Jean-Pierre Berthet is the director of Digital Strategy at the Centrale de Lyon school and director of the LeamingLab at the Centrale de Lyon & EM Lyon business schools.
He describes the role of the Beam robot provided by Awabot and how it used in the field of education, and as a support for educational innovation.
“Awabot has been supporting us for a long time in our position as pioneers in educational innovation. We therefore have two BEAM telepresence robots available to us full time, which we use in very broad fields of action, but with education as the priority. They enable students unable to travel for various reasons to attend classes remotely, from their home or hospital bed, to avoid putting their academic year at risk. I’m thinking of Simon for example, who despite a climbing accident was able to remotely lead his project team to build a vehicle, and also of Jeanne who was able to attend classes for 4 months from her nursing bed, thanks to the Beam mobile telepresence solution.
Each time I’m struck by the solidarity that Beam creates with the school staff, the other students and professors. The BeamPro robot also gives us great flexibility when it comes to remote recruitment, teaching by specialists from abroad, organisation of internal meetings remotely between teaching staff and management personnel, and also for setting up events with international visibility. What’s the difference compared to a video conference? Mobility! Beam’s inherent capacity for movement allows a real interaction to take place at any time. It “personalises” this moving talking robot so that for all intents and purposes it is as if the remote person was actually physically present.
The Beam system has enabled us to be pioneers in Europe for robotic interactiveness. It is truly a mobile teleporting tool that creates a new form of communication, and which in the end strengthens the value of human communication. We call this the “robolution”!”
This mobile video conference solution in the world of education is an innovative tool, that has enabled Jean-Pierre Berthet to give education and students a useful and effective virtual presence solution.
Interview conducted in May 2015.
