Robot avatars could be making their way into Cumbrian classrooms enabling children who are unable to attend school to access learning.
Designers of the AV-1 device have created its appearance taking inspiration from Pixar and mixing in some of the Wall-E ‘Eve’ character and Iron Man.
Cumbria County Council is leading the way in trialling the hi-tech device in a Barrow school in a pilot scheme exploring the viability of AV1 as a permanent addition to their provision.
The futuristic device was launched in 2016 by No Isolation — a company specialising in the design of ‘warm technology’ to address the increasingly urgent social problem of loneliness.
AV1 is a robot avatar that acts as a child’s eyes, ears and voice in the classroom when illness, disability or mental health conditions prevent them from being there in person.
The app-linked device is fitted with a camera, speaker and microphone, that opens up a two-way audio and one-way visual channel between the student and their classmates, allowing them to learn alongside their peers, and maintain social contact with their friends, without obliging them to appear on camera themselves.
A spokesperson for Cumbria County Council said: “We are currently trialling this technology at one school for a six-week period. There will be an evaluation of this trial before any further decisions are made.”
