Well this story will get your heart warm. Paulo Henrique Machado has lived in a room at Clinicas Hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil since infancy and in his 46 years, he has left the hospital only a few dozen times. As a trained computer animator, he has always dreamed of attending SIGGRAPH, a conference on computer graphics and interactive techniques. SIGGRAPH is currently in Vancouver for its 41st conference at the Vancouver Convention Centre and through the magic of technology, Paulo was able to attend!
Through a telepresence robot called "R2-D2", Paulo attended the event and controlled the movements through his hospital bed. He peered out the glass windows and was taken aback by the sight of the Vancouver harbour for the first time, something he wouldn't have seen without the help of the robot. If you're at the conference, be sure to say hello! Paulo doesn't speak too much English but he's accompanied by a couple Portugese speaking translators who would be happy to translate for him.
