These Adorable Library Robots Can Recite Poetry

Along with the usual selection of books and old DVDs that you can find at most public libraries, Westport Public Library in Connecticut just made two adorable additions: Vincent and Nancy, two humanoid robots that patrons can program themselves.

The bots are NAO models built by Aldebaran, the French robotics company behind Pepper, the emotionally intelligent robot who just wants to spread posi vibes. According to Aldebaran, NAO robots have cameras, sonar navigation, voice recognition, and touch sensors. The library aims to put them to use by allowing people—anybody—to try out their programming skills on Vincent and Nancy.

Bill Derry, Westport's assistant director for innovation, told the The Wall Street Journal that the library is plans to hold open programming competitions to see who can get the bots to recite a poem or do a dance. According to a library press release, the robots can also be programmed to tell stories and carry out conversations. One can imagine what storytime for kids might soon look like at Westport.

Westport isn't the first or only public library to bring robots and maker culture into its fold, although it may be the first to bring in relatively advanced humanoid robots like the NAO models. Earlier this year, the Chicago Public Library partnered with Google to bring in hundreds of low-cost Finch robots for a similar use, giving people a chance to learn a programming language for robots.

Many public libraries are building makerspaces for people to engage with technologies that are normally relegated to the sphere of consumption and individual use in a way that is public and publicly-funded (although, it's worth noting, Vincent and Nancy were acquired through private funds). Libraries are essentially civic, community spaces, and bringing high technology into that context imbues it with with a sense of collective purpose that is both uncommon and welcome in the capital-intensive, competitive world of Silicon Valley.

So, let's recap: Vincent and Nancy are adorable, appreciate poetry, dance, hang out in libraries, and hold civic pride in their non-existent hearts. If they weren't two feet tall, made of metal, and totally not alive, I think I'd probably date one.