Although many might think that the arrival of the digital age will herald the end of the traditional bricks-and-mortar library, this isn't the case. Avid readers, book enthusiasts, children, students and academics still revere the sanctity of libraries and often use them for studying and reading.
However, in this era of transformation, there is room to improve the more tedious and mundane tasks, such as sorting or arranging books, and this is where ‘Libby’, Africa’s first robotic librarian, comes in.
So says Isak van der Walt, senior IT consultant and MakerSpace manager for the Department of Library Services at the University of Pretoria (UP). He will be presenting a talk, titled Africa’s First Robotic Librarian, at the ITWeb Artificial Intelligence 2019 Summit, to be held on 20 August at The Forum in Bryanston.
According to the university, Libby has a tablet on her chest and an array of over 60 sensors, cameras and software integrations that enable her to receive and process various commands and requests. Her brain is connected to IBM's Watson supercopmputer.
Van der Walt says Libby is situated in the Merensky 2 Library, at the Hatfield campus in Pretoria, and can be found by the information desk on level three.
“Libby has three main functions in the library. Firstly, she is used primarily for basic questions and answers regarding the library itself, such as where certain locations inside the library can be found, where specific books can be found, and who the information specialist is for a specific subject."
Secondly, adds Van der Walt, she is used to do marketing. “We load content related to the library, such as what is happening this month, which is then displayed on her chest area while she walks around the library. She is equipped with sensors to prevent her from bumping into people and objects.”
The university also uses her for surveying students about its service delivery. A sensor triggers her to ask passers-by a question on the library, such as how they would rate the facilities. “This information is then received and viewable in real-time.”
When asked whether he expects this sort of robot to become more widespread, he says: “We will definitely see more service robots being adopted across various industries. c will absolutely adopt more service robots in due course.”
He says robots have the ability to take over the mundane and repetitive tasks from humans, freeing up capacity to focus on more specialised tasks or a more personalised service.
“Service robots are currently much more refined and customisable for different industries and can integrate with a wider range of enterprise systems.
“Libraries are going through a massive change in how they look, how they operate and the types of products they deliver. The biggest shift that they are facing is the increasing demand for data-intensive services and the dependence on digital resources. We have therefore had to review existing services to see where we can optimise, automate and shift staff resources to the new forces.”
Moreover, robots and their supporting systems can give real-time and crucial business intelligence to further enhance services and products. “They create new opportunities in the job market with their demand to be programmed, maintained and operated,” says Van der Walt.
Delegates attending Van deer Walt's talk can expect a quick glance into the process that UP followed in implementing Libby. He will share information gleaned from a student focus-group on what they expect from a robot, as well as some statistics on the use and abilities of Libby.
“We will also showcase Libby in her current state and capacity with a demonstration,” he concludes.