The Webchair Edu™ links a child at home or in hospital back to their school environment via videoconferencing during periods of extended absence. This "telepresence" device projects a lifesize image of the student into their classroom and enables them to continue both their academic and social development. Tested in over 100 schools throughout the Netherlands and Belgium, the Webchair Education™ has a proven track record as a critically important tool in relieving the trauma students experience when they are unable to attend class for extended periods of time.

Camera

The Webchair Edu™ includes a 10X Pan/Tilt/Zoom optical zoom camera that enables the remote student  to zoom into any section of the classroom: to read text on blackboard, talk with friends or even watch a video along with their classmates. This high quality, professional device adds a high level of realism to the experience for the student and ensures that they experience whatever is happening in class in a realistic way.

Audio

Enabling the teacher and student to hear and speak to each other is important in any classroom situation and Webchair Edu™ includes a professional wireless microphone that the teacher wears to communicate directly with the student. The wireless microphone provides a high quality audio link that blocks out the extremely noisy classroom environment. The high quality speakers built into the Webchair permit the student to easily communicate with the teacher and classmates.

Design

The Webchair Edu™ incorporates numerous ergonomic features that are designed to mimic the physical appearance of a person sitting in a chair. The design of the unit mimics the look and feel of a conventional office chair and the 32" screen allows a life size image of the remote user to be projected which reinforces the feeling that the person is physically present.

Home/Hospital

The Webchair Edu™ is controlled by the student at home or hospital via an Apple Macbook laptop computer that is supplied as a standard part of the package. The 2.0 GHz laptop has an integrated Webcam, pre-installed Webchair 1.3 software, a Skype™ videoconferencing engine, and a intuitive user interface that is designed to enable the student  to easily control the Pan/Tilt/Zoom camera on the Webchair in the classroom.