Persephone, the robot guide, leads visitors in a Greek cave
ALISTRATI, Greece — Persephone is a tour guide in Greece, but perhaps not the type people are used to.
Billed as the world’s first robot tour guide inside a cave, Persephone has been welcoming visitors since mid-july to the Alistrati Cave in northern Greece, 84 miles northeast of the city of Thessaloniki.
The multilingual robot covers the first 500 feet of the part of the cave that is open to the public. In the remaining 2,400 feet, a human guide takes over.
The robot was named Persephone because, according to one version of the ancient Greek myth, it was in a nearby plain that Pluto — the god of the underworld who was also known as Hades — abducted Persephone, with the consent of her father Zeus, to take her as his wife.
The robot can give its part of the tour in 33 languages and interact at a basic level with visitors in three languages. It can also answer 33 questions, but only in Greek.
Nikos Kartalis, the scientific director for the Alistrati site, had the idea of creating the robot when he saw one on TV guiding visitors at an art gallery. Seventeen years later, “we got our funds and the robot guide became a reality,” Kartalis said.
The robot was built by the National Technology and Research Foundation and cost $139,000.
“We already have a 70% increase in visitors compared to last year since we started using” the robot, said Kartalis. “People are enthusiastic, especially the children, and people who had visited in the past are coming back to see the robot guide.”
The robot moves along a walkway, passing through an ornate, colorful landscape of stalactites and stalagmites. These varied formations can reach 50 feet tall and are seen throughout the cave’s nearly 1.6-mile walkway, which is accessible to people with limited mobility.
Kartalis said the cave was 3 million years old and was first explored in 1974 by the Hellenic Speleological Society and a team of Austrian speleologists. It opened to visitors in 1998.
Persephone, with a white body, black head and two luminous eyes, moves on wheels, guiding visitors to the first three of eight stops along the walkway.
The robot begins by saying: “My name is Persephone, I am the daughter of the goddess Demeter and the wife of Pluto, the god of the underworld. I welcome you to my under Earth kingdom, the Alistrati Cave.”
Many visitors are intrigued by the robot guide.
“It was surprising for me. I’ve never experienced such a thing. Actually, honestly, I prefer a live guide, but it’s interesting doing it this way. And I like the pace of the robot. It goes slower, so I can look around,” said Patrick Markes, a Czech visitor.
Evdokia Karafera is one of the tour guides who partners with the robot.
“It is helpful, because it speaks many languages. There’s just a little delay in the touring,” she said. “Most find it fascinating, especially the children, and find it interesting that it speaks many languages.”