Meet the Avatar Robot who attended school for a 7-year-old German boy
A seven-year-old school boy Joshua attended his school lessons through the robot avatar, placed in his class
Berlin: Joshua Martinangeli, 7, too sick to go to school. But German students can still interact with their teachers and their classmates through the Avatar robot sitting in the class in its place and sending a flashing signal when he has something to say.
“Children talk to him, laugh with him and sometimes even chat with him during the lesson. Joshi can do it quite well,” Ute Winterberg, the principal at Pusteblume-Grungschule in Berlin, told Reuters in an interview.
Joshua could not attend the class because he was wearing a tube on his neck because of severe lung disease, his mother said, Simone Martinangeli.
This project is a personal initiative paid by the local council in the Berlin Margen-Hellersdorf district.
“We are the only district in Berlin who have bought four avatars for his schools. His encouragement is Covid-19, but I think this will be a deep future outside the pandemic,” said Torsten District Education Council Kuehne.
“It happens from time to time, for various reasons, that a child cannot go to class directly. Then, Avatar can give the child the opportunity to remain part of the school community,” Kuehne said.
He added that he had brought a project in political discussion at the state level.
“I like it because I like Avatar,” said Nuh Kuessner’s student when asked if he was looking forward to seeing Joshua again.
“And I want it better if Joshi can really come to school,” another classmate said, Berita Aslanglu.