Why let the coronavirus stand in the way of you receiving your certificate? A Japanese university seems to have cracked the code and not allow the pandemic hinder students from being deservedly awarded after working for all those years.

The graduate students of Business Breakthrough University (BBT), could unfortunately not get the chance to risk it by gathering a time like this. Instead, the school’s administration resulted to have robots stand-in for the students in the ceremony.

Digital tablets were attached to the robots’ heads, each with a graduate’s face via a Zoom video call to attend the ceremony remotely. For full representation, the robots were even dressed in black graduation hats and gowns.

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Image courtesy BBT

“When I enrolled, I never thought I would operate my avatar and attend the graduation ceremony. However, receiving a diploma in public is a novel experience,” one of the students expressed.

Apparently, these robots are quite popular in Japan as telepresence avatars. So, not only are they used for graduation ceremonies but are also quite useful for anyone who doesn’t want to travel in person. The robots transmit high-definition 2K videos that let its human users see and interact with the bot’s surroundings. They have also been used a lot by people with debilitating paralysis to return to the workplace as robot waiters in Japanese cafes.

Whether you hate automation or not, you have to admit that a country like Japan is way ahead of everyone else. As many debate that they are not here for our good, these robots have certainly proven to exist for the purpose of improving people’s living standards. And even now during the outbreak, they couldn’t be more helpful.