Stéphanie Fleck

Teegi: tangible EEG interface

We introduce Teegi, a Tangible ElectroEncephaloGraphy (EEG) Interface that enables novice users to get to know more about something as complex as brain signals, in an easy, engaging and informative way. To this end, we have designed a new system based on a unique combination of spatial augmented reality, tangible interaction and real-time neurotechnologies. With Teegi, a user can visualize and analyze his or her own brain activity in real-time, on a tangible character that can be easily manipulated, and with which it is possible to interact. An exploration study has shown that interacting with Teegi seems to be easy, motivating, reliable and informative. Overall, this suggests that Teegi is a promising and relevant training and mediation tool for the general public.

Marker-based augmented reality: instructional-design to improve children interactions with astronomical concepts

This paper presents the instructional-design of an augmented learning environment named AIBLE-HELIOS® that is targeted at teaching astronomy to children. This environment takes benefit of Augmented Reality (AR) and tangible interaction to stimulate an active and learner-centered approach to scientific problem solving. This approach follows the pedagogical principles of the Inquiry-Based Sciences Education (IBSE). Technical specifications and the design of the application have been based on didactical principles. It is intended to children of 8 to 11 years old in formal education. HELIOS was tested in-situ, i.e., in real teaching conditions with pupils (grades 4-5) from two primary schools. This user study confirms the design assumptions that influence childrens interaction with contents during sciences courses. The analyses of the childrens interactions with the system as well as learning indicate that HELIOS supports children in their investigations. Moreover, it provides some new information on childrens interactions possibilities that will be taken into account in future versions. All these parameters contribute to the understanding of the ways through which AR can be used in formal teaching curricula in K-12 schools.

AMI : Augmented Michelson Interferometer

Experiments in optics are essential for learning and understanding physical phenomena. The problem with these experiments is that they are generally time consuming for both their construction and their maintenance, potentially dangerous through the use of laser sources, and often expensive due to high technology optical components. We propose to simulate such experiments by way of hybrid systems that exploit both spatial augmented reality and tangible interaction. In particular, we focus on one of the most popular optical experiments: the Michelson interferometer. In our approach, we target a highly interactive system where students are able to interact in real time with the Augmented Michelson Interferometer (AMI) to observe, test hypotheses and then to enhance their comprehension. Compared to a fully digital simulation, we are investigating an approach that benefits from both physical and virtual elements, and where the students experiment by manipulating 3D-printed physical replicas of optical components (e.g. lenses and mirrors). Our objective is twofold. First, we want to ensure that the students will learn with our simulator the same concepts and skills that they learn with traditional methods. Second, we hypothesis that such a system opens new opportunities to teach optics in a way that was not possible before, by manipulating concepts beyond the limits of observable physical phenomena. To reach this goal, we have built a complementary team composed of experts in the field of optics, human-computer interaction, computer graphics, sensors and actuators, and education science.

HOBIT: Hybrid Optical Bench for Innovative Teaching

Practical work in optics allows supporting the construction of knowledge, in particular when the concept to be learned remains diffuse. To overcome the limitations of the current experimental setups, we have designed a hybrid system that combines physical interaction and numerical simulation. This system relies on 3D-printed replicas of optical elements, which are augmented with pedagogical information. In this paper, we focus on the well-known Michelson interferometer experiment, widely studied in undergraduate programs of Science. A 3-months user study with 101 students and 6 teachers showed that, beyond the practical aspects offered by this system, such an approach enhances the technical and scientific learning compared to a standard Michelson interferometer experiment.

Making Tangible the Intangible: Hybridization of the Real and the Virtual to Enhance Learning of Abstract Phenomena

Interactive systems based on Augmented Reality (AR) and Tangible User Interfaces (TUI) hold great promise for enhancing the learning and understanding of abstract phenomena. In particular, they enable to take advantage of numerical simulation and pedagogical supports, while keeping the learner involved in true physical experimentations. In this paper, we present three examples based on AR and TUI, where the concepts to be learnt are difficult to perceive. The first one, Helios, targets K-12 learners in the field of astronomy. The second one, Hobit is dedicated to experiments in wave optics. Finally, the third one, Teegi, allows one to get to know more about brain activity. These three hybrid interfaces have emerged from a common basis that jointly combines research and development work in the fields of Instructional Design and Human-Computer Interaction, from theoretical to practical aspects. On the basis of investigations carried out in real context of use and on the grounding works in education and HCI which corroborate the design choices that were made, we formalize how and why the hybridization of the real and the virtual enables to leverage the way learners understand intangible phenomena in Sciences education.

I, here's what I want you to make me! (Lucie, age 9): participative design for the utilisability of tangible markers in school context

This article exposes the principles and the first results bound to the possibility of the implementation of a participative design method, the collective creativity, centered on young users. The study leans on pupils who are users of a marker-based augmented learning environment currently in development: AIBLE-HELIOS®. In their class, the manipulations of the tangible markers during their learning tasks lead children to frequent occlusions and therefore to a limitation of their augmented experience. Consequently, this is affecting the attention of the pupils and the degree of utilisability of this augmented environment. With the aim of improving the tangible supports, we decided to involve directly the pupils-users (39 pupils of 8 - 11 years old) at the early stage of development of AIBLE-HELIOS® by testing the implementation of the technique of the collective creativity. The objective of the participative design sessions described in this study was to enhance and to organize the production of ideas by using a succession of divergent and convergent phases (orchestrated by specific tools). 156 idea sheets and models were realized and the results open perspectives for the adaptation of this method to young pupils.

Teegi, he's so cute: example of pedagogical potential testing of an interactive tangible interface for children at school

The cerebral activity is an intangible physiological process difficult to apprehend, especially for children. With the aim of providing a new type of educational support, we studied the pedagogical potential of an interactive tangible interface (Teegi) designed to be used in educational context. This interface aims at enabling children to discover the relation between the brain activity and the human body functions. We propose in this study a methodology to evaluate its pedagogical potential in real context of use, considering the specificities of the children. This study, carried out with 29 pupils, highlights the strengths of this system, both in terms of its usability and its impact on learning. Moreover, the results provided by this methodology revealed possible improvements for a greater pedagogical effectiveness. This type of interactive interface, as well as the evaluation method proposed, paves the way for the pedagogical use of new interactive and tangible devices at school.

15 minutes of video game for the treatment of dyslexia

Dyslexia is a language disorder affecting mainly the decoding of words and their understanding. 5% of children are dyslexic. Studies have shown that this pathology was partly related to an attention deficit. Attention is a capacity which has a crucial role in the learning to read. The aim of this study is to assess the possibilities to use action video games in the treatment of dyslexia. This paper exposes the first results obtained after a short game session (< 15min.) achieved by a panel test of children. After the sessions, we measured a significant decrease in the number of reading errors, indicating that a short session is sufficient to stimulate attentional abilities.

Helios: a tangible and augmented environment to learn optical phenomena in astronomy

France is among the few countries that have integrated astronomy in primary school levels. However, for fifteen years, a lot of studies have shown that children have difficulties in understanding elementary astronomic phenomena such as day/night alternation, seasons or moon phases’ evolution. To understand these phenomena, learners have to mentally construct 3D perceptions of aster motions and to understand how light propagates from an allocentric point of view. Therefore, 4-5 grades children (8 to 11 years old), who are developing their spatial cognition, have many difficulties to assimilate geometric optical problems that are linked to astronomy. To make astronomical learning more efficient for young pupils, we have designed an Augmented Inquiry-Based Learning Environment (AIBLE): HELIOS. Because manipulations in astronomy are intrinsically not possible, we propose to manipulate the underlying model. With HELIOS, virtual replicas of the Sun, Moon and Earth are directly manipulated from tangible manipulations. This digital support combines the possibilities of Augmented Reality (AR) while maintaining intuitive interactions following the principles of didactic of sciences. Light properties are taken into account and shadows of Earth and Moon are directly produced by an omnidirectional light source associated to the virtual Sun. This AR environment provides users with experiences they would otherwise not be able to experiment in the physical world. Our main goal is that students can take active control of their learning, express and support their ideas, make predictions and hypotheses, and test them by conducting investigations.