Child-operated telepresence robot: A field trial connecting classrooms between Australia and Japan

Abstract

This paper reports the research outcome of a JST PRESTO project “Linking children across the world through telerobotics (2009-2013).” The project explored the use of child-operated telepresence robot systems for the purpose of facilitating international communication between distant classrooms. In particular, it was revealed that young children who could not communicate well with speakers of different languages over conventional video conference services could establish and maintain communication using the telepresence robot system developed by this project. Together with a control experiment to clarify its effectiveness, an international field trial that connected remote classrooms between Australia and Japan was conducted.