Robot gives virtual tours of UK art exhibitions

The Hastings Contemporary gallery in the UK has employed a robot that roams the halls of the gallery to provide virtual tours of art exhibitions to live streaming pundits, including pieces created by renowned UK artist Quentin Blake.

The robot, developed by Double Robotics, broadcasts a live feed for guests, traversing the gallery to show the work of artists at the gallery including part of Quentin Blake’s aptly named exhibition ‘We Live in Worrying Times’. The robot was initially developed as a means to make art galleries and tours more accessible to potential visitors, but has found a natural fit to provide tours amid the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Speaking exclusively to Inavate, Will Barrett, communications manager and robot operator, Hastings Contemporary said: “One of our trustees, Esther Fox, runs Accentuate UK, a non profit that challenges perceptions of disability to provide opportunities for deaf and disabled people to interact in the cultural centre. 

“Esther has a connection with Bristol Robotics Lab, who have used robots for other projects. There were talks last year to lease a robot to create a project based around getting people with disabilities or people who were incapacitated such as people in hospices and care homes a means to experience the gallery. By the time we hit February and we saw what was happening globally, it occurred to us that we should accelerate our robot project. We quickly discovered that a telepresence robot had never been used in a UK gallery on a long-term basis.”