Oct 19, 2009 — See The Chronicle of Higher Education
The days of face-to-face faculty meetings might soon come to an end. Colleges with several campuses are embracing videoconferencing systems for a range of faculty and staff meetings, to save money and fuel by reducing trips. ...Take one robotic system built by Henry Fuchs, a computer-science professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It was inspired by the "animatronics" at Disney World—the moving and talking robots installed in the Hall of Presidents and other attractions. The animatronic robot that Mr. Fuchs is making with his colleagues can serve as a 3-D "avatar," or stand-in, for someone who cannot make it to a physical meeting.
