The incluMOVE system for an interactive and context-aware learning and workspace is now publicly available free of charge. The system is the result of the education and research project incluMOVE to support people with reduced performance in their work.
The assistive system
incluMOVE guides people through the work process of assembling printed circuit boards via projections at the workplace. The software developed by the Affective & Cognitive Institute ACI of the Offenburg University of Applied Sciences motivates through gamification with badges, a progress indicator, animations and milestones. The virtual assistant Gregor Gouda supports users during their work.
Features
incluMOVE combines a didactic user interface with gamification elements. A general overview of the user interface is explained in this video.
Chatbot
The chatbot accompanies users through the individual work steps. These steps are freely editable (Editor Tool) and text, audio, images and videos can be integrated to explain the individual steps.
Gregor Gouda
The virtual assistant Gregor Gouda is part of the chatbot and takes on the role of explaining the work steps. In addition, animations such as greetings and farewells are incorporated.
Timeline
A timeline in the chatbot itself provides information about which work step you are currently in and whether you are on time. In addition, there is a counter displaying how many rounds you have already completed.
Gamification
Each session, users can collect so-called badges that reflect their speed, endurance and performance. These badges offer users a way to keep track of their performance and are redeemed at the end of the session into a colorful reward animation. Over a longer period of time, users receive so-called milestones that reward iterative work with incluMOVE. Animations are an important part of the user interface experience. Special animations are played every time a workflow is completed or badges are collected. Animations are also built into the performance overview towards the end.
Editor Tool
The Editor Tool offers the possibility to design all displays in the chatbot (image, text, sound, video), pick-by-light projections and the time of a workflow step and to add new entries. In addition, the adaptivity of each element can be edited to display additional assistance if needed.
Development and User Studies
During the three years of incluMOVE, the Affective & Cognitive Institute ACI developed the incluMOVE application in intensive collaboration with the project partners Femos gGmbH and Fraunhofer IPA. Femos’ expertise on didactics and inclusion was fundamental for the design of the application. Fraunhofer IPA developed the hardware components of the incluMOVE setup (Assembling Mouse and mechanics of the desk) as well as the object recognition software.
In an iterative user-centered approach, the software, features and graphics were developed in studies and surveys with the neurodivergent user group. During a two-week trial, the average error rate was reduced by 53%. At the same time, the number of badges achieved per work unit increased by 61%. Personal feedback was also very positive: “It was a lot of fun!”
Many thanks to our project partners for the good and helpful cooperation!
Open Source Release
Two variants are available on Gihub as MIT licences:
- IncluMOVE Light as software for gamification of the table surface. It is completed and immediately free to use for inclusion businesses. All that is additionally required is a work surface, a computer and a beamer. The workflow is created for the assembly of printed circuit boards. The system can be adapted to other workflows as needed via the source code.
- IncluMOVE Extended combines the software with the table system. It is an interim version with documentation and outlook that needs further development.
Both packages include the installation package, the source code, a sample workflow and easy-to-understand documentation of installation, recreation, use and configuration.
The animation and design of the virtual assistant Gregor Gouda, who interacts with the learners and provides sympathetic assistance, as well as the UI design are also available in open access on the repository at https://github.com/AffectiveCognitiveInstitute/inclumove_graphics