Inteach: enhanced personal e-learning with tabletop telepresence and real-world objects

Abstract

We present InTeach, which integrates e-learning with real-world objects (e.g., books and notebooks) using a compact telepresence. There are many software applications of e-learning that work on PCs and mobile devices. Specifically, video streaming-based e-learning provides face-to-face communication between remote teachers and local students. However, conventional e-learning systems do not take real-world objects enough into account. We use textbooks provided by e-learning software and a text editor on PCs as a notebook. Therefore, we developed InTeach, a compact telepresence system to enhance e-learning. Our telepresence system implements a robotic arm attached to a tablet device. As the tablet contains both a camera and display, the device works for face-to-face communication. As the tablet is attached to a robotic arm, the telepresence can see both a student and real-world objects on the desk by changing direction. Moreover, to realize natural interactions, we integrate our telepresence with a wearable device to sense a remote teacher's head motion, so the teacher's head motion is directly reflected to the telepresence system.