A Robot Avatar Sits In A High School Classroom To Help A Recuperating Student After Surgery

A Long Island high school student has been part of the future of tech as he virtually attended his classes via robot last week, which can help in situations such as distance learning.

After Jeffrey Kaji, a freshman at the Long Island School for the Gifted, underwent an emergency appendectomy and was told by doctors that he would be out of school for more than a week, he was concerned he would fall behind.

But all those problems were solved by a company called A+ Technology and Security Solutions.

Kaji's mother, Margie Gurwin, is the director of marketing for the company and was happy when her employer loaned her son the robot.

"Jeff was very concerned about falling behind in his schoolwork," Gurwin told People. "I was really thinking of my son's benefit when asking my boss to borrow the robot, but also thought it would be a great opportunity to show how viable robots can be."

According to the company's website, it has more than 10-plus years of experience in providing schools across the country with innovative technology solutions.

So how does it work?

In Jeff's case, he logs onto a computer at home while giving commands to the robot, which then simultaneously goes around campus and into Jeff's lectures and classes. Jeff's classmates can even see and hear him through the computer. It's like FaceTime or Skype but bigger and on wheels.

"Students are really enjoying it," Principal Roberta Trapper said. "The younger ones can't understand how it's happening and have a million questions, while the older students are getting a kick out of it and adapting quite well."

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