Using the visitor experiences for mapping the possibilities of implementing a robotic guide in outdoor sites

FROG (Fun Robotic Outdoor Guide) is a project that aims to develop an outdoor robotic guide that enriches the visitor experience in touristic sites. This paper is a first step toward a guide robot and presents a case study on how to analyze the visitors´ experience and examine opportunities for a future robot guide in the sites. We adopted the participatory design method for mapping the visitor experience; the end users of the tourist sites participated actively in finding and discussing their experience of visiting. Results indicated that visitors especially like the structure of the tour and the stories provided, especially interesting little known facts the guide gives. However, they do not like the rushed pace of a guided tour. When exploring the site by themselves, they enjoy the freedom, the time to make pictures and to concentrate on what interests them. Visitors do not like a lack or overload of information or problems with route finding. Not all guide-related factors that influence a visitor´s experience positively can be copied one-on-one to a robot guide. And care needs to be taken to identify those aspects of guided tours and guide behaviors that will be effective for robot-guided tours. In this paper we describe the first step towards the realization of an outdoor robotic guide. We evaluate people´s experiences of guided tours to inform the design of robot-guided tours. This analysis forms the basis for ongoing research into the development of effective robot behaviors.