Toward Visualization of Skill in VR: Adaptive Real-Time Guidance for Learning Force Exertion through the "Shaping" Strategy

The authors aim to make principles of expert's haptic interaction explicit on a virtual reality (VR) based simulator. Our approach is based on visualization of significant components of the interaction with consideration on their importance which acts as the foundation for manual skill. Delicate force exertion, which is the basis for various fine-motor skills, was chosen as an example. Expert's haptic interaction was recorded and presented to novices. Two visualization techniques were compared as a training aid by overlaying guidance on a simulator's screen: 1) tracking force curve (traditional technique), and 2) tracking the components of pre-defined "skill" (proposed technique). The visual presentation adapts to the components' importance: maximum power, duration, and force curve. The results support the possibility of using the proposed visualization technique for mediating principles of haptic interaction from experts to novices through a VR system