14 DAY TRIAL // Telepresence robots are among the most often used bots of our times, even if they don't get mentioned in news as often as others. London's Tate Britain museum has decided to use them for something unusual though.
Most everyone has been inside a museum during visiting hours, whether as part of a tour or by themselves.
There's a certain charm to skulking about at night though. Unfortunately, trespassing is frowned upon.
So London's Tate Britain museum has decided to utilize them to conduct after-hour tours, without turning on the lights.
It would probably be a creepy experience if you were actually there in the flesh. As it is, though, the shadowy atmosphere probably won't scare you all that much.
Then again, given how often some people scream during horror or dark action movies, we may be wrong about that.
Anyway, there are four robots inside the museum, each of them equipped with a spotlight that renders exhibits visible as you pass by.
Obviously, they won't replace the normal program of the museum. Instead, they are meant to show the art from a different perspective.
The group that created the project call themselves The Workers and won the IK prize recently, a competition for digitally innovative projects that enhance public enjoyment of art.
The prize money was of £60,000 / $98,000 / €72,000, give or take. It was that money that actually allowed them to turn this idea of after-hour telepresence robotic tours into reality.
Of course, it helped a lot that the management of the Tate was willing to go along with the idea. Sadly, you can't do any of it yet. Late-night tours will only start at the end of summer. But at least there's a demo video we can check out. Embedded below, it offers a sample of what Londoners and tourists can look forward to.
