Digital reviews

Rachel Ellis is impressed by how a robot is giving people unable to visit the venue a real-time tour of its collections

The Van Abbemuseum’s robot, which gives access to those unable to visit the museum in Eindhoven, Holland, has been around for a couple of years, but what seems remarkable is that no UK museums have followed its lead and introduced robots in their venues.

Finding ways of being inclusive and giving access to those who cannot visit – either because of illness, disability or location – seems to be a perpetual challenge for museums and one that is far from solved.

From the home of a disabled person or the classroom of a far-flung school, the robot can be controlled by the arrow keys on a computer keyboard or with a joystick, and guided through the museum by the user.

What I love about the Van Abbemuseum robot is that it isn’t widening access through the usual digital approach of putting more stuff online. Instead, it is inviting a digital audience to visit in real-time, enabling them to interact with the physical space as well as with others visiting the museum.

For €12 (£10.50) – a price similar to a museum entrance ticket – remote visitors can book an hour-long slot and wander around the museum unaccompanied, or, for €70, they can opt for a guided tour.

Van Abbemuseum’s promotional film about their “special visitors” project is worth watching. It left me yearning for more museums to have these robots.

My carehome-bound mother-in-law, once a regular museum visitor, and my children, who go to school 250 miles from many of our national museums, would be first in the queue to use them.


My museum-visiting tendencies do not lean towards planes or the armed forces, so I was surprised to find myself immersed in the London-based RAF Museum’s new website, RAF Stories. This story collecting and sharing project is part of the RAF’s centenary celebrations (see review).

The site presents a mixture of historical and contemporary stories that can be accessed by browsing or search function. Users can search according to themes, such as their mood, a particular value (for example, heroism or friendship), timeframe or place in the world.

Each story has been given an enticing caption and I defy anyone to not click on videos entitled “They took my gun and both my watches, but they didn’t find my gold” and “I gave a salute with a ferret on my head”.

This poignant collection is part of a shift in military museums, which are revealing the remarkable stories of personnel. There is also an app where people can upload their recollections about the RAF.


I often wonder whether the lives of my children are made better by the internet or worse. Parents can get hung up on the negatives of the web, then something new catches our eye, such as the Royal Shakespeare Company’s (RSC) Shakespeare Learning Zone, and we realise that the internet can be a brilliant place, too.

This treasure trove of facts, scenes, videos and more is organised by play. It is easy to navigate and is effectively layered so that users can learn as much or as a little as they want. The site is welcoming in its tone, like you are being invited into a non-scary world, where everyone has questions and the answers aren’t as hard as you think.