Smithsonian Museum Tests Pepper Robot as Art Guide

The Smithsonian Institution and Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C., are piloting a humanoid robot named Pepper, created by Softbank Robotics, to interact with visitors. Pepper stands 1.2 meters tall, can converse, tell stories, pose for selfies, and display multimedia on a chest-mounted tablet. It is the first robot of its kind at the Smithsonian and part of a project to explore robotic mediation in museums. Pepper will be deployed at six Smithsonian locations starting May 3, 2018, at the Hirshhorn Museum. This initiative follows earlier experiments like Joe Berenson, an art critic robot developed by Denis Vidal and Philippe Gaussier, which was featured in the 2016 exhibition "Persona. Strangely Human" at the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris. Joe used an algorithm to gauge visitor reactions to artworks, serving as a tool for audience surveys. The Smithsonian's project marks the first cultural institution to test Softbank's Pepper technology.