Campus Life

Heard on Campus: Going to school on a robot, Judy Olson from UC Irvine

Judy Olson, Donald Bren Professor Emerita in Information and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Irvine Credit: Jessica SallurdayAll Rights Reserved.

“We estimate there are 4.5 million children in the U.S. who have chronic illnesses or physical restrictions that mean they can’t attend school. The standard practice has always been to give them four to five hours of tutoring a week at home. But what does that child do for the other 35 hours in the week?

"By using a telepresence robot, we found from the child’s point of view, there’s a sense of presence, a sense of really being in school. They talk about hopping ‘on’ the robot and going to school. That’s the vocabulary that tells us they feel they are actually at school.”

-- Judy Olson, Donald Bren Professor Emerita in Information and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Irvine, spoke April 3 at the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology.

Last Updated April 4, 2017