Texas Student Attends School As a Robot

kkleiner writes "Freshman Lyndon Baty's immune system is so fragile he can't risk being surrounded by people his own age, yet he attends classes at his high school in Knox City, Texas every day. All thanks to a robot. The Vgo telepresence platform is a four foot tall bot on wheels with a small screen, camera, speakers and microphone at the top. Baty logs into the robot remotely from his home, using his PC and a webcam to teleconference into his classes. Baty can drive Vgo around his school, switching between classes just like regular students. For a boy that has spent much of his life sick and isolated from his peers, Vgo not only represents a chance at a better education, it's also an opportunity for freedom and comradery."

Comments

Typo

[XanC]

You misspelled "Sheldon Cooper".

Re:Typo

[damn_registrars]

You misspelled "Sheldon Cooper".

Damn! You beat me to it. However we need to figure out what Dr. Cooper is doing back in high school...

Re:Typo

[elsurexiste]

I was thinking more like the Bubble Boy... Why don't they give him a giant hamster ball?!

Re:Typo

[Anonymous Coward]

Butters: I gotta put in my suppository. Can you help me?
A.W.E.S.O.M.-O: What?
Butters: Remember I said I put that medicinal suppository in my anus? It will be so much easier having you do it from now on.
A.W.E.S.O.M.-O: Um, actually, A.W.E.S.O.M.-O is not programmed for that function.
Butters: A.W.E.S.O.M.-O, I thought you were programmed to do whatever I tell you. Yeah, that's pretty good. Get it up there good and deep.
A.W.E.S.O.M.-O: Lame.

Re:Typo

[$RANDOMLUSER]

Strange. You would think that Sheldon would say something like "3 * ((3 * knock) + Penny)".

Re:Typo

[Culture20]

Strange. You would think that Sheldon would say something like "3 * ((3 * knock) + Penny)".

I'm sure he'd rather say (* (+ (* 3 knock) Penny) 3)

My mom needs to see this

[WiiVault]

My mother is one of those people who is very skeptical about the positive influence technology has had on our society. To her the more automated and advanced our culture is the less productive we are. She only ever hears about massive digital consumer data losses, or crashed/hacked ATM's. While I think we all agree that technology isn't always the silver bullet we want it to be, I do think examples like this help to demonstrate that we really are making progress. Even 10 years ago this poor young man would be totally isolated from the classroom learning atmosphere. While we still have a long way to go, when I speak with my disabled friends, they often remind me of how much innovation has improved their lives even in just the last 20 years.

Re:My mom needs to see this

[maxume]

Just buy her a washtub, a box of candles and a few cord of wood.

Then make a habit of throwing away her fresh foods during the winter.

Re:My mom needs to see this

[Locke2005]

Your mom needs to get a vibrator.

Re:My mom needs to see this

[HungryHobo]

I know a couple of people like this.
The problem is that technology is so effective, it often works so well that it makes the problems it solves invisible so people don't even consider a world that has such problems.

Medical tech is the easiest place to find good examples.

To quote Professor Terry Pratchett:
"If you said to a bunch of average people two hundred years ago âoeWould you be happy in a world where medical care is widely available, houses are clean, the worldâ(TM)s music and sights and foods can be brought into your home at small cost, traveling even 100 miles is easy, childbirth is generally not fatal to mother or child, you donâ(TM)t have to die of dental abcesses and you donâ(TM)t have to do what the squire tells youâ theyâ(TM)d think you were talking about the New Jerusalem and say âyesâ(TM). "

It's like vaccines, they work so incredibly well that people forget everything about the problems they're solving and stop using them because they have absolutely no idea whatsoever how incredibly horrible the alternatives are.

Alexander Fleming should have statues a thousand feet tall dedicated to him in every major city, penecillin has saved so many lives.

The less obvious things are a massive high tech communication network that means you can just call someone and let them know you'll be late for lunch without even thinking about it, the fabrics modern clothes are made of, the chemicals in modern washing poweders and the cheap machines for doing the work which turn doing the washing into an almost trivial task.

Re:My mom needs to see this

[Anonymous Coward]

You're right. One of the most amazing and positive experiences I've had on the web, well, really before the web -- on usenet -- was meeting a person in one of the discussion newsgroups and chatting with them extensively about a variety of subjects. He was there in the melee of some pretty heated debates for years. He was articulate, intelligent, and voluminous. Later on, after I knew them pretty well, they explained why there were occasions when he disappeared for a few weeks when in the midst of a conversation: he was in a hospital bed, paralyzed and essentially bedridden for most of his life. He confided in me because of a conversation we had been having that was abruptly dropped, and he wanted to explain why it had happened. He trusted me, but said that he didn't want anyone else in the group to know about it generally, because for the first time in his life he could carry on regular conversations with people around the world without having to explain his situation all the time, and without people judging him or making assumptions because of it. He liked it that way (that most people didn't know), even if his illness did occasionally interfere despite his wishes. Most amazing to me was the fact that he typed everything using a mouthstick keyboard! The guy was a *voluminous* writer, which made it that much more impressive. I kept his secret.

It was also one of the saddest experiences I've had on the network when he died a few years later, barely into his 30s. His family was kind enough to post an explanation on the newsgroup of what had happened. They explained how much of a struggle life usually was for him during his lifetime, but that the discussions on the network had been an extremely positive experience for him.

As you have said, the availability of some of these tools has literally transformed people's lives by opening the world up to them in ways they couldn't previously experience.

Hostile Environment

[ThinkWeak]

I think this is a great thing and it's nice to see something like this being given a chance. However, I wonder how long this thing is going to be functional inside of a school. With kids in the halls traveling between classes, weather, random bullying, how long will it take before this thing is broken? I can't imagine it will survive being knocked over more than a couple times.

Re:Hostile Environment

[timeOday]

Wow, that's a reversal, the idea that an environment is too hostile for a robot so we should send in a child. Normally we assume the opposite (worth a watch).

In this case, the pathogenic environment of high school is so hostile to this particlar student that it would actually kill him in short order (immunodeficient). Second, able-bodied students have the same problem. Third, the robot has a $1,200 / year maintenance contract. Fourth, you could always add some accessories.

And the ultimate anti-bullying system...

[WoRLoKKeD]

Twin heat-seeking Hunter-Killer missiles and swivel-mounted gatling guns on either side of the screen.

Re:Still missing a big part of school experience

[PPalmgren]

Hey now, there's all kinds of people in this world, you never know...

Perfectly natural

[OhHellWithIt]

At first, I thought the whole idea was just too weird. But then I thought about how kids interact with each other in Facebook chat rooms, and I'd say that it probably feels pretty natural both to Lyndon Baty and his classmates.

Re:Still missing a big part of school experience

[Locke2005]

Exactly what kind of attachments are available for this robot?!?

Re:Déjà Vu

[KhabaLox]

God I hope not. The movie was the worst piece of crap that Bruce Willis has ever been in, and yes, I have seen Color of Night.

Re:Déjà Vu

[phoebe]

A similar story is covered by the 2005 Japanese film Hinokio, after an accident a house-bound student attends college via a robotic avatar.

What's wrong with sexbots?

[tekrat]

Personally, I think you're more likely to get funding to build sexbots. There's *how many* Japanese companies that build multi-thousand-dollar sex-dolls already? And there's at least two in the USA that make high-end sex-dolls (and too many making cheap inflatables)...

Although there may be eyebrow-raising, most (male) people are secretly rubbing their hands together (and other things) at the prospect of an autonomous sex-bot. And while telepresence may be nice, whoever corners the market for sex-bots is going to make Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg look like paupers.

Although you may not believe it, Futurama has it right. Sex-bots might be declared illegal in some future, because it will seriously impact reproduction, it may lead to low number of human to human pairings as well as having half the population (women) wondering how they are going to compete. See: Chobits/Persecoms

Re:What's wrong with sexbots?

[Anonymous Coward]

Although you may not believe it, Futurama has it right. Sex-bots might be declared illegal in some future, because it will seriously impact reproduction, it may lead to low number of human to human pairings as well as having half the population (women) wondering how they are going to compete. See: Chobits/Persecoms

Are you kidding? A serious challenge to women's monopoly on pussy would be the best thing to happen to the human race. Imagine how much kinder and less manipulative women will become. If there's anything on this Earth that needs to be taken down a peg or two it's the average female ego that has learned through the eons to take it for granted that there will always be other suitors, so the mate she has now is "expendable" and "replacable" and it's somehow okay to toy with him using his desires. Currently, women unilaterally make the decision to terminate 80% of all relationships that break up, particularly marriage.

Shit man. With sexbots being common it might not be so damned difficult to find a good woman. They'd have to learn to offer something that a sexbot can't, like love and good conversation and real kindness and intelligence. The impact on reproduction isn't necessarily a big deal. Imagine how few babies will be born out of wedlock to people who had no intention of becoming parents and are neither financially nor emotionally prepared to raise a child. Imagine less contention for resources and the standard of living that would be available to an Earth with say, a population of 1 billion. Imagine fewer "crimes of passion" like all the murders and domestic disputes that happen as rival males competing for desirable women is greatly reduced.

Re:What's wrong with sexbots?

[SydShamino]

Chance of funding, in descending order of application:

Military
Sex

.

Business

.
.
.
.
.

Health/Education

Re:What's wrong with sexbots?

[turing_m]

You forgot a few - poor personal hygiene, poor hygiene in general, lack of commitment, lack of understanding of a woman's biological clock.

The fact is, it is easier than probably any time in history for men in Western society to have sex without any commitment. An average woman feels like she has to put out to even get a guy interested these days, because there is very little taboo remaining for premarital sex. For an average looking woman who wants to keep sex for after marriage in today's world, it's like a worker trying to unionize in a world full of scabs.

A woman who wants to have children before the risk of birth defects and difficulty in having them should probably be finished reproducing by age 35 or so. This means that if she wants 2-3 kids, she should get started by age 30 at the latest, because falling pregnant is not a given. Most probably earlier, since it will be easier and chance of birth defects will be less. Also, she will be more vital and able to take care of the kids. If she has her last child at age 35, she might be 55 by the time the last one leaves the nest. Now, how long does the courting phase last? It might last a few years. So she should really have found a guy who will commit to providing for her and her children and not be a dick to her or their kids by the time she is in her mid to late twenties. To do that she has to weed through a bunch of guys who would happily say the right things to her to get some sex, and then move on to a younger model when she starts pushing for the commitment. To get what she needs, she might have to play a little hardball. I wouldn't be casting the first stone until I have walked a mile in her shoes.

Re:There's a small legal problem with telepresence

[Vancorps]

Wiretapping only applies to recording and retaining audio, not real-time transmission especially in a public place. Plenty of students across the country will record their classes to refer back to later while studying and there's no need for exceptions in the law to allow for it.

Technology opens exciting new possibilities . . .

[StefanJ]

. . . for mockery and bullying.

"No, NO! Not the wire cutters!"

"I'm not a battlebot! I'm not a battlebot! Please take me out of the arena I'm not . . ." ggzzzzzZZZZZ-CRASH!

"OK, who put caltrops under Lyndon's Bot's wheels?"

Not really that new except for the condition

[Anonymous Coward]

When I was in the 3rd grade there was a boy who had had polio and teleconference into class. This was in 1958, the phone company even back then had some teleconferencing tech. (It was an independent phone company btw not bell). So the difference is Video. And recall that in the mid 1960s ma bell was all hot over videophones (they were at disneyland and the worlds fair among other places). So at that time it was just a question of cost the tech existed. Now again here it may be that the costs have decreased enough that its economically justifiable.

Re:Déjà Vu

[$RANDOMLUSER]

Even with a robot, you're not getting any cheerleaders.
Maybe even especially with a robot, you're not getting any cheerleaders.

Big deal

[clyde_cadiddlehopper]

I used to attend as a zombie. Especially those 8 am classes in Differential Equations.

Re:I do the same thing...

[TheRaven64]

And with the 8.48 year ping times mean that you can post on Slashdot just in time for the dupe!

Its a good thing...

[orphiuchus]

Its a good thing people in Texas are tolerant of those different from them, this should go really smoothly.

laptop on roomba?

[iamhassi]

Anyone else just see a laptop on a roomba or is it just me?

Laptop with webcam = ~$350 cheap roomba = ~$150

Charging $5,000 + $1,200 per year "service contract" for $500 in hardware = PRICELESS