AV1 Telepresence Robot — No Isolation's Norwegian Robot Keeps Chronically Ill Children Connected to the Classroom

Children undergoing long-term treatment for cancer or other serious illnesses often disappear from school for months at a time, losing both academic ground and daily contact with classmates and teachers — a well-documented risk factor for social isolation and delayed reintegration. Norwegian company No Isolation builds AV1, a small telepresence robot that sits in the child's usual seat in class, letting them see, hear and speak to the lesson remotely via tablet or phone.

In 2018 the UK Department for Education awarded £522,124 to the Hospital and Outreach Education network for a two-year, government-funded evaluation of telepresence robots' impact on attainment, reintegration and wellbeing, completed in 2020. In the Netherlands, the Vodafone Netherlands Foundation and Stichting Kind en Ziekenhuis have made 21 robots freely available.

Interim data from AV1 recipients, including children with cancer, showed average school attendance rising from 29% to 58%. Research on the more than 25 children who used the Dutch-funded robots found nearly all reported feeling less lonely and happier being able to see their class and teacher again. Globally, No Isolation reports over 3,000 AV1 units deployed across 17 European countries, reaching more than 10,000 children in over 2,500 schools.

The strongest published evidence concerns attendance and psychosocial wellbeing rather than direct learning outcomes, and case studies describe individual teachers improvising classroom routines around the robot rather than following a structured training programme — real strengths and real limits that should inform how the evidence is read.