Persephone is a tour guide in Greece, but not the type people are used to. As the world's first robot tour guide, Persephone has been welcoming visitors since mid-July to the Alistrati Cave (山洞) in northern Greece.
The robot covers the first 500 feet of the part of the cave. The robot can give its part of the tour in 33 languages and interact (互动) at a basic level with visitors in three languages. It can also answer 33 questions, but only in Greek.
Nikos Kartalis, the scientific director for the Alistrati site, had the idea of creating the robot when he saw one on TV guiding visitors at an art gallery. The robot was built by the National Technology and Research Foundation and cost ﹩139, 000.
"We already have a 70% increase in visitors compared to last year since we started using the robot," said Kartalis. "People are interested, especially the children, and people who had visited in the past are coming back to see the robot guide."
Persephone, with a white body, black head and two eyes, moves on wheels, guiding visitors to the first three of eight stops along the walkway. She can do two more stops, but her low speed slows down the tour. Persephone's creators are considering ways to speed her up. Evdokia Karafera is one of the tour guides who partners with the robot. "It is helpful, because it speaks many languages. There's just a little delay (耽搁) in the touring," she said. "Most find it amazing, especially the children, and find it interesting that it speaks many languages."
Karafera said, however, that human tour guides couldn't be completely replaced. "Robots, at some point in the future, will take over many jobs. But I believe they cannot replace humans everywhere," she said. "The robot is funny, but can't replace the human contact with the guide and the conversation we can have on the way back."
