Teaching Dance with Mixed Reality Mirrors

Regardless of the style, most western dance is taught in a similar manner. A student comes to a studio, the instructor demonstrates a series of movements that the student attempts to replicate - often in front of a mirror - and the instructor provides corrective feedback. Unfortunately, this approach means that beginners are only able to practice and receive corrective feedback when the instructor is available. This paper reports on a study that assessed whether a Mixed Reality (MR) mirror displaying a virtual instructor overlaid with visual feedback can be used to teach a beginner a simple dance routine, replacing the traditional instructor and mirror method, and making beginners dance training more accessible. Three visual feedback modes to indicate how to achieve a correct pose in a dance sequence were designed, based on findings from a literature review, input from expert interviews and an online survey. These feedback modes, titled Spheres, Rubber Bands, and Arrows, were implemented and used as randomized conditions in a user study where participants learned three simple dance sequences. The user study showed that participants performed best with the Arrows feedback mode, though the preference rank for this feedback mode was the lowest. In contrast, the participants’ most preferred feedback mode was Spheres, though participants performed poorest with this mode. These findings suggest that user preference and performance in MR mirror dance training systems need to be balanced to create a system that is effective and enjoyable.