UIB Launches First AI Museum Guide at NMS
National Museum of Singapore visitors can ask SmartContact®-powered “Ask William” questions with natural language voice and instant messaging on WhatsApp, LINE, and Facebook Messenger
Singapore (August 3, 2018) — Unified Inbox Pte. Ltd. (UIB) today announced the launch of its SmartContact®-powered Ask William Artificial Intelligence (AI) museum guide. One of the awarded projects from the National Museum of Singapore’s inaugural DigiMuse Open Call, museum visitors can use UIB’s UnificationEngine® natural language voice and instant messaging on WhatsApp, LINE, and Facebook Messenger to Ask William a range of questions about the museum and the items on display.
UIB CEO Toby Ruckert explained, “To get started, visitors scan a QR-Code or manually enter the Ask Wiliam SmartContact into their smartphone’s contacts. Visitors then select the channel they want to use. Ask William is not an app, it’s a contact in the user’s address book, a SmartContact. Ask William works with WhatsApp, LINE, and Facebook Messenger. When visitors say or message ‘Hi’ to William, they receive the following reply, ‘Hello there, I'm William. My full title is Major-General William Farquhar and I was the first British Resident and the Commandant of Singapore. I commissioned this set of natural history drawings. You can ask me questions about the different plants you see here, or even general questions about the collection. Ask away!’”
UIB Key Account Manager Nush Khan added, “In his honorary role as the National Museum of Singapore’s first AI museum guide, William can perform a few different functions. When visitors send William a photo of one of the natural history drawings in his collection, he responds with information about that particular plant. His replies can include text, images, and video clips, and William also encourages visitors to learn more about the subject of the drawing. Visitors can also ask direct questions about the plants depicted in the drawings in William’s collection without sending him a photo of it. And William can answer the most frequently asked questions visitors ask about himself, his life, or the museum itself — including information on programs, hours, and tickets.”
DigiMuse Program Director Jervais Choo added, “DigiMuse Presents’ awarded projects from our inaugural DigiMuse Open Call blend together history, art, and technology to bring the museum to life. Through the messaging and chat apps people use every day, Ask William allows us to connect visitors with the stories of Singapore by leveraging what they love, taking and sharing photos and messaging their friends.”
DigiMuse Presents is free with general admission and runs August 4 - 26. Ask William is integrated into the National Museum of Singapore’s Goh Seng Choo gallery exhibitions. Tickets can be purchased at the museum ticket office at 93 Stamford Road.
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Images
Ask William screenshots on WhatsApp, Line, and Facebook Messenger
Ask William display at the National Museum of Singapore
UIB Founder and CEO Toby Ruckert and DigiMuse Program Director Jervais Choo at the National Museum of Singapore