Robots guide nights at the museum at Tate Britain

Britain Museum Robots

This is an undated Tate Britain handout photo, via the PA, made available Tuesday Aug. 12, 2014 of an After Dark project robot in front of Jacob Epstein’s The Visitation (1926) inside Tate Britain in London. The London art museum says that for five nights from Wednesday, people from around the world can get an after-hours tour online thanks to four roaming robots fitted with lights, a camera, and sensors designed to let them move around the rooms in the dark. AP/ Alexey Moskvin/Tate Britain/PA

LONDON — Tate Britain is inviting art fans to a night at the museum — though robots, not T. rexes, will be roaming this time.

The London art museum says for five nights beginning Wednesday, people from around the world can get an after-hours tour online thanks to four roaming robots fitted with lights, cameras and sensors designed to let them move around the rooms in the dark.

A live commentary will be streamed on the museum’s website and viewers can get a chance to control the robots.

The project, called “After Dark,” was developed using space exploration technologies. It was the winner of the inaugural IK Prize, which is expected to be handed out every year to projects that widens access to the arts through digital technology.

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