Calibration and statistical techniques for building an interactive screen for learning of alphabets by children

This article focuses on the implementation details of a portable interactive device called Image-projective Desktop Varnamala Trainer. The device uses a projector to produce a virtual display on a flat surface. For enabling interaction, the information about a user’s hand movement is obtained from a single two-dimensional scanning laser range finder in contrast with a camera sensor used in many earlier applications. A generalized calibration process to obtain exact transformation from projected screen coordinate system to sensor coordinate system is proposed in this article and implemented for enabling interaction. This permits production of large interactive displays with minimal cost. Additionally, it makes the entire system portable, that is, display can be produced on any planar surface like floor, tabletop, and so on. The calibration and its performance have been evaluated by varying screen sizes and the number of points used for calibration. The device was successfully calibrated for different screens. A novel learning-based methodology for predicting a user’s behaviour was then realized to improve the system’s performance. This has been experimentally evaluated, and the overall accuracy of prediction was about 96%. An application was then designed for this set-up to improve the learning of alphabets by the children through an interactive audiovisual feedback system. It uses a game-based methodology to help students learn in a fun way. Currently, it has bilingual (Hindi and English) user interface to enable learning of alphabets and elementary mathematics. A user survey was conducted after demonstrating it to school children. The survey results are very encouraging. Additionally, a study to ascertain the improvement in the learning outcome of the children was done. The results clearly indicate an improvement in the learning outcome of the children who used the device over those who did not.