Virtual Grad Ceremony - Avatar Robots

ASU's Thunderbird School of Global Management 2020 Grads

Source:  Arizona State University - Dean Khagram

Virtual Graduation Ceremony with Robots

At Arizona State University, there will be a

graduation ceremony for the Thunderbird School of

Global Management Class of 2020 graduates.

But it will be technologically awesome, memorable 

and very different.  In the middle of the pandemic

and lock-down in Arizona, telepresence robots, known

as avatar robots,  have come to

the rescue and saved the day.  It's graduation by

telepresence and it's a virtual graduation ceremony. 

May 11, 2020 is graduation day.

Technology to the Rescue

The telepresense robots will give students a chance to

"walk in" the ceremony.  The robots will stand in place

and be awarded each students' degree in a virtual ceremony.

Live audio and video on each robot will allow the students

to experience the ceremony in real-time.

Much Prep To Make This Virtual Graduation Happen

This week, cameras pre-recorded 140 graduates as they logged in to the University from home. The grads were dressed in their caps and gowns.  Each moved a remote controlled robot at the University that held an image of their face. Via the robot, they approached Dean Sanjeev Khagram to receive their hard-earned diploma and get a photo when they received it from him.  

Great Effort through Technology to Honor Grads

The virtual graduation ceremony is set for May 11, 2020.  It's not the graduation the students had been anticipating, but it certainly is an historic and memorable one. The robots are from Double Robotics of Burlingame, CA.  Before the pandemic, they were primarily used to enable people to show up at weddings and other events without having to travel to them.  Congratulations to the

grads and to Dean Khagram who went the distance to honor his graduates.

Ed Kane, Journalist and Author amazon.com/author/ekane