This little robot is helping sick children attend school

When children are chronically ill and unable to attend school, it’s not just the illness that can be debilitating — the separation from the classroom and friends can also take a toll.

For young people undergoing long-term treatment or struggling with mental health issues, Norwegian company No Isolation developed the AV1 robot, which can take a child’s place in class, serving as their eyes, ears, and voice, and helping them stay connected with their classmates.

The AV1 looks like a blank, simplified version of a human head and torso. It can rotate 360 ​​degrees and is fitted with a camera, microphone and speaker. Teachers place it on a classroom desk and the student controls it remotely using an app, for which they are given a unique password.

“They can tap or swipe their finger around the screen to look at different corners of the classroom,” said Florence Salisbury, marketing director for No Isolation. The student can talk to the teacher or their classmates through the speaker, and the app has a “raise hand” option that makes a light flash on the robot’s head. They can also select emojis that display in the robot’s eyes.

Salisbury says there are 3,000 active AV1 units in 17 countries, mostly in the UK and Germany, both of which have over 1,000 of the robots in operation.

In the UK, schools can rent the AV1 for around £150 ($200) per month, or opt for a one-time purchase for £3,700 (just under $4,960), with an additional service package of £780 (around $1,045) annually.

Salisbury says that perhaps the robot’s biggest benefit is its ability to maintain social bonds. She shared the story of a 15-year-old student in Warwickshire, England, using AV1 whose friends take the robot to lunch with them, keeping him included in their social circle.

“During a long absence, where classmates might not see their friend for an extended period, this connection to school really becomes a lifeline for that student, especially for those with a medical condition,” Salisbury said.

According to the most recent government statistics, more than 19% of students in England were persistently absent from school in the autumn of 2023/24, 7.8% due to illness alone, which is higher than pre-pandemic levels.

During the Covid pandemic, remote learning became the norm, but as students returned to school, for many it’s no longer an option. AV1 was launched before the pandemic, but some schools have reported using the robots to help students who have struggled to reintegrate with the classroom environment.

“They make the child important”

The UK’s Chartwell Cancer Trust has a supply of 25 AV1 robots it provides to children with serious illness. Founding trustee Michael Douglas told CNN that the robots enable children to stay engaged with their education even while in intensive care. “They are loved by the parents and make a real difference,” he said. “They make the child important.”

But he acknowledged that there can be administrative challenges around their use and that “red tape can be a real issue” when trying to get the AV1 system into schools or hospitals.

He added that some schools may also struggle to maintain the necessary technical infrastructure for seamless operation, because of weak Wi-Fi or mobile signal dark spots.

Technical training

In June, research published in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Digital Health, examining the use of the AV1 in Germany and of the OriHime avatar robot in Japan, found the technologies “bear high potential for children to stay socially and educationally connected.”

However, it added that there was a need to establish structures to give equal access to avatar technologies, and that training sessions for teachers on the technical and social aspects of the robots are important for successful implementation.

Last August, No Isolation rolled out AV1 Academy, a library of training materials and resources aimed at improving the usability of the robot.

According to Salisbury, the AV1 is designed with robust privacy features. No personal data is collected, and the app prevents screenshots or recordings. Encryption secures the livestream, and only one device can connect at a time, with the robot’s head and eyes lighting up to signal active use.

There are other avatar robots on the market and some, like VGo and Buddy, have wheels and can move around the school or workplace, while some have a screen that shows the user’s face. Salisbury said that not having wheels is more practical for AV1, and weighing around 1 kilogram, the robot is easy for teachers or students to move between classes in a bespoke backpack.

She added that the absence of a screen showing the child’s face can also be an advantage. “Removing that pressure to be on camera, we’ve seen, increases the likelihood of the robot being used for students with emotionally based school avoidance,” Salisbury said.

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