Into the museum with robots - study seeks participants

Chemnitz University of Technology is looking for pairs of participants for a research project on joint museum visits with distant relatives or friends. Test persons are testing a combination of a telepresence robot and virtual reality glasses in the Chemnitz Industrial Museum exhibition, as the university announced. The technology is intended to make shared cultural experiences possible despite long distances and thus promote social connectedness.

Participation is open to two people aged between 18 and 75 who know each other. Interested parties can register online for the dates. They take place Monday to Friday during the museum's opening hours. Participants receive free admission to the museum and ten euros to cover expenses.

The study is part of the "TeleVeRbundenheit" project funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, which aims to enable shared experiences for people who are not in the same place through the use of so-called telepresence robotics. The aim is to make cultural events more accessible and reduce the need for mobility. In addition to Chemnitz University of Technology, the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Die Etagen GmbH from Osnabrück and YOUSE GmbH from Berlin are also involved.