SMART: a system of augmented reality for teaching 2nd grade students

In this paper, we describe the design and evaluation of SMART, an educational system that uses augmented reality for teaching 2nd grade-level concepts, adequate and integrated with national curriculum guidelines. SMART puts children exploring concepts like means of transportation, types of animals and similar semantic categories through the use of a set of racquets that are used to manipulate a TV-show style game with 3D models which are superimposed to the real time video feed of the whole class. Experiments were performed with several classes of students in three different, local primary schools. Results suggest that SMART is effective in maintaining high levels of motivation among children, and also that SMART has a positive impact on the students’ learning experience, especially among the weaker students.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Fostering collaboration in kindergarten through an augmented reality game

Kindergarten children are a very special class of users, since they are in a primary stage of life, when they must learn how to live in society, e.g. to listen and respect the others’ opinions, share the same objects and also help each other. This study presents an Augmented Reality game, in which kinder garten children were able to collaborate in a spontaneous way supported by motivation, enjoyment and curiosity. This game allows children to explore concepts like the animals and the en vironments they live in by using Augmented Reality markers and a wooden board. These markers are the game pieces and through them children are able to manipulate 3D virtual models. Experiments were performed with several classes of students in different schools. Results suggest that the game is effective in maintaining high levels of motivation and collaboration among children, particularly when using immediate feedback.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Evaluación de un entorno de teleoperación con ROS

[Resumen] En este artículo se resume el desarrollo de un sistema de teleoperación para el Grips de Kraft TeleRobotics. La integración con ROS permite el uso de varias herramientas de análisis de datos, visualización, simulación, e interacción con múltiples sensores. Como instrumento maestro del sistema se propone el dispositivo háptico Phantom Omni de SensAble, para el que se ha desarrollado una reflexión de fuerzas.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad; DPI2015-68842-

SMART: system of augmented reality for teaching

Os computadores e os jogos de consola, são um vocabulário bem comum dos jovens e das crianças de hoje. No entanto, na maior parte das escolas, o processo de ensino-aprendizagem continua a ser feito da forma tradicional através do recurso aos quadros pretos e aos cadernos. Este projecto pretende mostrar que, se as aulas forem dadas de uma forma mais interactiva, as crianças estarão mais motivadas e consequentemente a taxa de aprendizagem terá tendência a aumentar. Pretende-se então, utilizar a tecnologia – a Realidade Aumentada, acreditando que será uma mais valia para o ensino, pois permite estabelecer novas relações com o saber, ultrapassando os limites dos materiais tradicionais e contribuindo para a diminuição da distância entre os alunos e o conhecimento.Orientador: Pedro Filipe Pereira Campo

Incapacités intellectuelles et initiation aux transports publics : cahier des charges fonctionnel d'un jeu sérieux

Les transports publics soutiennent l’indépendance et encouragent l’inclusion sociale, scolaire et professionnelle. Ils sont des moyens sûrs pour avoir accès à la ville, aux services et aux activités. Toutefois, l’usage des transports publics en service régulier nécessite des connaissances et un savoir-faire que tous les voyageurs, tels que les personnes ayant des incapacités intellectuelles, ne maîtrisent pas. En effet, pour la plupart des individus, l’apprentissage de l’utilisation des transports publics se fait par l’expérience personnelle; néanmoins, pour les personnes qui ont des incapacités intellectuelles, il est nécessaire d’avoir recours à une formation pour acquérir des expériences de déplacement. La formation aux déplacements comme approche inclusive permet aux personnes qui ont des incapacités intellectuelles à apprendre l’utilisation des transports publics en service régulier, ce qui peut les aider à être plus autonomes et également à acquérir des compétences de déplacement. Cependant, la recherche a identifié des contraintes liées à la formation aux déplacements telles que les coûts temporels, les coûts par stagiaire, la peur liée à la sécurité ou à la compréhension des concepts complexes, etc. Ce travail vise à concevoir un cahier des charges fonctionnel pour le développement d’un jeu sérieux visant l’initiation aux transports publics en service régulier pour des personnes qui ont des incapacités intellectuelles et leurs formateurs/agents aidant. L’objectif étant de répondre aux besoins d’apprentissage et d’enseignement et à surmonter certains des obstacles identifiés.Public Transport supports independence and encourages social, educational and vocational inclusion. It is a sure means to gain access to the city, services and activities. However, using fixed-route requires knowledge and know-how that all travelers, such as people with intellectual disabilities, do not master. While for most of us learning to travel is done through personal experience, for people with intellectual disabilities there is a need for travel training in order to build up travel experience and confidence. Travel training as an inclusive approach allows people with intellectual disabilities to learn the fixed-route, which may help them to be more autonomous and also gain self-determination skills. Research has identified, however, some constraints related to travel training such as: time cost, cost per trainee, fear related to safety or the understanding of complex concepts, etc. Our project aims to design the functional specifications document for the design of a serious game for people with intellectual disabilities and their caregiver/trainers in order to support learning and teaching needs of how to use the fixed-route and overcome some of the identified constraints

Incapacités intellectuelles et initiation aux transports publics : cahier des charges fonctionnel d'un jeu sérieux

Les transports publics soutiennent l’indépendance et encouragent l’inclusion sociale, scolaire et professionnelle. Ils sont des moyens sûrs pour avoir accès à la ville, aux services et aux activités. Toutefois, l’usage des transports publics en service régulier nécessite des connaissances et un savoir-faire que tous les voyageurs, tels que les personnes ayant des incapacités intellectuelles, ne maîtrisent pas. En effet, pour la plupart des individus, l’apprentissage de l’utilisation des transports publics se fait par l’expérience personnelle; néanmoins, pour les personnes qui ont des incapacités intellectuelles, il est nécessaire d’avoir recours à une formation pour acquérir des expériences de déplacement. La formation aux déplacements comme approche inclusive permet aux personnes qui ont des incapacités intellectuelles à apprendre l’utilisation des transports publics en service régulier, ce qui peut les aider à être plus autonomes et également à acquérir des compétences de déplacement. Cependant, la recherche a identifié des contraintes liées à la formation aux déplacements telles que les coûts temporels, les coûts par stagiaire, la peur liée à la sécurité ou à la compréhension des concepts complexes, etc. Ce travail vise à concevoir un cahier des charges fonctionnel pour le développement d’un jeu sérieux visant l’initiation aux transports publics en service régulier pour des personnes qui ont des incapacités intellectuelles et leurs formateurs/agents aidant. L’objectif étant de répondre aux besoins d’apprentissage et d’enseignement et à surmonter certains des obstacles identifiés.Public Transport supports independence and encourages social, educational and vocational inclusion. It is a sure means to gain access to the city, services and activities. However, using fixed-route requires knowledge and know-how that all travelers, such as people with intellectual disabilities, do not master. While for most of us learning to travel is done through personal experience, for people with intellectual disabilities there is a need for travel training in order to build up travel experience and confidence. Travel training as an inclusive approach allows people with intellectual disabilities to learn the fixed-route, which may help them to be more autonomous and also gain self-determination skills. Research has identified, however, some constraints related to travel training such as: time cost, cost per trainee, fear related to safety or the understanding of complex concepts, etc. Our project aims to design the functional specifications document for the design of a serious game for people with intellectual disabilities and their caregiver/trainers in order to support learning and teaching needs of how to use the fixed-route and overcome some of the identified constraints

A multiple optical tracking based approach for enhancing hand-based interaction in virtual reality simulations

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Wolverhampton for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.Research exploring natural virtual reality interaction has seen significant success in optical tracker-based approaches, enabling users to freely interact using their hands. Optical based trackers can provide users with real-time, high-fidelity virtual hand representations for natural interaction and an immersive experience. However, work in this area has identified four issues: occlusion, field-of-view, stability and accuracy. To overcome the four key issues, researchers have investigated approaches such as using multiple sensors. Research has shown multi-sensor-based approaches to be effective in improving recognition accuracy. However, such approaches typically use statically positioned sensors, which introduce body occlusion issues that make tracking hands challenging. Machine learning approaches have also been explored to improve gesture recognition. However, such approaches typically require a pre-set gesture vocabulary limiting user actions with larger vocabularies hindering real-time performance. This thesis presents an optical hand-based interaction system that comprises two Leap Motion sensors mounted onto a VR headset at different orientations. Novel approaches to the aggregation and validation of sensor data are presented. A machine learning sub-system is developed to validate hand data received by the sensors. Occlusion detection, stability detection, inferred hands and a hand interpolation sub-system are also developed to ensure that valid hand representations are always shown to the user. In addition, a mesh conformation sub-system ensures 3D objects are appropriately held in a user’s virtual hand. The presented system addresses the four key issues of optical sessions to provide a smooth and consistent user experience. The MOT system is evaluated against traditional interaction approaches; gloves, motion controllers and a single front-facing sensor configuration. The comparative sensor evaluation analysed the validity and availability of tracking data, along with each sensors effect on the MOT system. The results show the MOT provides a more stable experience than the front-facing configuration and produces significantly more valid tracking data. The results also demonstrated the effectiveness of a 45-degree sensor configuration in comparison to a front-facing. Furthermore, the results demonstrated the effectiveness of the MOT systems solutions at handling the four key issues with optical trackers

Manipulador aéreo con brazos antropomórficos de articulaciones flexibles

[Resumen] Este artículo presenta el primer robot manipulador aéreo con dos brazos antropomórficos diseñado para aplicarse en tareas de inspección y mantenimiento en entornos industriales de difícil acceso para operarios humanos. El robot consiste en una plataforma aérea multirrotor equipada con dos brazos antropomórficos ultraligeros, así como el sistema de control integrado de la plataforma y los brazos. Una de las principales características del manipulador es la flexibilidad mecánica proporcionada en todas las articulaciones, lo que aumenta la seguridad en las interacciones físicas con el entorno y la protección del propio robot. Para ello se ha introducido un compacto y simple mecanismo de transmisión por muelle entre el eje del servo y el enlace de salida. La estructura en aluminio de los brazos ha sido cuidadosamente diseñada de forma que los actuadores estén aislados frente a cargas radiales y axiales que los puedan dañar. El manipulador desarrollado ha sido validado a través de experimentos en base fija y en pruebas de vuelo en exteriores.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad; DPI2014-5983-C2-1-