Project objectives
Humans rely on physical interaction to learn from each other and their environment—from the motions of a parent to help a child walk to training a violinist for a concert. Building on a solid multidisciplinary foundation with an integrated approach, CONBOTS proposes a paradigm shift that aims to enrich the learning of handwriting and music through robotics, creating a physical interaction robotic platform that connects humans in order to facilitate the learning of complex sensorimotor tasks.
The newly developed platform will combine four enabling technologies: i) compact tactile robotic devices to gently interact with upper limbs; ii) an interactive controller that allows physical communication, integrating Differential Game Theory (GT) and an algorithm to identify the partner controller; iii) a bidirectional user interface including serious games based on augmented reality applications, a set of wearable sensors and sensorized objects; iv) machine learning algorithms to adapt the learning exercises to the physical, emotional and mental state of the user.
CONBOTS is based on recent neuroscientific discoveries that have demonstrated the benefits of physical interaction in the execution of motor tasks in pairs, where the human central nervous system understands the motor intentions of the partner and can use it to improve the execution of the task and the motor learning. This will be implemented to create new human-human and human-robot interaction paradigms applied to two different learning contexts: i) the training of handwriting skills in children learning to write by hand; ii) the enhancement of learning performance in novice musicians.
Using its unifying neuroscience-based approach to motor learning and physical communication, CONBOTS will expand the impact and application of robotics in the education industry. |
