When you combine Google Fiber, a robot and a boy almost 3000 kilometres away from a baseball game, you already know it’s going to be a good story. But this is better than just good. Google Fiber helped a boy with a rare blood disorder throw out the first pitch at a baseball game that was 2900km away.
Like most boys, Nick LeGrande wanted to play ball when he grew up. Unlike most boys, Nick, who is just days away from turning 14 years old, suffers from a life-threatening blood disorder called aplastic anemia. His immune system is weakened to the point where he can’t go to baseball games anymore.
Insert Google Fiber and Oakland A’s pitcher Ryan Cook. Cook was responsible for linking everyone together. Google Fiber built a mini-baseball field at its Kansas City campus for Nick to come to (Nick lives nearby) while a telerobotic pitching machine landed in Oakland before the Oakland A’s-New York Yankees game. The telerobotic pitching machine in Oakland basically mimicked whatever Nick would do in Kansas City. So when he threw a pitch at Google’s baseball field in Kansas City, the robot threw the first pitch in Oakland. Awesome.
You can catch up more with Nick here. Ah, Google Fiber, what doesn’t it do, right? [Google Fiber, ESPN, BuzzFeed]