971434Touchable Universe: Demonstrating the Potential of Haptic TechnologyClosedSmall Business Research InitiativeInnovate UKHaptics is an emerging technology that enables people to feel digital information. When combined with 2D and 3D audio-visual interfaces, it offers enormous potential for education. For instance, it allows students to experience the feeling of drilling in a virtual patient’s mouth, or compare pushing snowballs uphill on Earth and Europa, or feel soundwaves hitting an ear drum. Haptics makes the virtual universe touchable. In phase one, we demonstrated feasibility. Working with teachers, education designers and students, we defined the general usability requirements for vivid learning experiences that linked directly to the national curriculum, with a particular focus on ‘hard to teach’ topics. The resultant apps were then evaluated by educational and business partners, including teachers and an international distributor, against a matrix including cost, usability, educational value and market appeal. The results were outstandingly positive and resulted in many expressions of interest from potential partners. As we move into phase two, we propose to prove the efficacy of the approach and develop a scalable and credible route to market. To that end, we are delighted to be partnering with a leading exam board – OCR (Oxford, Cambridge and the RSA) – to design, pilot and evaluate new types of haptic learning packs built around compulsory subjects that are hard to teach, or where students frequently fall short in exams. The initial packs will focus on dissection, the way in which ears respond to sound waves, and 3D printing/coding. If we can prove that haptics can directly improve performance in particular exam questions, we can then move towards commercialisation with an exam board that sells products in 160 countries. Of course, learning is not just about exams. To support students in the equally important tasks of exploration and creativity, we will launch a haptics-themed co-branded website (OCR receive 1m hits a month). The site will promote knowledge exchange on different aspects of haptics, including coding, 3D printing and the internet of things. It will also allow schools to download our award-winning haptics software, and link into the BBC’s Microbit and Make It Digital campaigns. By encouraging widespread adoption of haptics in schools we will support the sales path for the learning packs and improve our understanding of the ed-tech market with a view to creating a new generation of affordable, swappable and topic-specific control devices. Taken together, these deliverables will also drive up interest in science, technology and design – three sectors of our economy where demand for employees far outstrips supply. ‘One of the best ways for pupils to learn something, and remember something, is to experience it and this allows them to do that. ….. I honestly think that the whole package will become invaluable to schools and I just think it is really exciting, I really do!’ – Alix Morris, phase one evaluator and teacher.