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There is a growing need to deliver rehabilitation care to patients remotely. Long term demographic changes, geographic shortages of care providers, and now a global pandemic contribute to this need. Telepresence provides an option for delivering this care. However, telepresence using video and audio alone does not provide an interaction of the same quality as in-person. To bridge this gap, we propose the use of social robot augmented telepresence (SRAT). We have constructed a demonstration SRAT system for upper extremity rehab, in which a humanoid, with a head, body, face, and arms, is attached to a mobile telepresence system, to collaborate with the patient and clinicians as an independent social entity. The humanoid can play games with the patient and demonstrate activities.These activities could be used both to perform assessments in support of self-directed rehab and to perform exercises. In this paper, we present a case series with six subjects who completed interactions with the robot, three subjects who have previously suffered a stroke and three pediatric subjects who are typically developing. Subjects performed a Simon Says activity and a target touch activity in person, using classical telepresence (CT), and using SRAT. Subjects were able to effectively work with the social robot guiding interactions and 5 of 6 rated SRAT better than CT. This study demonstrates the feasibility of SRAT and some of its benefits.

The development and coordination of interdisciplinary immersion programs in French and Spanish at Boston College are chronicled, and some issues of federal grant support are discussed. The programs, currently involving the history, theology, philosophy, fine arts, management, and sociology departments and soon including political science, consist of one course taught in each department in each language. Most are standard courses ordinarily taught in English. Students are also encouraged to take a coordinating course in the appropriate language. Extracurricular activities play a large role in both programs. Among the issues addressed during the program's course were the possible admission of Latin Americans to the Spanish program and more closely defining the function of the coordinating course. Additional projects planned include training other college and high school personnel to run similar courses, and opening undergraduate immersion courses to secondary language teachers for graduate credit. Funding by the Department of Education and National Endowment for the Humanities has had advantages and disadvantages. Among the advantages are adequate funds for support activities such as consultants, travel, materials, publicity, and departmental coordination, and the prestige of association. Disadvantages include walking the line between proposal specifications and actual practice, and the possible negative impact of losing funding. (MSE)

Describes immersion program in foreign languages at Boston College which allows students to select a standard curriculum from courses in many departments but to have curriculum taught in a foreign language. Provides brief description of program and its history, explains how it works, and gives assessment of the past year and a prediction about the future. (EKN)