More Like this

1. Towards Embodied Wearable Intelligent Tutoring Systems

   Rasul, I. (April 2023, Lecture notes in computer science)

   Frasson, C. (Ed.)

   Embodied cognition posits that human-environment interac- tion positively impacts thinking and learning, making it a valuable ped- agogical tool. Technology in teaching and learning has seen tremendous maturation, such as the development of Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS). However, most ITS provide static learning experiences that do not incorporate embodiment, movement, and interaction with the space around the learner. This paper examines the results of using an embod- ied tutoring system across three case studies with different dimensions of embodiment. In all cases, we found trends highlighting how embodied tutoring systems can support learning. We also discuss different ways to incorporate embodiment into future research on ITS. 

   more » « less
2. Understanding young children’s science learning through embodied communication within an MR environment

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s11412-023-09395-z  

   Tu, Xintian; Danish, Joshua; Humburg, Megan; Zhou, Mengxi; Mathayas, Nitasha; Enyedy, Noel; Jen, Tessaly (July 2023, International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning)

   Abstract While there is increased interest in using movement and embodiment to support learning due to the rise in theories of embodied cognition and learning, additional work needs to be done to explore how we can make sense of students collectively developing their understanding within a mixed-reality environment. In this paper, we explore embodied communication’s individual and collective functions as a way of seeing students’ learning through embodiment. We analyze data from a mixed-reality (MR) environment: Science through Technology Enhanced Play (STEP) (Danish et al., International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning 15:49–87, 2020), using descriptive statistics and interaction analysis to explore the role of gesture and movement in student classroom activities and their pre-and post-interviews. The results reveal that students appear to develop gestures for representing challenging concepts within the classroom and then use these gestures to help clarify their understanding within the interview context. We further explore how students collectively develop these gestures in the classroom, with a focus on their communicative acts, then provide a list of individual and collective functions that are supported by student gestures and embodiment within the STEP MR environment, and discuss the functions of each act. Finally, we illustrate the value of attending to these gestures for educators and designers interested in supporting embodied learning. 

   more » « less
3. The Case for “Weird Social” in VR/XR: A Vision of Social Superpowers Beyond Meatspace

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3411763.3450377  

   McVeigh-Schultz, Joshua; Isbister, Katherine (May 2021, CHI EA '21: Extended Abstracts of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems)

   null (Ed.)

   COVID underscores the potential of VR meeting tools to compensate for lack of embodied communication in applications like Zoom. But both research and commercial VR meeting environments typically seek to approximate physical meetings, instead of exploring new capacities of communication and coordination. We argue the most transformative features of VR (and XR more broadly) may look and feel very different from familiar social rituals of physical meetings. Embracing “weird” forms of sociality and embodiment, we incorporate inspiration from a range of sources including: (1) emerging rituals in commercial social VR, (2) existing research on social augmentation systems for meetings, (3) novel examples of embodied VR communication, and (4) a fictionalized vignette envisioning a future with aspects of “Weird Social XR” folded into everyday life. We call upon the research community to approach these speculative forms of alien sociality as opportunities to explore new kinds of social superpowers. 

   more » « less
4. Not Some Random Agent: Multi-person Interaction with a Personalizing Service Robot

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3319502.3374795  

   Reig, Samantha; Luria, Michal; Wang, Janet Z.; Oltman, Danielle; Carter, Elizabeth Jeanne; Steinfeld, Aaron; Forlizzi, Jodi; Zimmerman, John (March 2020, Proceedings of the 2020 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction)

   Service robots often perform their main functions in public settings, interacting with more than one person at a time. How these robots should handle the affairs of individual users while also behaving appropriately when others are present is an open question. One option is to design for flexible agent embodiment: letting agents take control of different robots as people move between contexts. Through structured User Enactments, we explored how agents embodied within a single robot might interact with multiple people. Participants interacted with a robot embodied by a singular service agent, agents that re-embody in different robots and devices, and agents that co-embody within the same robot. Findings reveal key insights about the promise of re-embodiment and co-embodiment as design paradigms as well as what people value during interactions with service robots that use personalization. 

   more » « less
5. What my bias meant for my embodiment: an investigation on virtual embodiment in desktop-based virtual reality

   https://doi.org/10.3389/frvir.2024.1251564  

   You, Christopher; Peck, Tabitha; Stuart, Jacob; Gomes_de_Siqueira, Alexandre; Lok, Benjamin (March 2024, Frontiers in Virtual Reality)

   The immersion of virtual reality (VR) can impact user perceptions in numerous forms, even racial bias and embodied experiences. These effects are often limited to head-mounted displays (HMDs) and other immersive technologies that may not be inclusive to the general population. This paper investigates racial bias and embodiment on a less immersive but more accessible medium: desktop VR. A population of participants (n = 158) participated in a desktop simulation where they embodied a virtual avatar and interacted with virtual humans to determine if desktop embodiment is induced and if there is a resulting effect on racial bias. Our results indicate that desktop embodiment can be induced at low levels, as measured by an embodiment questionnaire. Furthermore, one’s implicit bias may actually influence embodiment, and the experience and perceptions of a desktop VR simulation can be improved through embodied avatars. We discuss these findings and their implications in the context of stereotype activation and existing literature in embodiment. 

   more » « less