Haptic-enabled virtual handwriting: Multimodal handwriting instructions for young students

In this paper, we describe a multimodal system for improving a student\´s ability to efficiently write printed English letters. The system, overall, provide information from multiple sources by incorporating: a) a visual cue rendered on a computer screen to simulate letters, b) haptic force-feedback in the way of a virtual "physical" representation that users can trace using a PHANToM Omni haptic device, and c) auditory and visual instructions from a teacher who has experience in the difficulties that some students experience when attempting to efficiently write. Our results of user testing show that a kindergarten aged student is able to retain information and recognize the correct process for writing with little to no further instruction following the use of this system. We also use a modified version of the system to more adequately test a student who has a serious deficiency in memorization and retention ability. The student displays a far greater retention following the use of the system, to the point that the student is asked to repeat the process (with no haptic aid) the following day and shows absolutely no issue in doing so.