Exploring the potential of personalized VR bodily learning systems

The recent democratisation of virtual reality (VR) technology suggests that we have reached a point where this could be a viable technical intervention to support bodily learning at home. After all, VR training systems have a history of use in high-risk fields, as well as physiotherapy rehabilitation for patients. But when it comes to remote learning, 2D pre-recorded videos and live teleseminars are still the convention; the widespread lockdown restrictions placed as a response to the Covid-19 epidemic have made this indisputable. While these technologies can still be helpful for non-bodily subjects like language or history, they leave much to be desired for bodily disciplines like performance arts or sports. This is because the spatial complexities of movement make some physical techniques difficult to learn and teach through a flat surface. Furthermore, the vast differences in individuals' learning conditions, such as their physical qualities or training environment, call for adaptations, making the nature of bodily learning highly personalized. Even in a private session with an instructor, the ability to discern crucial details of what the other isdoing is limited when observed through a screen.

To address the shortcomings of current models, this proposal suggests designing, deploying, and studying VR prototypes that support remote bodily learning, providing a tailored experience based on the users' personal movement data recorded and displayed in a 3D environment. This data could then be shared without requiring colocation, such as an instructor sending their movements to a student as reference material, or vice versa so that a student could have their movements evaluated by an instructor. Contemporary applications of somaesthetics suggest that a "body-centric" approach to design might offer a promising methodology to explore this challenge, and recent work on sensory (mis)alignment suggest a potentially applicable approach. In doing so, this research would explore the significance of personal movement patterns and how they are communicated, as well as their changes over time as expertise develops. Additionally, the findings from this research could ultimately help bring people closer to new tools and interventions for web-based learning, personal fitness, rehabilitation, digital entertainment, and beyond.

We will collaborate with over 40 partners drawn from across FMCG and Food; Creative Industries; Health and Wellbeing; Smart Mobility; Finance; Enabling technologies; and Policy, Law and Society. These will benefit from engagement with our CDT through the following established mechanisms:

- Training multi-disciplinary leaders. Our partners will benefit from being able to recruit highly skilled individuals who are able to work across technologies, methods and sectors and in multi-disciplinary teams. We will deliver at least 65 skilled PhD graduates into the Digital Economy.

- Internships. Each Horizon student undertakes at least one industry internship or exchange at an external partner. These internships have a benefit to the student in developing their appreciation of the relevance of their PhD to the external societal and industrial context, and have a benefit to the external partner through engagement with our students and their multidisciplinary skill sets combined with an ability to help innovate new ideas and approaches with minimal long-term risk. Internships are a compulsory part of our programme, taking place in the summer of the first year. We will deliver at least 65 internships with partners.

- Industry-led challenge projects. Each student participates in an industry-led group project in their second year. Our partners benefit from being able to commission focused research projects to help them answer a challenge that they could not normally fund from their core resources. We will deliver at least 15 such projects (3 a year) throughout the lifetime of the CDT.

- Industry-relevant PhD projects. Each student delivers a PhD thesis project in collaboration with at least one external partner who benefits from being able to engage in longer-term and deeper research that they would not normally be able to undertake, especially for those who do not have their own dedicated R&D labs. We will deliver at least 65 such PhDs over the lifetime of this CDT renewal.

- Public engagement. All students receive training in public engagement and learn to communicate their findings through press releases, media coverage.

This proposal introduces two new impact channels in order to further the impact of our students' work and help widen our network of partners.

- The Horizon Impact Fund. Final year students can apply for support to undertake short impact projects. This benefits industry partners, public and third sector partners, academic partners and the wider public benefit from targeted activities that deepen the impact of individual students' PhD work. This will support activities such as developing plans for spin-outs and commercialization; establishing an IP position; preparing and documenting open-source software or datasets; and developing tourable public experiences.

- ORBIT as an impact partner for RRI. Students will embed findings and methods for Responsible Research Innovation into the national training programme that is delivered by ORBIT, the Observatory for Responsible Research and Innovation in ICT (www.orbit-rri.org). Through our direct partnership with ORBIT all Horizon CDT students will be encouraged to write up their experience of RRI as contributions to ORBIT so as to ensure that their PhD research will not only gain visibility but also inform future RRI training and education. PhD projects that are predominantly in the area of RRI are expected to contribute to new training modules, online tools or other ORBIT services.