While the start of a new school year is always exciting, this year was even more so for some elementary school students in Auckland, New Zealand. They became the world's first kids to be "taught" by a digital teacher, just like in the science fiction. Before you start imagining a human-like robot pacing around the classroom, Will is just an avatar (化身) that appears on the students' desktop, or the smartphone screen, when ordered to come.
The autonomous animation platform has been modeled after the human brain and nervous system, allowing it to show human-like behavior. The digital teacher is assigned to teach Vector's "Be sustainable with energy"—a free program for Auckland's elementary schools.
Just like the humans it replaces, Will is able to instantly react to the students' responses to the topic. Thanks to a webcam and a microphone, the avatar not only responds to questions the kids may have, but also picks up non-verbal cues randomly. For instance, if a student smiles at Will, he responds by smiling back. This two-way interaction not only helps attract the students' attention, but also allows the program's developers to monitor their engagement, and make changes if needed.
Nikhil Ravishankar believes that Will-like avatars could be a novel way to catch the attention of the next generation. He says, "I have a lot of hopes for this technology as a means to deliver cost-effective, rich and educational experience in the future."
The program, in place since August 2018, has been a great success thus far. Ravishankar says, "What was fascinating to me was the reaction of the children to Will. The way they look at the world is so creative and different, and Will really captured their attention. However, regardless of how popular it becomes, Will is unlikely to replace human educators any time soon. "
