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The Smithsonian's New Tour Guide Is a Robot (cnet.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the welcome-to-the-future dept.

Last week, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, revealed its new employee -- an interactive robot named Pepper. According to Softbank, the company that created the 4-foot-tall humanoid robot, Pepper will help guide museum visitors through the museum and provide insight on different exhibits. CNET reports: Pepper is programmed to answer commonly asked questions and tell stories. The robot can react and make gestures, and is equipped with an interactive touch screen. To entertain museum visitors, Pepper often dances and poses for selfies, which will undoubtably attract a crowd. In each of the different museum branches, the Pepper robots perform different docent duties. For example, at the National Museum of African Art, Pepper can translate phrases in the Kiswahili (Swahili) language. At the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Pepper robots guide visitors to the Rosa Parks VR experience. Pepper robots are also programmed to teach visiting students coding and software engineering in the Smithsonian's teen educational space ARTLAB+.

49 comments

  1. STOP RIGHT THERE! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I gotta know right now! Before we go any further, robot, do you love me?

    1. Re: STOP RIGHT THERE! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      4 feet tall? Does she have a flat head so you can rest your drink?

  2. Employee my arse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is a lathe or a drill press an employee??
    Is your fridge an employee ??
    No
    No
    No
    It's a thing.... as much as employers want to think of us a objects, we are not!!!!

    1. Re:Employee my arse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      An object can be employed to do a job but they are not an employee it's a fucking object!!!

    2. Re:Employee my arse by ls671 · · Score: 1

      You are missing the point completely. As the TV series "Covert Affairs" accidentally leaked, Smithsonian is a front for CIA and everybody knows CIA is a front for aliens.

      And I mean, look at that robot. The aliens will be real employees. This is just getting people ready to accept it. :)

      --
      Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
    3. Re: Employee my arse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's rented

    4. Re: Employee my arse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Whatâ(TM)s minimum wage for a Smithsonian tour guide? Part-time, subcontracted temp worker? Iâ(TM)d guess like $50 an hour and the worker gets like $7 an hour.
      Robli makes perfect sense.

    5. Re:Employee my arse by king+neckbeard · · Score: 1

      Strictly speaking, employees are objects. Employees are a subset of humans, and humans are a subset of objects. In fact, many of the problems with employers come from failing to understand that employees are objects. A sensible employer wouldn't drive a drill press far outside of its safe operating specifications or attempt to use a drill press to perform sales, but they will make an employee work themselves to the bone and work any position, because they fail to realize that humans, like any objects, have limitations.

      --
      This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
    6. Re: Employee my arse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      According to Glass Door, tour guides make $12 an hour.

  3. Answering commonly-asked questions by sheramil · · Score: 2

    "Robot, can you shut up for a minute?"

    ".... no. I can't. Anyway, this next display has a fascinating history..."

    1. Re:Answering commonly-asked questions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Robot, can you please just f*ck off?"

      *dances* "Would you like a selfie?"

    2. Re: Answering commonly-asked questions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We already do this.
      Alexa, tell me a joke.
      Siri, where can i get 5 star pizza?
      You guys are already sold out.

  4. mayday mayday mayday by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    i can't hold her together
    she's breaking up
    we're all gonna die up here

  5. great by Cederic · · Score: 3, Insightful

    A fucking ipad on wheels. Top roboting there Softbank.

    Translate swahili? In America? Must be fucking overwhelmed with requests.

    Direct people to Rosa Parks VR? There's a Rosa Parks VR? Surely getting people to sit on an actual fucking bus would be a better exhibit.

    As for dancing and posing for selfies, does it include a remote destruct feature? Lets get the people posing with it at the same time, boost human IQ in one easy press of a button.

    1. Re:great by gtall · · Score: 1

      In a bid to make the bot seem more human, the developers gave it a dark side. It can also ask stupid questions. And it can pee in the corner and look around guiltily claiming it was someone else. It can also dance naked. It aids security with the ability to shoot laser beams out of its eyes to deter any NRA supporters who bring their AR-15s into the museum to defend themselves. The NRA is said to be appalled by the bot and claims to be developing their own...they only have to work out a few kinks...like it going on a drunken rampage and shooting up the local pool hall.

    2. Re:great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And what has become of the presumably full-time (human) employee?

    3. Re: great by kenh · · Score: 2

      The actual bus Rosa Parks staged her protest is in the Henry Ford Museum in Grenfield, MI.

      --
      Ken
    4. Re:great by freeze128 · · Score: 1

      The Smithsonian is a huge tourist attraction, even for people who speak Swahili.

    5. Re:great by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      A fucking ipad on wheels. Top roboting there Softbank.

      I truly hope that I don't have to be entertained by a robot to go through the museums.

      I like to contemplate the exhibits, and might want to stop at one for a couple minutes, and especially without that ipad on wheels dancing around volunteering for selfies.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    6. Re:great by forkfail · · Score: 1

      One in ten are kept to shine the robots' bits.

      The rest are no longer useful or needed, and have been retired.

      --
      Check your premises.
    7. Re:great by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      There's a Rosa Parks VR? Surely getting people to sit on an actual fucking bus would be a better exhibit.

      At the Ford Museum in Detroit, I did exactly that.That place should be on everyone's bucket list.

    8. Re:great by bjamesv · · Score: 1

      A fucking ipad on wheels. Top roboting there Softbank.

      Yeah. So it looks like the Smithsonian has purchased some of the same cheap/stationary robot greeters that have stood outside every train-station restaurant in Japan for a few years now.

      (See photo: http://www.zimbio.com/pictures... )

  6. Take me to the giant skeletons! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's down where they keep all the good stuff.

  7. the national museum of the u.s.a. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    couldn't find an american company to develop and build this thing?

    1. Re: the national museum of the u.s.a. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nope. America is a colony, whose governor thinks he is a dictator.

  8. No thanks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Much rather have a human tour guide then a robot. Not in favor of replacing human jobs with robots.

  9. Lunch Menu by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Get it to serve burgers and fries and im all in.

  10. Why do we need this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Was there a shortage of long-winded volunteers?

  11. I really wanted to mod this up by Hasaf · · Score: 1

    In really wanted to mod this up, but the OP posted as AC. If you have something good to say, put your name on it. If you don't have something good to say, then don't say anything until you have something worth saying. It really is that simple.

    In this case the OP really had a good point. I regret that I was not able to apply mod points to a person rather than an AC.

    1. Re: I really wanted to mod this up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      shut up, nerd

    2. Re:I really wanted to mod this up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In really wanted to mod this up, but the OP posted as AC. If you have something good to say, put your name on it. If you don't have something good to say, then don't say anything until you have something worth saying. It really is that simple.

      In this case the OP really had a good point. I regret that I was not able to apply mod points to a person rather than an AC.

      Really wanted to mod this down. Useless comment, not on topic, waste of time reading.

  12. Fallout 3... or so I thought by mjwx · · Score: 2, Funny

    First I thought they might actually make a Button Gwinnett bot... Then I opened the article and thought "Fcuk me, that's not creepy looking at all, definately wont scare small kids". Worse yet they're trying to give it a cutsie name like Pepper.

    --
    Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    1. Re:Fallout 3... or so I thought by freeze128 · · Score: 1

      These were deployed at the Mall of America during the superbowl weekend. There were lots of kids interacting with them. They are pretty short, so they're not over-imposing. To me, though, they seemed pretty useless.

  13. Please let me know ... by Alain+Williams · · Score: 1

    when the tourists are robots -- that will be real news!

    1. Re:Please let me know ... by cellocgw · · Score: 1

      [please let me knw] when the tourists are robots -- that will be real news!

      Yeah, how could you tell the difference?

      Wait, that gives me an idea for a TV series. SmithsonianWorld where near-perfect androids help you through a recreated museum-walk experience, plus you can kill them or have sex with them. Until Maeve breaks protocol and trouble ensues.

      --
      https://app.box.com/WitthoftResume Code: https://github.com/cellocgw
  14. Wait a minute by kenh · · Score: 1

    For example, at the National Museum of African Art, Pepper can translate phrases in the Kiswahili (Swahili) language. At the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Pepper robots guide visitors to the Rosa Parks VR experience.

    We have a National Museum of African Art AND a National Museum of African American History and Culture?

    --
    Ken
    1. Re: Wait a minute by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Yes, the Smithsonian Institute also has a National Museum of Asian Art, for Native American Art, for American Art, and for Portraiture.

      Not to mention a Zoo and the Air and Space Museum.

    2. Re:Wait a minute by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      We have a National Museum of African Art AND a National Museum of African American History and Culture?

      We have many National museums. You have a problem with them having African American ones?

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    3. Re:Wait a minute by kenh · · Score: 1

      Are we contemplating a National Museum of English Art? French Art? Spanish Art? Chinese Art?

      For the same reason an "American Art Museum" in Africa would seem out of place, an "African Art Museum" sounds out of place in America. As a private museum I have no issue, I encourage all manner of private investments, but this is a US taxpayer-funded museum, why must we have one specific for the art of one foreign continent - Where's the National Museum of European Art? Museum of Asian Art?

      African American History and Culture Museum sounds fine, as does the National Museum of the American Indian, as they are focused on things that actually happened "around here," but "African Art" by definition occurred elsewhere.

      --
      Ken
    4. Re:Wait a minute by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For the same reason an "American Art Museum" in Africa would seem out of place

      Why would you say that? Why wouldn't people want to look at artwork produced by American artists, even if it is in say, Cairo.

      why must we have one specific for the art of one foreign continent

      It sure makes life a lot easier for curators of museums for one. Many art historians are specialized in art from a particular region.

      an "African Art Museum" sounds out of place in America.

      Only to you. There has been a lot of really creating and amazing artwork created by Africans. Why wouldn't you want to see such artwork, without needing to you know, travel to Africa to see it.

      Museum of Asian Art?

      That would be the Freer Gallery of Art

    5. Re:Wait a minute by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      Are we contemplating a National Museum of English Art? French Art? Spanish Art? Chinese Art?

      Do you know - there are some Americans who don't believe that there should be any taxpayer funded museums at all? Perhaps you can contact your congressman or woman, and demand that the museums be sold off to the highest bidder, and the money returned to whichever taxpayers the US house of Representatives decides deserves that money.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    6. Re:Wait a minute by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      why must we have one specific for the art of one foreign continent - Where's the National Museum of European Art? Museum of Asian Art?

      African American History and Culture Museum sounds fine, as does the National Museum of the American Indian, as they are focused on things that actually happened "around here," but "African Art" by definition occurred elsewhere.

      Yes, it might educate someone about the universe outside of the USA borders. This would be unacceptable and anti-american. Education of the sheeple is a bad thing for the corporate overlords.

    7. Re:Wait a minute by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are we contemplating a National Museum of English Art? French Art? Spanish Art? Chinese Art?

      Got the latter already, the others are also well represented in existing museums

      For the same reason an "American Art Museum" in Africa would seem out of place, an "African Art Museum" sounds out of place in America.

      Because of your own narrow-minded chauvinism? Well, good to know.

      As a private museum I have no issue, I encourage all manner of private investments, but this is a US taxpayer-funded museum, why must we have one specific for the art of one foreign continent

      You could look up its history and its funding status.

       

      - Where's the National Museum of European Art?

      The Mall.

      Museum of Asian Art?

      Independence Avenue.

      African American History and Culture Museum sounds fine, as does the National Museum of the American Indian, as they are focused on things that actually happened "around here," but "African Art" by definition occurred elsewhere.

      And yet it isn't a problem for Paris, London, Tokyo, or Berlin.

      Go figure.

  15. I want to by Translation+Error · · Score: 1

    see what its response is to "Pepper, klaatu barada nikto."

    --
    When someone says, "Any fool can see ..." they're usually exactly right.
    1. Re:I want to by LifesABeach · · Score: 1

      So, ignoring the 1950's reference, how about looking at Pepper's ability to climb stairs?

  16. New Employee? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Last week, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, revealed its new employee -- an interactive robot named Pepper.

    Actually, Pepper is a machine. It is not an employee and may be displacing someone, reducing the number of actual employees.

    1. Re:New Employee? by LifesABeach · · Score: 2

      The technology exists such that at a given room location, your cell phone can offer the same verbal and optical solution. And with an inexpensive cardboard VR viewer, one can view the Smithsonian, or any other museum without going to it. But nothing is ever as good as going there and seeing it for yourself.

  17. Same "Robot" at the local hospital here by Yo+Grark · · Score: 1

    It's not even remotely intelligent or helpful.

    Where is the bathroom? Where is the gift shop? Where is the cafeteria? How do I find out which room a patient is?

    All questions which led to the default "I'm sorry, please choose an option from my chest so I can help you".

    I seriously don't know how this company hooks places to put this thing in!

    - Yo Grark

    --
    Canadian Bred with American Buttering