Museum Robot

The Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven is the first museum in Europe who has a museum robot. Can we say that the Van Abbemuseum ‘’ is a museum of the future?’’(C.Esche, 2015). The robot is part of the Special Guests program and is made possible by members of the Bankgiroloterij.

 

What the robot is all about
The Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven has an innovative tool that can help ‘’special guests’’  that are not able to come and visit the museum because of their physical disabilities. The robot makes it possible for those kind of people to experience the museum from their own environment. At the Van Abbemuseum website, visitors can book a virtual tour. When you have finished the booking of the virtual tour you will receive an e-mail with a link to download the application on your computer.  The tour will begin at the appointed time that was confirmed by e-mail. There is also a guide in the museum who will guide you through the museum and he or she will inform you about all the ins and outs of the Van Abbemuseum. During the tour the guide will be answering all kind of questions.

 

The essence of a museum robot
The museum robot is a new kind of way to experience a museum. Introducing the robot to their special guest program, the Van Abbemuseum will reach a lot of people with physical disabilities. The people with a physical disabilities never really had the opportunity before to visit a museum, but thanks to the robots they now have the possibility to experience it. In addition, the robot is equipped with the latest technology. The robot includes a sensor that avoid the possibility to bump against other people in the museum. The robot also has an HD camera that has the ability to zoom on details of paintings. The robot provides the Quality of Life of the people with a physical disability because they can easily control the robot which is made very customer friendly for them. It can also be customized to the needs of the visitor and they have the possibility to get all the information they want about the museum. The robot give people more interaction. According to the Special Guests-coördinator at the Van Abbemuseum: ”People are getting more in touch with each other. It also helps to get people out of their social isolation. In this way we give people a bit of independence back.” (Digitalekunstkrant, 2015).

Conclusion
People with a physical disability now finally have the ability to enjoy a museum and hopefully other museums will follow soon. By putting more robots like these in different museums all over the world, anyone can visit a museum regardless of his or her physical condition. Due the technical developments there will be coming more solutions for people with physical disabilities and hopefully this is just the start of it.

Sources
Brainport. (2015). Nieuwe robot maakt bezoek fysiek beperkten aan Van Abbemuseum laagdrempeliger. Geraadpleegd op 14 november 2015 van, http://www.brainport.nl/leven/nieuwe-robot-maakt-bezoek-fysiek-beperkten-aan-van-abbemuseum-laagdrempeliger

Van Abbemuseum. (2015). Robot maakt museumbezoek mogelijk. Geraadpleegd op 14 november 2015 van, http://vanabbemuseum.nl/het-museum/educatie/special-guests/robot-maakt-museumbezoek-mogelijk/?tx_vabmenu_pi1_datepicker%5B0%5D=

Digitale kunstkrant. (2015). Per robot naar het Van Abbemuseum. Geraadpleegd op 14 november 2015 van, http://www.digitalekunstkrant.nl/?p=20017