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- Business Breakthrough University (BBT) in Tokyo, Japan held a virtual graduation ceremony due to the coronavirus.
- Students called into the ceremony using video-conferencing tool Zoom, and they were displayed on mobile robots.
- Events including graduations and weddings have been moved online to "Minecraft," "Animal Crossing," and other online games since the coronavirus spread throughout the world.
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Students at Business Breakthrough University in Tokyo didn't get a traditional ceremony due to the coronavirus, but they had the next best thing. Using "Newme" mobile robots with a tablet to host a Zoom call, graduates had the experience of walking across the stage and accepting their diplomas at the Hotel Grand Palace in Tokyo, virtually on March 28.
As COVID-19 has infected more than a million people and closed schools around the world, students have found creative ways to recreate cancelled events. A group of eight elementary school students held a virtual graduation ceremony in the popular game "Minecraft." Students at the University of Pennsylvania were inspired by that ceremony, and recreated their entire campus in "Minecraft," with plans to hold graduation and other events online.
Virtual gatherings have become more common, but BBT University took a novel approach, using remotely controlled robots to make the ceremony more physical. Here's what it was like.
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