Additionally, it could save both the customers' time (no need to queue for a librarian), and the librarians' time (who can help customers with more meaningful tasks).įirst draft A Mobile Robot with (the Illusion of) a Personality The robot could be more approachable to people who have social anxiety, and are afraid to approach library employees. The robot would have the advantage of being able to access Oodi's database directly, and provide real-time information on which books are currently on the shelf. The robot design team: Oodi librarians, Oodi's customers, and Futurice's roboticists We realized we could re-purpose the MiR200 mobile robots that the library already had, and was using to move books between the basement and the 3rd floor. A whole day of menial tasks would not bother a robot. This is where the robot steps (or rather, rolls) in. Stacked together, a whole day of 1–3 minute tasks becomes tedious, and a waste of skills. In comparison, "Where is the psychology section?" takes 1–3 minutes to answer. This type of work can take 30–40 minutes.
Their expertise is better used in in-depth service, helping visitors find specific books that fit their needs best. Librarians are very knowledgeable about literature. But this is not the work librarians are meant to be doing, or want to be doing.
Since Oodi is so big, customers have a hard time getting around, and library employees spend a significant amount of time advising people how to find things. We eventually settled on a robot that would help customers find the books and book categories they want. At the 3rd floor, librarians place the books back on the shelves.Īt the start of our project, we brainstormed how Oodi could use social robots: helping kids learn to read, instructing people on using equipment such as 3D printers, giving information about the library in several languages, and helping people find their way at the library. It has an automatic returns system: customers set their books on a conveyor belt, which brings the books to the basement, where they get sorted into boxes, which are picked up by a mobile MiR200 robot, which brings the books to the 3rd floor. It has 10,000 visitors a day, and an estimated 2 million visitors a year (compared to Finland's 5.5 million population, that is a significant portion).Īutomatic returns systemThe MiR200 wagon moving books and their boxesOodi is big on automation and robotics. Opened in 2018, Oodi is the biggest of Helsinki's 37 public libraries. Our team at Futurice designed and built a social robot to guide people to books at Helsinki's new central library, Oodi.