[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:00.28]From VOA Learning English, this is the Health and Lifestyle Report.
[00:06.12]A small robot may help children
[00:09.08]who are recovering from a long-term illnesses in the hospital or at home.
[00:14.97]These children may feel isolated from their friends and classmates.
[00:20.40]The robot takes their place at school.
[00:24.00]Through the robot, the children can hear their teachers and friends.
[00:29.12]They also can take part in class from wherever they are recovering.
[00:35.40]Anyone who has had a long-term illness
[00:38.68]knows that recovering at home can be lonely.
[00:42.68]This is can be especially true of children.
[00:46.48]They may feel left out.
[00:49.12]Now, these children may have a high-tech friend
[00:53.48]to help feel less alone. And that friend is a robot.
[00:58.84]The robot is called AV1.
[01:02.40]AV1 goes to school for a child who is homebound
[01:06.56]while recovering from a long-term illness.
[01:10.84]And the child's school friends must help.
[01:14.00]They carry the robot between classes
[01:16.64]and place the robot on the child's desk.
[01:20.24]A Norwegian company called No Isolation created the robot.
[01:25.76]The co-founders of No Isolation are Karen Dolva and Marius Aabel.
[01:32.68]Dolva explains how the robot AV1 works.
[01:37.40]She says from home, the child uses a tablet or phone to start the robot.
[01:43.32]Then they use the same device to control the robot's movements.
[01:48.96]At school, the robot becomes the eyes, ears and voice of the child.
[01:55.40]"So, it sits at the child's desk in the classroom
[01:58.44]and the child uses a tablet or a phone to start it,
[02:03.15]control its movement with touch, and talk through it.
[02:07.00]So it's the eyes and the ears and the voice at school."
[02:10.68]The student can take part in classroom activities
[02:14.36]from wherever they are recovering
[02:16.68]¨C whether at home or from a hospital bed.
[02:20.20]The robot is equipped with speakers, microphones
[02:24.84]and cameras that makes communicating easy.
[02:29.16]Again, here is Dolva.
[02:31.46]"It has speakers and microphones and cameras,
[02:34.96]and when the child speaks at home or in the hospital
[02:37.92]to his iPad it just comes out."
[02:41.44]The avatar was designed to be tough.
[02:45.08]It is water resistant and can take a fall from a desk without damage.
[02:51.84]Inside AV1, there is a small computer connected to a 4G network.
[02:58.36]A small camera hooked up to a small computer could do the job.
[03:03.20]But that would not be the same.
[03:06.76]AV1 is large and looks like a human for a reason.
[03:12.52]Dolva says this is important
[03:15.56]because the robot is supposed to be a friend to the children.
[03:20.64]"(It) can't be just a tiny camera because the other kids
[03:24.08]can't pick it up and take it with them.
[03:26.40]This is supposed to be their friend."
[03:28.52]And robots are, quite simply, cool.
[03:31.92]The robot just became available to the public.
[03:36.68]Hopefully AV1 will help some children
[03:39.96]feel less lonely while they are absent from class.
[03:44.20]I'm Anna Matteo.