Kansas students attend prom via robot

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) - Two Lawrence students danced with friends at their prom thanks to a couple robots.

The Lawrence Journal World reports (https://bit.ly/1mssEa4 ) Olivia Ledezma attended the Lawrence Virtual High School prom last Saturday while she was in California. She got to the prom by using a telepresence robot, which is essentially an iPad on wheels.

Ledezma and one other student, who was in Michigan at the time, used the robots on loan from Lawrence Public Schools. Each robot has a foot-long wheel at its base with an adjustable pole holding an iPad. The students on the other end controlled the robot through an iPad application.

Monte Westfall, assistant principal of Lawrence Virtual Schools, says both students were out on the dance floor, and it was as though they were really there.

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Information from: Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World, https://www.ljworld.com