Robot Avatar Helps Ailing West Orange Child Attend School

WEST ORANGE, NJ — Although he’s too sick to attend school in person, New Jersey kindergarten student Henry Chang can still sit alongside his classmates thanks to an awesome robot avatar.

After being diagnosed with a form of childhood cancer, the youth has been battling the disease and receiving treatment at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, according to his parents, Heather Young and Henry Chang, who are both educators in the West Orange Public Schools District.

The experience has left him unable to attend class and get some much-longed-for face time with his peers, his parents said. However, with the aid of a robotic stand-in called a “VGo,” Chang can still have the occasional classroom experience.

With an appearance like a mashup between a Segway transporter and a portable video camera, the robotic device is the first of its type to make an appearance in a West Orange School, administrators said.

The interactive device – which is controlled by the student to give an added sense of independence - provides mobility around the school and classroom area, allowing Chang to have a social experience as he learns, administrators explained.

The Goryeb Children’s Hospital, who first treated Henry, secured the VGo with help from local nonprofit the Valerie Fund for his use while undergoing treatment, administrators said.

Chang gave the robot a test drive last month at Mt. Pleasant Elementary School, appearing on the screen to the delight of his fellow kindergarten students who began waving and calling his name, school officials said.

"Henry loves the VGo because he can communicate with his classmates and teacher and still feel connected when he can't be there," Chang’s mother said.

"Utilizing a robot like VGo allows sick children like Henry, who cannot attend school to continue to participate virtually allowing them to continue to grow academically as well as socially," Mt. Pleasant principal Julie DiGiacomo said. “This technology transforms the way that we view education.”

Photos: West Orange Public Schools

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