Reposted from WAMU

Museum visitors are accustomed to having docents guide them around the exhibits. But what if your guide was a metallic, glassy-eyed robot?

This isn’t Star Wars: Return of the Docents. It’s a program now underway at a half-dozen Smithsonian museums.

The robots — all named Pepper — are about four feet tall and bright white. They have big eyes and undeniably adorable little smiles. They don’t have legs, but they do have arms and hands that make eerily human-like gestures when they talk. They also don’t have an assigned gender.

The robots are currently deployed to guide visitors through areas of confusion at the selected Smithsonian museums, and draw people toward under-appreciated spots.

Where did they come from? San Francisco, of course.

After successfully pitching the idea of robot docents to the Smithsonian’s board last year, the Bay Area tech company Softbank Robotics decided to donate 30 Peppers. The company has already rolled out robots in Japan and Europe, mostly in retail settings. This is the first time Peppers are being used in a North American museum.

“We’re happy and proud to be able to partner with one of the premier museums in the world,” said Steve Carlin, Softbank Robotics’ chief strategy officer. He said his company hopes the Smithsonian rollout will serve as a pilot for other museums in the future.

A Pepper is stationed at the entrance of the African Art Museum on the National Mall,  just past security. With its waving hands and cheerful greet (“Hi, my name is Pepper! Welcome to the National Museum of African Art!”), the robot is nearly impossible to miss.

Michelle Edwards, the museum’s docent coordinator, said that new visitors often feel confused right when they arrive. The information desk isn’t near the entrance, and the bulk of the museum’s exhibits are underground. That’s why Pepper’s first job was simple: Welcome visitors and direct them towards the exhibits.

But once Edwards saw the robot in action, she realized it could be doing more.

“I began to look at is as kind of an education tool,” she said. “So right now, our robot is speaking words in Kiswahili.”

Yes, the robot speaks Kiswahili (also referred to as Swahili). It invites visitors to say jambo (hello) with it, and gives them information about the museum’s new exhibit on Africa’s Swahili coast.

Rachel Goslins, the director of the Smithsonian’s Art and Industries Building, said she’s thrilled to see a Pepper being used this way. She’s leading the Pepper project, and said that when she first heard about Softbank Robotics’ donation, she had “a vision of a closet full of dusty angry robots coming to life in the middle of the night.”

“If it’s just a robot on the floor of a museum, it’s just a gimmick,” she said. “If it’s not solving a problem or helping advance a mission, then it’s not worth doing.”

Anecdotally, the Peppers seem to be working. The National Museum of African American History and Culture is using its Pepper to draw visitors toward its least-visited section, the interactive learning areas on the second floor. Goslins said the number of guests visiting that floor has doubled since a Pepper was deployed at the entrance a few weeks ago.

There are some challenges, Smithsonian staff say. It can take a while to correctly program the robots to do exactly what you want. Plus, the robots still need some human supervision when they’re out on the floor, which can be a time suck for staff.

“I don’t have kids, and so now that I have Pepper, I’m like, is this really what it’s like?” Edwards laughed. “I get into the office, and oh, there’s Pepper looking at me.”

Right now, Peppers cost about $25,000 each on the open market. They have have a number of capabilities that are not currently in use at the Smithsonian, including the ability to recognize facial expressions like smiles and frowns. Peppers can then extrapolate whether that person is happy or sad, and tailor their response to the emotion.

The goal, according to Steve Carlin, is to market them to hotels, restaurants, banks, museums — essentially anywhere there’s a client or customer relationship at work.

If this initial stage goes well, the Smithsonian will expand the program to more locations this summer. For now, you can find Peppers in D.C.’s Smithsonian Castle, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, National Museum of African American History and Culture, and National Museum of African Art. They’re also deployed at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Maryland.

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