Social robots are increasingly used within public spaces, including museum settings. This quasi-systematic review identifies and synthesizes the evidence on social robots that have recently been deployed in museum settings. It specifically focuses on their intended purpose, their acceptability and factors important for successful human–robot interaction in this setting. Four databases (PsycINFO, SCOPUS, ACM Digital Library and IEEE Xplore) were systematically searched to retrieve literature published within the last 10 years on human–robot interaction studies with social robots deployed in museum settings. Due to the heterogeneous nature of the studies, qualitative and quantitative findings were summarized. A total of 604 items were identified, of which 12 were included in the review. Robots in 11 studies were physical and 1 was an embodied conversational agent presented as a virtual robot. In 75% of the studies (n = 9), the purpose of the robots was to act as museum guides, while in 17% (n = 2) they entertained visitors and in 8% (n = 1) the robot taught visitors in a museum outreach programme. Overall, many of the robots were found to be acceptable for use within museum settings. Three main themes for successful social human–robot interaction were evident across the findings: (1) facial expressions, (2) movement and (3) communication and speech. There is a great opportunity for social robots to be deployed within museum settings, as guides, educators, entertainers or a combination thereof. State-of-the-art methods have led to the development of museum robots that are more capable of social interaction; however, more work is required to develop speech capabilities that work in the ‘wild’. Future work should combine the factors that have been identified within this review to improve human–robot interaction.

社交机器人越来越多地用于公共场所，包括博物馆环境。这篇准系统的综述识别并综合了最近在博物馆环境中部署的社交机器人的证据。它特别关注它们的预期目的、可接受性以及在此设置中成功进行人机交互的重要因素。对四个数据库（PsycINFO、SCOPUS、ACM 数字图书馆和 IEEE Xplore）进行了系统搜索，以检索过去 10 年内发表的关于博物馆环境中部署的社交机器人的人机交互研究的文献。由于研究的异质性，对定性和定量结果进行了总结。共确定了604个项目，其中12个项目被纳入审查。11 项研究中的机器人是实体的，1 项是体现为虚拟机器人的会话代理。在 75% 的研究中（n = 9)，机器人的目的是充当博物馆导游，而在 17% ( n = 2) 中，它们为游客提供娱乐，在 8% ( n= 1) 机器人在博物馆外展计划中教参观者。总的来说，许多机器人被发现可以在博物馆环境中使用。研究结果表明，成功的社交人机交互的三个主题很明显：（1）面部表情，（2）动作和（3）交流和言语。社交机器人有很好的机会部署在博物馆环境中，作为导游、教育者、演艺人员或两者兼而有之。最先进的方法导致了博物馆机器人的发展，这些机器人更有能力进行社交互动；然而，需要做更多的工作来开发在“野外”工作的语音能力。未来的工作应结合本次审查中确定的因素，以改善人机交互。