Internet and Museums: A robot to help to remotely visit the Smart City pavilion in VDNKh

Now it is possible to take a guided tour around the exposition of the Smart City pavilion in VDNKh online. According to Natalya Sergunina, Deputy Mayor of Moscow, one has an opportunity to do that not via a video recording, but via live broadcast from the exhibition space. There, a new format of the tours is available: a guide moves from hall to hall and tells about the exhibits, followed by a telepresence robot carrying out the broadcast. Virtual walks are free. Prior registration is required to participate.

«Exposition of the Smart City is dedicated to digital solutions that are already being used in Moscow or will be used in the future. Modern technologies are applied not only in the pavilion itself, but also in the tours around it. Since the beginning of the year, it is available in the 3D-tour format online. Now, everyone is invited to explore the interactive exhibition via live broadcast. Thanks to the robot, it is possible to not only observe things, but also ask questions», Natalya Sergunina specified.

A telepresence robot is equipped with a high resolution camera, microphone and access to the Internet. In recent years, such devices have become popular around the world. A robot allows people to virtually be in any place, where there is Wi-Fi.

Now, such device is in possession of the Smart City pavilion’s team. It is controlled by a trained specialist. He directs the robot after the guide, checks the quality of sound and image that are being transmitted to viewers. The broadcast can be accessed from any electronic device, no matter if it’s a personal computer, tablet or a smartphone. Only stable access to the Internet is required. In order to ask the guide questions, one should turn on a microphone.

During the online walk, a guide will tell about the ways Moscow uses newest technologies in various spheres: culture, health care, education, transport, security, urban economy. The exposition of the Smart City pavilion is fully interactive.

Smart City has opened in VDNKh in September, 2016. Since then, it has been visited by over 500 thousand people. Over 5 thousand tours, 820 field events, master-classes, quests, workshops on programming, courses on 3D-modeling, robotics and other spheres have been held there over six years.