Study of communication modalities to support teaching tool manipulation skills in a shared immersive environment

Abstract

This work investigates the potential benefits of using a shared immersive environment for training purposes. Such an environment provides a safe space for teachers to impart their knowledge and expertise to trainees, especially when teaching technical skills that require proper tool manipulation. Our research focuses on exploring different communication modalities that can be used to teach movement amplitude during tool manipulation tasks. Specifically, we examine the effectiveness of haptic, visual, and verbal modalities in enhancing the learning process. Our user study results reveal that trainees were able to replicate movements more accurately when given instructions using the visual modality, and they were able to replicate movements faster when given instructions using the haptic modality. While verbal instructions increased the sense of copresence with the teacher, it was the least preferred modality. These findings suggest that multimodality could be the most appropriate approach to enhance the teaching of movement amplitude skills. Our study provides insights for improving the design of immersive shared systems. It opens up new avenues for further research on the effectiveness of shared immersive virtual environments in supporting the teaching of technical skills.