You Can’t Visit the Museum. But Your Robot Can

LONDON — On a recent weekday morning, a robot was investigating the art on display at the Hastings Contemporary art museum.

Guided by the museum’s director, Liz Gilmore, the machine — an iPad-sized screen mounted on a thin black pole, attached to Segway-like wheels — zoomed past works by the English painter Graham Sutherland before turning to a rainbow-colored sculpture by the Irish artist Anne Ryan. Then, moving a little too enthusiastically, it collided with the table on which the sculpture stood.

“No harm done,” Ms. Gilmore said brightly. “Just back up, swing left and try again.”

She was actually talking to this reporter, controlling the robot via a laptop from London, some 70 miles from the seaside town of Hastings, England. It isn’t often that one needs driving lessons in an art gallery, but these are strange times.

The coronavirus pandemic has forced museums and galleries worldwide to innovate as never before. Closed to prevent the spread of infection, many institutions have rushed out offerings such as virtual viewing rooms, podcasts and online art classes. Others have turned to social media to maintain their connection with the public (the Royal Academy’s “daily doodle” challenge has been a hit on Twitter after its surprise invitation “who can draw us the best ham” caught on).

But Hastings Contemporary — which, like all similar spaces in Britain, has been closed since mid-March — has a different trick up its sleeve: Robot tours, using a mobile, Wi-Fi-enabled “telepresence” device that prowls the gallery, sending a video stream back to viewers who stay isolated at home. It appears to be the first time a British cultural organization has attempted a remote art-viewing experience like this.

....Prof. Praminda Caleb-Solly of the Bristol Robotics Laboratory agreed to loan one of their devices, a $4,000 model manufactured by the Californian firm Double Robotics. It arrived just before Britain went into lockdown.