A robot will go to school in Maryland to help a girl continue with her studies while undergoing cancer treatment. Peyton Walton, 10, who is a student at Poolesville Elementary at Poolesville, Maryland, is scheduled for treatment at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. She was diagnosed with a rare liver cancer called Undifferentiated Embryonic Hepatic Sarcoma.
The procedure will keep her away from school for five weeks, and the robot she now calls PAVS, or Peyton's Awesome Virtual Self, will attend her classes and socialize with friends in her stead.
PAVS, which was manufactured by Double Robotics, is a thin robot with an iPad for its head that displays Peyton's face in real time. It serves as the girl's virtual window where she could listen to the teachers' lectures and participate in class discussion.
For Double Robotics, PAVS is called Double, an iPad-based telepresence robot that help people in the same condition as Peyton, the Inquistr reported. The robot can also move, as it is mounted on a Segway-like roller that can traverse most bumps in the road, according to NBC Washington. It is controlled through an app that taps Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. This means that Peyton can remotely control PAVS and navigate it to talk and interact with friends and teachers.
School authorities have also welcomed the new development, noting that it generated excitement among students. "As they see that robot in the hallways, that's Peyton," Douglas Robbins, the school principal, told the Business Standard. "She's here, she's with us and she's going to engage in the school day, just like the rest of them."
Double costs $3,000 and Peyton had help from friends in paying for the robot.
Watch the robot in action below.
