Vidya Robot
Personal Project | 2019 | 7 Weeks | San Francisco, CA.
Tools : Autodesk Alias | Fusion 360| Keyshot | Adobe Photoshop
Sponsor : Kandu AI, San Jose, CA.
Collaboration : Vargas International Elementary School, Sunnyvale, CA.
Vidya is a classroom teaching assistant robot powered by Kandu AI's facial and object recognition technology. Designed for elementary school environments, Vidya's primary role is to handle the routine administrative and instructional tasks that consume teachers' time, freeing educators to focus on what matters most: meaningful engagement with their students.
For students, Vidya offers personalized and group support, responding to queries in real time and deepening comprehension through dynamic, on-demand animations. Its form is deliberately approachable shaped to feel familiar and friendly to young learners, ensuring that interactions between child and robot feel natural rather than clinical.
The robot's exterior integrates smart materials embedded with haptic feedback, transforming the surface itself into an interactive layer. Rather than existing as a separate technological object, Vidya is designed to blend quietly and seamlessly into the rhythm of the classroom, present when needed, unobtrusive when not.
The design process began with field research at Vergas Elementary School in Sunnyvale. Talking with teachers helped identify their real, everyday challenges. Spending time with students was equally inspiring, their excitement and imagination around robots in the classroom shaped how Vidya looks, feels, and interacts.
Core problems:
Teachers are overloaded with routine tasks — administrative and repetitive instructional duties consume time that could otherwise be spent on direct, meaningful engagement with students.
Students lack personalized, on-demand support — in a classroom of many, individual queries often go unaddressed or delayed, slowing down learning and leaving students disengaged.
Robots feel foreign in a classroom setting — existing technology lacks the approachable, friendly form needed for children to interact with it comfortably and naturally.
Vidya Robot
Your everyday companion in school