A UNIVERSITY in Japan has let their students graduate by using robots with tablet faces in a virtual ceremony to stick to social distancing guidelines during the coronavirus pandemic.
The robots were donned in graduation caps and gowns, with tablets showing the student's face, for the graduation ceremony on Friday at Business Breakthrough University in Tokyo.
The graduates logged onto their laptops at home to direct the robot via remote control.
One by one, the robots went up to the podium to receive their diplomas, while school staff clapped and congratulated the students.
"I think this is truly a novel experience to receive a certificate in a public area while I am in a private space," Kazuki Tamura said through his avatar while accepting his master's degree diploma.
The college hopes that that other schools will follow in their footsteps to avoid mass gatherings.
The graduation ceremony followed the news that the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo have been postponed.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pulled the plug on this summer's Games on March 24, which will be rescheduled for next year.
A statement released last month read: "In the present circumstances and based on the information provided by the WHO today, the IOC president and the Prime Minister of Japan have concluded that the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community."
The coronavirus death toll in the US stands at 12,291.
The amount of confirmed cases is currently 387,547 in the country.
However, at least 20,395 have recovered from the deadly virus.
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