Virtual assistants can replace tour guides in the future

Just bring a device capable of playing pre-installed audio or smartphone applications, visitors can listen to information about artifacts without a guide at the museum.

Dao Thanh Hai, team leader studying products.(Photo: NVCC.)

This product is invented by a group of students of Information Technology University, Ho Chi Minh City National University, including Dao Thanh Hai, Nguyen Duc Huy, Nguyen Thanh Hien.

Many times to visit the museums, the group members are concerned when they realize that the current museums in the country have not created an attraction for visitors, especially young people. Besides, at the time of tourism or festival, the museum welcomes a large number of tourists. The guides often work very hard and still cannot meet the needs of visitors.

' Current museums mainly use guides to introduce artifacts. However, the tour guide cannot meet the needs of all domestic and international tourists as well as not everyone can use many different languages' - Dao Thanh Hai, team leader said.

It is these reasons that motivate the three students to create a technology solution that helps answer information for visitors when entering the museum.

According to Nguyen Thanh Hien, a member of the group, the product will attach broadcasting devices in artifacts. When visitors arrive at the artifact area at a distance of 2-4 m, the broadcasting equipment will connect to the smartphone by wave. When receiving a signal, the smartphone with the application pre-installed will automatically generate sound artifacts.

' In addition, applications on smartphones can instruct visitors to travel destinations in the neighborhood using the global positioning system (GPS) ' - Hien said.

Audio equipment designed by the group.In addition, users can download applications on smartphones to use this system.(Photo: NVCC.)

The product has many advantages, but Nguyen Duc Huy, a member of the group, said the system only sounds to provide material information to users. This may make visitors feel dry and boring.

'Therefore, in the future, the group will develop this product as a kind of artificial intelligence, capable of interacting with tourists. Specifically, artificial intelligence will both provide information and answer questions of customers through exchanges' - Huy shared.

Dr. Trinh Le Huy, Lecturer in computer engineering, University of Information Technology, National University of Ho Chi Minh City assessed, products of the group are discoverable, can solve information problems for tourists. .

However, Dr. Huy acknowledged that it would take a long time for products to be applied in museums. First of all, the student team must work with the museum to deploy the system installation, and then be able to consider the end users as visitors.

'The group can develop products towards improving the accuracy of the system. That is, the product can locate exactly where the user is in the museum. Since then, the system will provide more specific instructions to assist customers when visiting a new location, 'said Dr. Huy.