Avatar Robot Goes to School for Ill German Boy

The robot sits in the young boy’s class and helps him interact with his teachers and friends.

By Reuters | Updated: 15 January 2022 15:08 IST

Photo Credit: Reuters

A local council in the Berlin district Marzahn-Hellersdorf pay for this project

Highlights

The robot sends a blinking signal when Joshua Martinangeli need to talk
Joshua Martinangeli interacts with teachers through avatar robot
The project is part of a private initiative

Joshua Martinangeli, 7, is too ill to go to school. But the German student can still interact with his teacher and classmates through an avatar robot that sits in class in his place and sends a blinking signal when he has something to say.

"The children talk to him, laugh with him and sometimes even chitchat with him during the lesson. Joshi can do that quite well, too," Ute Winterberg, headmistress at the Pusteblume-Grundschule in Berlin, told Reuters in an interview.

Joshua cannot attend classes because he wears a tube in his neck due to a severe lung disease, said his mother, Simone Martinangeli.

Samsung Wins Patent for a Tri-Fold Smartphone With Specialised Barrier Layer for Improved Durability

The project is a private initiative paid for by the local council in the Berlin district Marzahn-Hellersdorf.

"We are the only district in Berlin that has bought four avatars for its schools. The impetus was COVID-19, but I think this will be the future well beyond the pandemic," said district education councillor Torsten Kuehne.

"It does happen from time to time, for various reasons, that a child cannot go to class in person. Then, the avatar can give that child a chance to remain part of the school community," Kuehne said.

Scientists Push Back Humanity's Age By 30,000 Years After New Research

He added that he had already brought up the project in political discussions at a state level.

"I like it either way because I like the avatar," said student Noah Kuessner when asked if he is looking forward to seeing Joshua again.

"And I would like it better if Joshi could really come to school," said another classmate, Beritan Aslanglu.

© Thomson Reuters 2022

Why are Galaxy S21 FE and OnePlus 9RT launching now? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.