This wearable device puts your teacher on your shoulder

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Like a hawk-eyed professor, this project gives a much more literal meaning to “looking over your shoulder.”  

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According to Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design student Akarsh Sanghi, the lack of a hands-on approach in distance learning may be what’s constraining the teaching method from reaching a state of mainstream popularity. While some have already begun to embrace the online course approach, others have been a bit more reluctant given the limited access to one-on-one guidance. Cognizant of this fact, the Maker has launched a project that could potentially transform your bedroom into a more real-time educational setting.

To do so, Sanghi has developed a wearable device that provides a mentor with instantaneous insight into a learner’s environment through the coupling of a first-person point of view and an instructional laser pointer — all controlled by a mobile app. This pairing of technology enables a mentor to communicate with a student via the device he calls Grasp as they offer step-by-step instruction through the pointer. Teachers can converse using a built-in speaker/microphone combo, while a digital joystick on the app to direct the laser. The process is driven by an Arduino Yún (ATmega32U4).

“The idea was to learn new skills which are more physical in nature-like craftsmanship and require step-by-step instruction,” Sanghi tells The Creators Project. “In the 21st century when we are surrounded by digital devices and are occupied by a screen most of the time for every possible activity, I wanted to explore how can we break away from this cycle to learn something in a more organic and natural way.”

While the current version of the prototype may still be a bit bulky in size and comfort, the Maker hopes that Grasp could ultimately revolutionize f “on-demand learning.”

Want to learn more? You can head over to the project’s official page. Meanwhile, you may want to check out one of Sanghi’s other creations, The Sensing Umbrella.