A small robot may help children who are ill in the hospital or at home. These children may feel lonely away from their friends and classmates. The robot takes their place at school. Through the robot, children can hear their teachers and friends.
The robot is called AV1. A Norwegian company called No Isolation invented the robot. Dolva explains how the robot AV1 works. She says from home, children use a tablet or a phone to start the robot. Then they use the same device to control the robot’s movements. At school, the robot becomes their eyes, ears and voice.
“So, it sits at the child’s desk in the classroom and the child uses a tablet or a phone to start it, control its movements with touch and talk through it. So it’s the eyes, the ears and the voice at school.” The robot is equipped with speakers, microphones and cameras, which makes communication easy.
AV1 is large and looks like a human in some way. Dolva says this is important because the robot is supposed to be a friend to the children. “It can’t be just a tiny camera because the other kids can’t pick it up and take it with them. This is supposed to be their friend.” And robots are, quite simply, cool. Hopefully AV1 will help some children feel less lonely while they are not in class.