A Virtual Assistant for Natural Interactions in Museums

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its real-life applications are among the most effervescent research topics of the last couple of years. In the past decade, stakeholders such as private companies, public institutions, non-profit entities, and even individuals, have developed and used various AI algorithms to solve a wide range of problems. Given the extended applicability and the disruption potential of this technology, it was just a matter of time until it connected to the field of cultural heritage. This paper presents the development of an intelligent conversational agent which was built to improve the accessibility to information inside a history museum. We present the cultural context, the application architecture, the implementation challenges, and the visitors' feedback. We created a smart virtual agent that interacts with users in natural spoken language. This involved the design and implementation of the artificial intelligence-based core responsible for understanding the Romanian language. A short survey regarding the tourist acceptance of the system was conducted at the premises of our partners, the Museum "Casa Muresenilor" from Brasov, shows good acceptance levels from both visitors and museum staff. Given the flexibility of the implementation, the system can be used by a large array of stakeholders with minor modifications.