Pebbles

Description: Providing Education by Bringing Learning Environments to Students (PEBBLES) is an innovative system that combines video conferencing technologies with simple robotics technology to allow a student confined in the hospital to attend his/her regular school.

Notes: Providing Education by Bringing Learning Environments to Students (PEBBLES) is an innovative system that combines video conferencing technologies with simple robotics technology to allow a student confined in the hospital to attend his/her regular school. This is possible by placing one unit of PEBBLES inside the classroom, and its counterpart in the hospital. PEBBLES allows a student to maintain a connection and presence in his/her normal environment from an isolated and non-normal setting, by means of a robot with webcam and microphone. Having this connection creates a healthier and less stressful situation for a hospitalized child/youth that may in turn reduce trauma levels and health care costs. It may also ease that youngster's re-integration back into the classroom.