency of web-cams may vary from
four times per minute to four times per day (or even less).
After the introduction of web-cams in a museum context, the next step is the introduction
of mobile museum robots. Mobile robots are not static as the web-cams that are mounted
at one place, but can rove around the museum. Given that such robots are equipped with a
camera, they can take pictures from different parts and the exhibits of the museum. Given
also a connection to the World Wide Web, the imaged scene can also be displayed on a
web page. This implies a substantial qualitative increase of information since the robot
comprises a mobile platform. If, moreover, the web user can control it, it may provide
selected information, the user and potential visitor of the museum is really interested in.
Besides that, the robot can serve as a supplement to the existing museum services by, for
instance, welcoming the visitors, leading them to selected exhibits and giving first
explanations to them if requested. Therefore, the introduction of robots with the above (or
a subset of) capabilities implies a significant improvement of the services of museums.
This is certainly even more important in a time of limited financial resources. Public
institutions and private ones as well, scrutinise their expenses for museums. The
qualitative and quantitative expansion of museum-services, be it within the museums (onsite) or in the World Wide Web, is a very good argument for museums to claim further
financial resources. The qualitative and quantitative improvement of museum-services is
also a justification for the deciders in the above mentioned institutions to approve
financial support in this sector.
The next two sections describe a number of selected and meaningful examples of
museums in Europe that use web-cams (2.1) or museum robots (2.2) and explain how
they are applied in the museum-context. The complete postal addresses of these museums
and the URLs (web-addresses) of their web-sites can be found in Annex A. The addresses
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of the robot manufacturers are listed in Annex B. Web-cams are nowadays available in
common electronic stores; therefore, no particular listing of web-cam manufacturers is
provided.
2.1 Web-cams in Museums
 Deutsches Museum (German Museum), Munich, Germany
The Deutsches Museum in Munich is a technical museum. It informs the public about the
historical development of natural sciences and technology up to the present time. The
natural sciences are presented in their political, cultural and social context. The aim of the
museum is to promote a better understanding of natural sciences and engineering. The
museum has installed a web-cam in its library building viewing the courtyard. The visitor
can not control the web-cam. Still, the web-user can choose between two frequencies of
image display: a new picture every 15 or every 30 seconds. The web-cam’s site is:
http://www.deutsches-museum.de/mum/live/kamera.htm
 Dordrechts Museum, Dordrecht, the Netherlands
This is an art museum with a focus on Dutch art. The Dordrechts Museum has a web-cam
(presently out of work for a project). The URL to see the imaged scene of the web-cam
can be reached at: http://www.museum.dordt.nl/webcam/home.htm. As the web-cam is
presently out of work, it can not be determined what kind of motive it displays and in
which frequency the pictures are taken. It can be judged from the above-mentioned site
that the web-user has no possibility to control the web-cam. The web-visitor can just
watch the displayed image.
 Haus der Geschichte (House of History of the Federal Republic of Germany), Bonn,
Germany
The Haus der Geschichte in Bonn is a museum for contemporary history. It reflects the
German history after 1945 and tries to give a comprehensive insight into this field
including the German exterior relations and cultural, social and economic exchange with
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its neighbours. The Haus der Geschichte has two web-cams. One takes pictures from the
entrance hall and the other from the hall of the temporary exhibitions. The URL where
both web-cams display their pictures is http://www.hdg.de/WebCam/. The frequency of
photo actualisation is one photo per minute. The web-user has no possibility to control
the camera.
 Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Hall of Art and
Exhibitions of the Federal Republic of Germany), Bonn, Germany
The Kunst-und Ausstellungshalle does not have an own collection as the above
mentioned museums but exhibits items of art (paintings, sculptures, design) in changing
exhibitions. It has a web-cam in the entrance hall taking pictures every minute and
presenting them on the web. The pictures can be viewed at the URL: http://www.kahbonn.de/ei/ei.htm . The web-user cannot control the camera but the system can change
the viewing position of the camera. A new image is displayed every minute. The Kunstund Ausstellungshalle furthermore provides webcasting of pre-produced movies of
events like concerts, discussions (in the RealVideo G2 format) that are presented on the
web. The web-user can furthermore have a short tour (1 minute) through any present or
past exhibition watching a movie in the RealVideo G2 format.
2.2 Robots in Museums
 La Città dei Bambini, Genoa, Italy
La Città dei Bambini is a science centre for children aged from 3-14 years. It has been
developed taking the Cité des enfants in Paris as an example. The aim of the Città dei
Bambini in Genoa is to bring children into an early contact with the natural sciences,
particularly with physics and its applications. The pedagogical concept to achieve this
goal includes games featuring physical phenomena. The positive emotional context
(games, playing) should facilitate the children’s approach to the natural sciences. In this
context, the Città dei Bambini employs a robot. Its function is to accompany and guide
the children from game to game. The robot is furthermore able to generally inform the
children about the existing games and explains how to play them. The robot has no own
web-site. The web-user cannot interact with the robot that is exclusively designed for the
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young visitors in the science centre (on-site visitors). The web-site of the Città dei
Bambini is: http://www.cittadeibambini.net.
The robot (see Fig. 1) is acting in a musical setting in the „Labirinto musicale” of the
Città dei Bambini. The didactic idea behind that is to get children acquainted to robots in
the field of music, a very positive context to take away fear of robots. The children
furthermore experience the robot as a playing companion in a normal playing situation.
Therefore, chances are that they will not develop an aversion against robots or other
technical developments as they have already met them as children in a positive situation.
The manufacturer of the robot is the „Laboratorio di Informatica musicale („Laboratory
of Musical Informatics”), an institute of the University of Genoa. The developers
modified a pioneer 2 robotic-platform for the use within the Città dei Bambini. The robot
is equipped with a video camera, a video projector and a microphone to interact with the
young visitors.
Figure 1a: The robottino platform in the
Città dei Bambini.
Figure 1b: The operating robottino.
 Museum für Kommunikation, Berlin, Germany
This is a museum of communication technologies and postal transport. It deals with the
history of communication technologies including the postal transport and the
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development of these technologies until the present day. In the communication context,
the museum introduced three robots to its services. The three robots represent the three
parts of the museum. The animate part is represented by the upper two galleries focussing
on the history of postal transport and telecommunication. Six animate questions lead the
visitor through this part of the museum. The animate part is reflected in the robot „Komm
Rein” („Come-in”). „Komm-Rein” welcomes the visitor and gives introductory
information about the museum, even in foreign languages.
In the concept of the museum, the „Kommunikationsgallerie” („gallery of
communication”) is considered to be the playful part. This part is represented by the
robot „Mach-Mit” („Join-In”) inviting the visitor to play with it and its soft ball.
The informative part in the museum is found in the exhibition halls where items are
presented in the traditional way. The robot that is attributed to this part of the museum is
„Also Gut” („Well”). It informs the visitor about the museum and its history. All three
robots are located in the „Lichthof”, an area belonging to the entrance of the museum.
They can interact with the visitors and among each other.
The design of the three robots was awarded a design price at October 12, 2000. It is the
„Internationaler Designpreis Baden - Württemberg” („International Design Price Baden Württemberg”). It is a price that is awarded once a year for forward-looking and excellent
design from the government of the Land Baden-Württemberg. The price motto for 2000
was „Focus Arbeitswelt” („Focus on the world of work”). The designer of the three
above mentioned robots, Ralph Künzler, was awarded a special price in the category
„Medien und elektronische Produkte” („Media and electronic products”). Their outer
appearance is orientated at the design of the sixties, a period characterised by a very
positive attitude towards technology. The robots consist of old disused devices, like for
instance, an old vacuum-cleaner that is the head of the robot „Mach-Mit” („Join-In”). The
person responsible for the „character” of the robots is Gisela Zimmermann. The
„Fraunhofer Institut für Productionstechnik und Automatisierung” („Fraunhofer Institute
of Production Technique and Automation”) in Stuttgart provided the platform and the
navigation software of the three museum robots. They are based on the „Care-O-bot TM”,
a mobile assistance system for the household, developed at this institute. All three robots
are illustrated in Figs. 2a-c, photographed by Frank Kleinbach,© Museumsstiftung Post
und Telekommunikation.
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Figure 2a: The robot
„Mach-mit” („Join-in”).
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Figure 2b: The robot
„Komm-rein” („Come-in”).
Figure 2c: The robot „Alsogut” („Well”).
 Technorama, Winterthur, Switzerland
The Technorama in Winterthur is a science centre. The idea of science centres is to bring
people to the natural science through interactive and sometimes even spectacular
experiments explaining the phenomena behind them. The idea of approaching the natural
sciences in a context of enjoyment and fun, functions appropriately in order to take away
the prejudice that natural sciences are difficult to understand, dry and therefore boring.
The positive emotional context, in which the involvement with the natural sciences takes
place, should contribute to a better understanding and a positive attitude towards natural
sciences.
The Technorama in Winterthur employs a robot in the permanent exhibition playing nine
men’s morris with the visitors. The robot consists of an arm with the joints and a
prehensile organ to move the pieces. The robot has the ability to interact with the visitors
and is equipped with a loudspeaker. The movements of the prehensile organ are predetermined. Inductive sensors detect the positions of the pieces in the supply of pieces
and on the playing field. A fixed coordinate system allows the robot to identify and locate
the pieces on the playing field. A light barrier mounted at the supply of pieces prevents
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collisions between the robot and the visitors’ hands. The loudspeaker serves to maintain
the communication with the visitor and co-player. This robot has been installed in 1986
The manufacturer is the „Econotec AG” in Nürensdorf, near Winterthur in Switzerland.
Figure 3: The robot of the Technorama, playing nine men’s morris.
 Teknikens Hus, Lulea, Sweden
The Teknikens Hus is a science centre in the northern part of Sweden focusing on
mining, steel, and the use of steel. Mining and steel-industry are the local industries
presented to this science centre. There is an ABB-robot, type IRB 2000 with the S3
control system among its exhibits. The visitors can control the robot that is also employed
in the car assembly of Volvo. This interactive robot-exhibit is aimed at showing the use
of robots in the industry (here the car industry) where they perform tasks which are
monotonous, very heavy or unsuitable or harmful to human beings. Controlling and
operating the robot allows a direct and sensory contact to robots and their use. This
corresponds to the general idea of science centres and their approach of interesting the
visitors for science and technology and conveying a direct contact to technology, as is
robotics technology in this particular case.
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Figure 4: The robot of the Teknikens Hus in Sweden.
 State Darwin Museum, Moscow, Russian Federation
The State Darwin Museum is a museum of natural history in Moscow. Currently it has no
web-cam and employs no museum robot. The reason for its inclusion in this report is that
it has developed a new „forward looking” concept of presentation in the web (see the
URL’s in the English version of the museum’s web-site:
http://www.darwin.museum.ru/site/_bac/surr_31.htm
http://www.darwin.museum.ru/site/_bac/surround.htm)
The Darwin Museum offers the web-user, particularly in the second mentioned page, a
pre-produced video showing the panorama of the gallery („Getting to Know The Living
Nature”) with the possibility to zoom into and watch exhibits of personal interest from a
given list. This means that the web-visitor is not left alone with a general panorama view
that just gives a general (not specific) impression of the exhibition hall. The visitor is
given selected structured information. Giving more specific and structured information is
very important in a time where information is accessible in abundance.
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The web site of this museum was under reconstruction at the time of the visit. All
information provided is described at the web site. The information given in the English
version of the web site was compared to and complemented with the information
provided in the Russian version of the web site.
2.3 Remarks
The Internet is an excellent example that fits in the above context. The recent boom of
search engines, portals (e.g. www.meome.de) and web-catalogues (e.g. www.dino.de,
www.web.de, www.yahoo.com) is due to an unstructured abundance of information that
is in its last consequence useless to the web-user who is searching for some particular
piece of information. Let us illustrate this via a specific example. Let a person that plans
to visit a city and wants to get informed about the existing museums in this city. He might
consult web-sites that provide this information in a structured way, which facilitates
finding of the information sought (in this case, list of museums in the city). A usual way
to proceed is to contact a search-engine (e.g. www.google.com) to find an appropriate
web-site. The search-engine returns with a number of web-sites, among them the site
www.icom.org. There, one can find structured information about museums in any
country and city of the world.
If we transfer this example to information presentation in the museum context, the
following inference might arise: providing non-specific visual information, as it is done
by current web-cams, may be spectacular at the first encounter but without any particular
meaning. It merely evokes the user with the impression to be close to the site (the
museum). The presented information is new and refreshed to the current state as the webcam takes pictures at a given frequency. But if one inquires deeper into the issue, the
question arises: which substantial information is given, when the web-cam displays a
photo of the entrance hall? Evidently none, except that probably the general curiosity of
the web-visitor is contented to see what is just happening at another place, that
incidentally happens to be the entrance hall of a museum.
The web-concept of the Darwin Museum seems therefore to be forward-looking. The
different galleries are presented in parts, offering the visitor a list of selected meaningful
exhibits. The web-user easily obtains structured information about the museum, its
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exhibitions and items and moreover can plan a possible future visit in the museum. This
will evidently content the visitor more than a spectacular photo from the entrance hall.
2.4 Conclusions from the Current State
Considering the current state of museum robotics and technologies for information
presentation in museums the following assertion can be drawn: future developments
should be directed towards means to provide meaningful, structured, on-line (via the
World Wide Web) and on-site (in the museum) information. The on-line information
transmitted through a camera has the advantage of being kept refreshed to the current
state. This is always more interesting and contenting to the web-visitor than a web-site
presenting obsolete information. To meet the “context” requirements in a museum, such
on-line information through a camera should furthermore be meaningful, presenting
structured information to the web-visitor.
A web-camera should therefore not be static but rather move within the museum showing
exhibits and not just the entrance hall. The mobility of the camera suggests that it would
be useful to mount it on a moving platform like that of a robot. Such a mobile robot
should not just serve the web-users but additionally should also act within the museum
like welcoming the visitors, guiding them to exhibits and giving first short explanations
to them. This allows integrating the robot into an entire system of presentation in the
museum: the on-site presentation in the museum and the remote presentation in the
World Wide Web.
The visitor without any contact to robots can furthermore experience the robot in a
didactic way: at first he/she would meet the robot at the web-site where the robot might
present a short guided tour of meaningful exhibits, allowing the web-user to plan his/her
visit in the museum. In the museum, there is the personal encounter with the guide from
the web. This may help people to get acquainted to the presence of the robot in the
museum and to learn to worship its services. Such a solution may be useful since it
provides an up-to-date information presentation system in museums, combined with a
didactic and careful introduction of the robot to the public.
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Museum Robots in Daily Practice
The previous part dealt with the current state of information presentation in museums that
is closely linked to museum robotics in Europe. It ended with the description of forwardlooking developments in this field. However, museum robotics cannot only be considered
in the above-mentioned, rather limited point of view. Museum robotics can also be
characterised by technical, social and economic implications, which are considered in this
section. The future of museum robotics in the EU (and elsewhere) is closely linked to the
acceptance of mobile robots. An attempt to specify acceptance factors of museum robots
is also presented in the sequel.
3.1 Acceptance by the Visitors of the Museum
The use or rejection of museum mobile robots and the involved technology thereof, such
as TOURBOT (http://www.ics.forth.gr/tourbot), decisively depends on the acceptance
from the museum-visitors. Robots are for the most part new to visitors. Human beings
tend to react in two different ways when confronted with an unknown „thing”, a robot:
 they become curious and want to explore the new „thing” in a playful way, or
 they get scared and consequently they reject it.
Further developments of museum robots should therefore keep the above-mentioned
playful aspect in mind. Catching the visitor’s curiosity and not evoking fear has to be
carefully observed:
 by paying attention to the outer appearance of the robot (outer design of the robot),
 by paying attention to the robot’s way of addressing visitors (inclusion of emotional
factors, such as the sound of the robot’s voice, way of addressing, i.e.
formal/informal).
Moreover, the tasks performed by the robot should be clearly defined:
 When does the robot address the visitor?
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 What should the robot explain to the visitor? Should it provide the visitor with a first
general introduction to the museum?
 Should it further give a first introduction to particular exhibits?
 Should the robot just guide the visitor to an exhibit or should it also provide the
visitor (web-visitors and/or on-site visitors) with detailed information regarding the
exhibit?
 How should the visitor in the museum be addressed? Should there be a welcome
through the robot and further information be given by the robot only on the visitor’s
explicit request?
Moreover, the type of a museum has to be taken into account where the robot should
operate. The visitors of a technical museum won’t be astonished to encounter a mobile
robot in a museum. On the other hand, the (on-site) visitors of an art museum may easily
feel disturbed by the appearance of a robot in the museum. Therefore in the latter case the
definition of the robot’s tasks, its design and its way of addressing the visitors might be
very important for its acceptance. The ability of the robot-manufacturer to easily adapt
the robot to the different needs and expectations of museums and museum-visitors
(visitors of technical museums, art museums and other types of museums) is certainly a
factor with a high impact on the acceptance of the robots and therefore on the further
development of museum robotics in Europe.
A last, but not unimportant, aspect that has to be considered regards the museum visitors:
 On-site visitors:

Older visitors, who are not used to encounter „technical” tools (e.g. robots) in a
museum context. They might feel uncomfortable at the appearance of a robot.

Younger visitors who are used to apply technical tools in a museum context (e.g.
referring to a museum robot for further information) will experience the
appearance of a museum robot as something normal.
 Web-visitors:

Younger visitors who should be addressed in a web-conform way (youthlanguage, informal).
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
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Older visitors who should be addressed appropriately (language, less informal
language).
3.2 Acceptance by the Museum Staff
The museum staff is a further important factor in the context of acceptance of museum
robots. The museum staff has to apply the robot in the every-day practice. Evidently, a
museum robot
 that is difficult to handle with no user-friendly interface,
 that needs difficult and complex maintenance,
 and that is often out of work, because it is not safe to operate,
will most probably earn rejection from the museum staff.
Furthermore, one very important aspect with respect to the museum staff has to be
considered: The robot should always be planned and constructed as a supplement and
assistance to the museum staff/guards with respect to guided tours and answering of
questions within the museum. If not, the robot could be considered as a potential threat.
In such a case, the robot has little chances to be accepted by the staff. The museum
management may have great difficulties to consent to buy a robot under these
circumstances.
3.3 Acceptance by the Market
A museum robot has the potential to be accepted by the market, if
 the aspects mentioned in 3.1 and 3.2 are considered,
 the robot is not too expensive and therefore fits into a museum budget,
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 the robot is safe to operate, easy to maintain, and is little prone to repairs under the
circumstances of the daily practice (daily application/use in the museum),
 the robot has a user-friendly interface.
If these requirements are met, a good marketing and distribution of the robot is necessary
in order to introduce it in the market. Certainly, the above are very general remarks about
the acceptance of museum robots, which is due to the fact that the development of
museum robots is still in its infancy.
It seems however possible to gain better insight in the subject by contrasting it to
developments of related technological niche markets. The reliability of the prognosis on
this issue can be enhanced with the help of diffusion theories that have been developed in
the economic science. Such theories describe the expansion of innovations in a society of
individuals. The diffusion theory applied to the expansion of innovations, centers around
its acceptance, its „adoption by the individual”. An analysis for example of the boom of
mobile phones has typical periods of diffusion: in the beginning, a little number of
persons, the „innovators”, were enthusiastic about the mobile phones. They were less
interested in a benefit or even profit of this technology. The innovation itself constitutes
their attraction. These persons are not important for the further diffusion of the
technology because this group is too small and turns enthusiastically to the next
innovation.
In the diffusion-context, the following group is far more important: the „early adopters”.
These are people interested in technology. They are significantly enthusiastic about the
new technological developments and are able to afford them. They create a positive
opinion about the new technology because of their high social status. Their social
leadership contributes in gaining new buyers, the „early majority”, for the new product.
Further diffusion process has to be complemented by a permanent improvement of the
product’s performance, decreasing manufacturing costs and certainly good marketing.
The fast building-up of the D2-Net (D2-Netz, a mobile phone net in Germany) introduced
in 1992 followed the above described example. The founding of mobile telephoning in
Germany goes back to 1958. At that time the devices were mounted in cars and weighted
16 kilogram. The price was considerable (15000 DM), particularly when considering the
standards of that time. Later on, the first portable mobiles were introduced, with a typical
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representative the device „Pocky”, introduced in 1989; it weighted about 500 gram with a
price above 8500 DM.
If this example is transferred to the museum robotics sector, the following scenario may
be considered. Museum-robots represent the beginning of a new development within
museum technology. According to the example described above, it seems reasonable to
introduce the museum robots to the “early adopters”, the large and pioneering museums
in our case. Due to the fact that museum robots are at an early developmental stage, the
manufacturing costs are still considerable. Large museums have the necessary budgets for
new acquisitions allowing them to purchase the robots. Moreover, large museums are
able to present the robots in important exhibitions with a considerable public effect.
This pioneering activity is expected to contribute to a first diffusion of the museumrobots, by creating a demand from other large museums or even from middle sized
museums with financially strong sponsors. The new demand will lead to an increased
production of museum-robots. This will contribute to a decrease of their production costs
making them now attractive for other middle sized museums and even smaller museums.
Now, a new market is created.
The successful introduction of museum robots in the new market has to be complemented
by a permanent improvement of their performance. In particular improvements relating to
a considerable extension of their operating time, their safety to operate, their easy
maintenance and enhanced capabilities to interact with the visitors in a human - like way
will play an important role in the establishment of this new market.
4
Conclusions and Prospects
Given the data and analysis presented above, positive conclusions may be drawn
regarding the future of museum robotics in Europe. Though a new discipline, the initial
conditions are presently favorable to a fast further development. This view is founded
considering the present developments in the field of robotics.
The hardware-prices, also those of robots, are continuously decreasing. The performance,
particularly the performance of computers, has significantly increased, a trend that is
expected to continue. According to Moore’s law, the computation speed of processors
doubles every 18 months, a prediction that has proved to be correct up to the present.
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Following this, one can predict the release of a computer with a comparable processing
speed as the human brain at about 2050. The processing speed of the human brain is
assessed from the estimated number of neurons it consists of. Nothing can be predicted
regarding the „intelligence” of such computers and subsequently of the robots that
employ these processors. Still, what may be expected is that they could, better than ever,
perform their tasks within a museum, such as welcoming people, giving guided-tours,
providing visitors with information about the museum and the exhibits, and generally
interacting „naturally” with visitors.
Particularly the last mentioned aspect, interacting with visitors, seems worth some further
consideration. It is remarkable that Sony’s CyberDog, a mobile dog-like robot,
encounters a great popularity and therefore has a great demand. Why do people like this
robot (and buy it) when other robots do not encounter such a „warm welcome”? One
important reason for this may probably be its design. It seems, however, that in this case
the circumstances of this encounter are far more important than the design. The human
being and the robot meet in a situation that is one of the most pleasing and relaxing
situations for the human being. They meet during playing. Playing presents one important
biological function in humans (and other mammals): to learn or to get acquainted to new
situations. Human beings can explore the new, in this case the robot, in a relaxing
atmosphere leading to a relaxed –and hence positive- attitude towards it.
The social context and the improvement of the robot’s abilities in this sector will
therefore considerably support the introduction of museum-robots in the market. This
pursuit will only be successful if it is complemented by a permanent technical
improvement, particularly relating to a user-friendly communication with the robot. One
could imagine very well that the future robots could be addressed by speaking to them
like to a human being. The robot could reply and then even „emotionally color” its
answer. This would improve the communication between the robot and the visitors.
Communication by language would also be helpful in the maintenance of the robot, if the
latter could verbally inform the staff about its „problems” in a human-like way. This
would greatly enhance its acceptance by the staff. Generally speaking, the enhancement
of these capacities would certainly lead to a good acceptance of the robot.
This consideration shows that a co-development has to take place: improving the robot’s
„social” abilities is closely linked to new technological developments. The „social
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development” of robots is, therefore, far more than a „gimmick”. It may have a decisive
impact on its introduction on the market.
In conclusion, it may be argued that the first, pioneering attempts in the design and
construction of robots that operate in museum environments did not only give birth to a
new technological branch, museum-robotics. The outcome of such attempts may also
influence the general conceptions of museums that participate in the development of new
technologies. These institutions will certainly be an important factor in education, by
conserving and presenting the past to the general public. This educational aspect will
remain but the direction, the role of the museums may shift in the future. Following the
above-described developments, they will not only explain the past to the visitors, but they
will show and try to explain the present giving an outlook into the future. Apparently,
they will have to look into creative means to link the past to the future, an interesting
challenge for museums.
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Annex I - List of Museums Using Web-cams or Robots
1. Deutsches Museum
Museumsinsel 1
D-80538 Mÿnchen, Germany
tel: +49 - 89 - 2179-1
fax: +49 - 2179-324
email: Deutsches.Museum@extern.lrz-muenchen.de
www: http://www.deutsches-museum.de
2. Dordrechts Museum
Postbus 1170
3300 BD Dordrecht
Museumstraat 40
NL-3322 XP Dordecht, The Netherlands
tel: +31 - 78 - 64 82 148
fax: +31 - 78 - 61 41 766
email: museum@dordt.nl
www: http://www.museum.dordt.nl
3. Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
Museumsmeile Bonn
Willy-Brand-Allee 14
D-53113 Bonn, Germany
tel: +49 - 228 - 91 65 0
fax: +49 - 228 - 9165 302
email: webmaster@hdg.de
www: http://www.hdg.de
4. Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
Museumsmeile Bonn
Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 4
D-53113 Bonn, Germany
tel: +49 - 228 - 91 71 200
fax: +49 - 228 - 91 71 209
email: seifert@kah-bonn.de
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www: http://www.bundeskunsthalle.de or
www: Http://www.kah-bonn.de
5. La città dei Bambini
Porto Antico di Genova
Magazzini del cotone
Primo piano - Modulo 1
I – Genova, Italy
tel: +39 - 10 - 24 75 702
fax: +39 -10 - 24 75 712
e-mail: cdibimbi@split.it
www: www.http://www.cittadeibambini.net
6. Museum für Kommunikation Berlin
Leipziger Straße 16
D-10117 Berlin, Germany
tel: +49 - 10 - 202 94 0
fax: +49 - 10 - 202 94 111
email: mkb@t-online.de
www: http://www.museumsstiftung.de/berlin.html
7. State Darwin Museum
57/1 Vavilova Street
RU-117292, Moscow
Russian Federation
tel: +7 - 95 - 135 33 82, 135 26 76
fax: +7 - 95 - 135 33 84, 135 33 86
www: http://www.darwin.museum.ru
8. Technorama
Technoramastraße 1
CH-8404 Winterthur, Switzerland
tel: +41 - 52 - 243 05 05
fax: +41 - 52- 242 29 67
email: technorama@technorama.ch
www: http://www.technorama.ch
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Annex II - List of Manufacturers
1.
Asea Brown Boveri AB
Koppardbergswegen 2
S-721 83 Västeras, Sweden
phone: +46 - 21- 32 5000
fax: +46 - 21 - 13 41 12
email: site contains a link to an email form
www: http://www.abb.com/se
2.
Econotec AG
Hinterdorfer Strasse 12
CH-Nürensdorf, Switzerland
phone: +41 - 1 - 838 48 11
fax: +41 - 1 - 838 48 12
email: info@econotec.ch
www: http://www.econotec.ch
3.
Fraunhofer Institut fŸr Produktionstechnik und Automatisierung
Nobelstra§e 12
D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany
phone: +49 - 711 - 970 12 12
fax: +49 - 711 - 970 10 08
eMail: cds@ipa.fhg.de
www: http://www.ipa.fhg.de
Responsible for the robot: Dipl.-Ing.Chistoph Schaeffer
4.
Laboratorio di Informatica Musicale
Università di Genova
Viale Causa 13
I-16145 Genoa,Italy
phone: +39 - 010 - 353 22 01
fax: +39 - 010 - 353 29 48
eMail: staff@musart.dist.unige.it
www: http://musart.dist.unige.it
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