Customer Experience

AI robot does double duty and then some for Ontario Regiment Museum

An AI powered robot checks in visitors, screens their health status, provides directions to exhibits and activities.

Master Corporal Lana reports for duty at the Ontario Regiment Museum. Photo courtesy of the museum.

October 7, 2020 by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times

Master Corporal Lana isn't like any other recruit at the Ontario Regiment Museum Oshawa, Canada. Unlike the 140-plus volunteers who maintain the tanks and other artifacts at the museum, Lana has the responsibility of checking in visitors, which includes asking them questions, updating them on the day's activities, and giving directions on where to find things in the museum.

Not that she minds. Lana is an artificially intelligent robot designed for human interaction who, besides welcoming and checking in both volunteers and visitors, can check tickets, count visitors and keep track of volunteer hours.

"Obviously Master Corporal Lana is great because she doesn't need to take breaks, never has a bad day, and is always on message," Jeremy Blowers, the museum's executive director, told this website. "But it was fantastic to see the level of excitement about her. This moment could be a leap forward for this technology."

Fortuitous timing

In retrospect, Lana's timing couldn't have been better when she joined the museum last year. It gave the staff and the volunteers time to get used to her before taking on the important role of helping to keep the museum running during the COVID-19 lockdown.

"Our museum has living artifacts — tanks, trucks — and just like your car, you can't leave that vehicle sitting there for months." Blowers said. The museum did not have the option of closing completely when it closed to visitors back in March.

"We were instantly thrown into the situation of having to do COVID screening for our staff." Blowers said. They were required to survey staff in addition to taking their temperatures.

Fortunately, they were prepared.

First goal: streamlined check-in

Lana checks in a museum volunteer.

Blowers was originally looking for an efficient way to check in visitors at special events, which represent the largest share of the museum's visitors.

"We needed to streamline the VIP visitors," Blowers said. VIPs at special events are entitled to special seating and tank rides. Separating the VIPs from regular visitors to provide them special attention proved challenging. "The check-in solution was needed," Blowers said.

One of his volunteers was able to put him in touch with Mike Pickering, founder and CEO of CloudConstable, a local technology provider.

Pickering and his team brought a version of the technology, including facial recognition and voice commands, in May 2019 to an engineering event at the museum to demonstrate her capabilities. The museum team liked what they saw.

An Intel PC provides the performance Lana needs to operate as a smart kiosk while Intel Pro technology enables remote management. Natural language processing allows Lana to hold a conversation and both ask and answer questions from visitors and volunteers.

Once she asks a question, an Intel camera allows Lana to both recognize a verbal answer or a non-verbal nod or headshake. Gesture controls allow the solution to be touch free while feeling natural.

In addition to gestures, the depth camera assists with authenticating registered users.

If Lana can't answer a question, she says she does not yet know the answer and asks them to speak to a staff member. "She'll give you a response even if she does not know the answer," Blowers said.

The camera also enables a "virtual privacy shield." Lana does not begin to interact with a subject until they reach a defined parameter, usually set to about 2 meters. Lana then begins to interact with the subject by recognizing the person's face so she can greet them by name.

The museum's plan was to introduce Lana to the community checking in VIPs at a special event during the summer of 2020. The goal was to spare the VIPs from waiting in the regular line and direct them to a tent.

"Lana would welcome them, would give them their vehicle ride tickets, their arm bands and some specific information that was just for VIP visitors," Blowers said.