The invention of tech gadgets like the Apple iPhone and iPad have both led to plenty of brilliant uses for the mobile technology. Recently, that technology became even more mobile thanks to a robot. Not only that, it sort of provided a way for an ill high school senior to still attend her graduation ceremony and receive the diploma on stage. Here's how the student was able to virtually attend her graduation ceremony despite being in the hospital.

iPad robot subs for a sick student

As the Daily Mail and other sources reported, Cynthia Pettway from Mobile, Alabama was hospitalized due to an illness.

Due to that, she was unable to physically attend her high school's graduation ceremony. Nonetheless, LeFlore High School and the hospital still made it possible for Pettway to be a part of the on-stage reception of a diploma.

Bring in a robot as a substitute for Pettway. The robot, which might be described as a Segway device, rolled across the stage wearing a cap and gown. Taking things a step further was the fact it had an Apple iPad tablet as it's head.

In this way, Pettway's smiling face was able to be pictured on the display as she was live-streamed from the hospital onto the iPad tablet. That caused her fellow classmates from the Class of 2018 to erupt with cheers as it was certainly a unique situation to witness.

Hospital helps make the ceremony special

Pettway mentioned in comments to Daily Mail that she was "so sad" when she first learned she couldn't attend her graduation in person at the LeFlore High School.

She called it a "once in a lifetime milestone" that she had worked hard to complete the requirements for. Pettway said she had done night classes to help her graduate.

Helping to pull off the graduation feat was a partnership between MCPSS along with the USA Children's and Women's Hospital. Pettway sat behind a laptop in a hospital conference room where she wore the cap and gown for her graduation ceremony.

Attending her ceremony at the hospital with her was about 40 family members watching and recording the situation with their own devices.

Milestone achieved

In other comments that Pettway made, she said she initially was hesitant to participate in the graduation ceremony using a robot. Pettway said that she didn't believe it would work, but that the end experience was worth it. She had wanted to be the first of her cousins to graduate from high school. She also said that her grandmother had wanted to see her cross the stage, and the use of the iPad robot helped with that.

Pettway added that the way in which the ceremony was done really added to her overall graduation experience.

She said once the robot with her face on it rolled across the stage and she heard all the cheers she became more emotional from it all. She was even seen wiping tears away on the screen of her robot stand-in.

Will this trend continue?

Steve Jobs may or may not have imagined this would be part of what his Apple products would be used for in the future. One has to think that there are plenty of opportunistic tech companies out there working to integrate a camera, and voice interactivity into a moving robot. In essence, there may be a real-life robot maid like in "The Jetsons" coming to households someday.

There are already reports that Amazon is working on robots. They've already been a major force in one part of the household market with their Echo lineup which features the Alexa voice assistant.

Amazon could potentially create a moving screen version of their Alexa to accompany residents from room to room, assisting them in some manner.

It also raises up some possibilities for implementing more robotic participation at events in the future using clever live streaming and even virtual reality. Now individuals who aren't feeling well can attend a graduation or other big event in some capacity without feeling completely left out. However, for those students hoping to find a suitable robot to take their place in a class so they can "play hooky" or "skip," the convincing look of the technology probably isn't quite there yet.
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