R. Unnikrishnan

Design and evaluation of a Haptic simulator for vocational skill Training and Assessment

While mainstream haptics has been focusing on training elite skills, the haptic simulator described in this paper addresses a problem with a phenomenal social impact that addresses teaching of vocational skills to the growing unskilled and impoverished populations in India. This is an unconventional attempt at designing a multi-tool haptic trainer that could potentially replace traditional training tools and materials in the primary stages of vocational skill training. After an exhaustive analysis of all the tools used in the various vocational trades of the construction industry, we categorized and sorted the tools based on their properties and functions. Using this information, we designed Amrita Progressive Training Assistance using Haptic simulation (APTAH), a cost effective haptic simulator that can train the use of over nineteen hand-held and powered tools used in several vocations. The simulator provides audio, visual and haptic cues that can help the novice master the use of the tools in the absence of a human trainer. This paper also discusses the preliminary trials conducted to study training effectiveness of the haptic simulator proposed.

Of Elephants and Nested Loops: How to Introduce Computing to Youth in Rural India

We present Haathi Mera Saathi (My Elephant Friend), a game concept which serves as a tool for teaching programming and computational thinking to underprivileged children in rural India. It provides a metaphor and gameplay for embodied and tangible games, and creates a soft early ramp up into the conceptual and digital space of learning to code. We discuss the urgency of digital inclusion for Indian rural children, with reference to technology as an amplifier which they need to learn to direct. We contrast the grounded, embodied style of Haathi Mera Saathi with the current crop of mini-languages and coding games, with particular emphasis on the need for physicality and tangibility in the very early stages of learning to code. We further discuss our experience conducting workshops for students from the tribal and rural belts of India, where we see HMS as an effective approach for taking them from a state of having no background in computers or computing, to a state where they create interactive applications in a Java based environment. Recommendations are given for researchers interested in working with rural village children.

Haptic simulations for training plumbing skills

The objective of this work is to augment actual hands-on conventional vocational training workshop with simulated training using virtual haptic simulations as part of computer-based vocational education and training. We have developed a system to simulate various common tool exercises and procedures in virtual environments for vocational training programs targeted towards illiterate and semi-literate populations. In our previous work, we designed a cost-effective multi-tool haptic simulator that can train the use of 19 hand-held and powered tools. This simulator is designed to replace traditional training tools and materials in the primary stage of vocational skill training. This paper discusses the design and computational modelling of the virtual training interface that allow this simulator to be used for training in multiple vocational trades - with a special focus on plumbing-that bring the experience of a vocational workshop training environment to the end user. This approach of a virtual, computer-based vocational training environment holds the potential to offer vocational training to a diverse audience with varying skill sets.

A physiotherapy toolkit using video games and motion tracking technologies

This paper proposes a software toolkit that Physiotherapists can use to integrate physical therapy exercises with a variety of video games. The toolkit will support a variety of motion tracking technologies and the data from these sensors will help the therapist monitor the performance of the patients and control parameters to advance the therapy appropriately. This technique will be especially useful for disabled patients in developing nations with little access to quality rehabilitation facilities but where computers and mobile phones have penetrated extensively. Using popular games for therapy helps the patient become motivated enough to perform therapy exercise steps repeatedly.

Do It Yourself Educational Kits for Vocational Education and Training

Human motor skill training forms a large portion of the curriculum for any vocational education and training course. Construction personnel such as carpenters, plumbers and masons require long hours of training in order to gain expertise and workmanship to perform complex tasks skillfully. Poor skill in the use of tools results in sub-optimal outcome; compromised work quality and consumes additional cost. In this paper, we describe the design of a novel do-it-yourself educational tool that is built using low cost materials, open source software and hardware, the designs for which are freely downloadable. This educational toolkit uses haptic technology to augment the need for realism and is used to provide skill training in the use of vocational tools. The aim is to generate interest in vocational education and to provide greater accessibility for base level skill training.

Virtual Rebar Bending Training Environment with Haptics Feedback

All building constructions in India use construction rebars (steel concrete reinforcing bars) to provide structural reinforcement for concrete work. This necessitates experts in bending and cutting rebar to correctly size and bend the long steel rods before they can be installed. This paper presents the design and working of a novel haptic based barbending simulator for providing training to novices in the construction rebar bending skill. The haptic training device is combined with a virtual environment and is capable of providing manual skill training and evaluation of prior knowledge of the trainees. The proposed system provides a multi modal simulation environment with visual, audio and haptic feedback. A preliminary evaluation of the barbending simulator prototype is also presented which demonstrates that this simulator could be used by the trainers and novices to learn the basic principles of bending a rebar.

Haptics enhanced multi-tool virtual interfaces for training carpentry skills

This paper presents the design and computational modelling of a virtual simulator of a multitool, for training vocational skills in a hands-on way. Here we describe the audio-visual-haptic elements for the customized simulation interfaces for training carpentry tools and skills and the computational mathematical model to render haptic feedback for these actions. Finally the paper will explain the trainees skill learning curves through these simulations, based on analysis of data from user studies. In our previous work, we designed a haptic training simulation interfaces for plumbing tools as part of Computerized Vocational Education and Training (CVET). As an extension to this we had developed a cost effective system to simulate various common tool exercises and procedures in virtual environments with a special focus of carpentry. Proposed system is designed to replace conventional training in the initial stage of vocational skill training and fasten the skill learning process to a diverse audience with varying skill sets.

Serious game on recognizing categories of waste, to support a zero waste recycling program

Picking up and sorting garbage is a tedious task, and the health effects of garbage on the streets of India is grave. Recycling trash into categories (e.g. hard plastic, soft plastic, organic, paper) requires training to do correctly at speed. Major national clean up campaigns as well as neighbourhood level initiatives require trained trainees who can quickly place each piece into the appropriate place. For this reason, we investigated using a serious game to train people in how to recycle trash quickly.

Design and development of balance training platform and games for people with balance impairments

Medicine in India has an emerging need for balance rehabilitation due to its growing population of elderly, diabetics and stroke patients. In this paper, we describe the design of a cost effective system that provides static and dynamic balance training through interactive virtual reality games. The intention is to positively influence the activities of daily living (ADL) of patients suffering from balance disorders. The test-retest reliability of the balance platform is evaluated using intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) and standard error of the measurement (SEM). Thirty healthy individuals performed quiet standing with eyes opened/eyes closed and activities of daily living for twenty seconds. The center of pressure (COP) path length, mean velocity and range of displacement are computed to demonstrate device consistency across different trials. We also discuss the results of a pilot study on the utility of the device among clinical practitioners of physical medicine and rehabilitation.