My Tai-Chi coaches: an augmented-learning tool for practicing Tai-Chi Chuan

Abstract

Tai-Chi Chuan (TCC) is a famous physical exercise and well-known for being able to effectively promote physical well-being. Many people have been interested in learning TCC at the beginning, but eventually failed in mastering it due to the lack of a constantly accompanying master on the side. In this paper, we present an augmented-learning tool, called "My Tai-Chi Coaches", for learning TCC. By wearing an optical see-through Head-Mounted Display (HMD), the users can have their own private coaches-on-demand that will guide them in practicing TCC. To solve the "attention-sticking" problem, we propose the use of "redundant coaches" and high-lighting the primary coach at every instant. When the user wants to adjust his posture to mimic the coach's movement, he can simply suspend his motion, and then the drone will fly to a proper position to capture the images of the user's posture, and display them on an augmented mirror placed near by the highlighted or gazed coach. In addition to learning TCC, the proposed augmented-learning tool can also be used for learning dancing, yoga, sporting, and for rehabilitation.