--- description: Find out why Van Robotics ABii is one of the best inventions of 2020. title: Van Robotics ABii: The 100 Best Inventions of 2020 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e20e59a7e314815/698a1449e76ad22eb46384e9/best-inventions-of-2020-ABii-5.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 19, 2020 # A High-Tech Tutor Van Robotics ABii by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Jessica Pettway for TIME; Prop styling by Stephanie L. Yeh Robots fascinate [Van Robotics](https://www.smartrobottutor.com/ "undefined") CEO Laura Boccanfuso. But while getting her Ph.D. in computer science, she felt most were too expensive and technical for real-life applications. So she developed ABii, a robot tutor aimed at closing the math and reading proficiency gap for K-5 students. This is no mere toy: the 16-by-8-in. Device is designed to work with teachers—and, increasingly, parents now that so many children are learning from home—with a curriculum created by certified educators. Its edge: using a camera to detect changes in student attention and optimizing its tutoring approach to resonate with individual learners. “Schools more than ever need individualized learning help,” Boccanfuso says. “\[They\] don’t have enough teachers in the classroom.” Schools that buy ABii for $999 receive 30 student licenses that come with lesson plans that are updated regularly to meet national standards; the home version ($599) offers the same features with just three licenses. _—Nadia Suleman_ **Buy now:** [Van Robotics ABii](https://www.smartrobottutor.com/shop "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2020/5911353/van-robotics-abii/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2020/5911353/van-robotics-abii/"},"headline":"A High-Tech Tutor","datePublished":"2020-11-19T13:55:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:46:32.958Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2020/5911353/van-robotics-abii/","keywords":["list","franchise","best inventions","Best Inventions 2020"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e20e59a7e314815/698a1449e76ad22eb46384e9/best-inventions-of-2020-ABii-5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e20e59a7e314815/698a1449e76ad22eb46384e9/best-inventions-of-2020-ABii-5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2020/5911353/van-robotics-abii/","name":"A High-Tech Tutor"}}]}] ```