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Embodied Interaction for Skill, Learning & Training

Designs embodied robotic, haptic, and virtual/mixed reality systems that support motor skill acquisition, rehabilitation, and hands-on learning through physical interaction. These approaches integrate learning from demonstration, tangible and wearable interfaces, and visuo-haptic feedback to make movement, effort, and technique directly observable and correctable. Rather than relying solely on task completion, the work develops metrics that assess quality of execution, enabling personalised guidance, progressive difficulty, and measurable skill transfer.

People

Wafa Johal
Wafa Johal
Associate Professor
Jian Zhang
Jian Zhang
PhD Student
Yan Zhang
Yan Zhang
PhD Student
Ramtin Tabatabaei
Ramtin Tabatabaei
PhD Student
Sarah Schombs
Sarah Schombs
PhD Student
Tharaka Ratnayake
Tharaka Ratnayake
PhD Student
Enjie Cao
Enjie Cao
PhD Student

Publications

All Publications →
  1. Modelling Visuo-Haptic Perception Change in Size Estimation Tasks
    Zhang, Jian, Johal, Wafa, and Knibbe, Jarrod
    In Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Apr 2026
    Video Bib PDF 
    @inproceedings{zhang2026modelling,
  bibtex_show = {true},
  author = {Zhang, Jian and Johal, Wafa and Knibbe, Jarrod},
  title = {Modelling Visuo-Haptic Perception Change in Size Estimation Tasks},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems},
  series = {CHI '26},
  year = {2026},
  month = apr,
  address = {Barcelona, Spain},
  doi = {10.1145/3772318.3791140},
  isbn = {979-8-4007-2278-3/2026/04},
  pdf = {https://chri-lab.github.io/files/papers/jzhang2026.pdf},
  publisher = {ACM},
  video = {https://youtu.be/Oef74ATrEkc},
  research_theme = {embodied-interaction}
}
  2. Swarm Robots in Education: A Review of Challenges and Opportunities
    Johal, Wafa, Peng, Yu, and Mi, Haipeng
    In Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction Apr 2020
    Abs Bib Link

    This study reviews published scientific literature on the use of swarm robots for education purposes in the last ten years. It focuses on user studies involving robotics swarm in order to identify the potential contributions of the incorporation of swarm robots as an educational tool and insight future research. We consider here the appearance of swarm robots, the curriculum of the experimental task and the interaction modalities between learners and robots. The outcomes of the literature review are discussed in terms of their existing challenges and opportunities for guiding researchers, educators, and practitioners.

    @inproceedings{johal2020Swarm,
  bibtex_show = {true},
  author = {Johal, Wafa and Peng, Yu and Mi, Haipeng},
  title = {Swarm Robots in Education: A Review of Challenges and Opportunities},
  year = {2020},
  isbn = {9781450380546},
  publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
  address = {New York, NY, USA},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3406499.3418755},
  doi = {10.1145/3406499.3418755},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction},
  pages = {272–274},
  numpages = {3},
  keywords = {educational tool, swarm robots, literature review, learning, multi-robot},
  location = {Virtual Event, USA},
  series = {HAI '20},
  research_theme = {embodied-interaction}
}
  3. Gamified motor training with tangible robots in older adults: a feasibility study and comparison with the young
    Guneysu Ozgur, Arzu, Wessel, Maximilian J, Olsen, Jennifer K, Johal, Wafa, Ozgur, Ayberk, Hummel, Friedhelm C, and Dillenbourg, Pierre
    Frontiers in aging neuroscience Apr 2020
    Bib 
    @article{guneysu2020gamified,
  bibtex_show = {true},
  title = {Gamified motor training with tangible robots in older adults: a feasibility study and comparison with the young},
  author = {Guneysu Ozgur, Arzu and Wessel, Maximilian J and Olsen, Jennifer K and Johal, Wafa and Ozgur, Ayberk and Hummel, Friedhelm C and Dillenbourg, Pierre},
  journal = {Frontiers in aging neuroscience},
  volume = {12},
  pages = {59},
  year = {2020},
  publisher = {Frontiers Media SA},
  research_theme = {embodied-interaction}
}
  4. Allohaptic: Robot-mediated haptic collaboration for learning linear functions
    Khodr, Hala, Kianzad, Soheil, Johal, Wafa, Kothiyal, Aditi, Bruno, Barbara, and Dillenbourg, Pierre
    In 2020 29th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN) Apr 2020
    Bib 
    @inproceedings{khodr2020allohaptic,
  bibtex_show = {true},
  title = {Allohaptic: Robot-mediated haptic collaboration for learning linear functions},
  author = {Khodr, Hala and Kianzad, Soheil and Johal, Wafa and Kothiyal, Aditi and Bruno, Barbara and Dillenbourg, Pierre},
  booktitle = {2020 29th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN)},
  pages = {27--34},
  year = {2020},
  organization = {IEEE},
  research_theme = {embodied-interaction}
}
  5. Using tabletop robots to promote inclusive classroom experiences
    Neto, Isabel, Johal, Wafa, Couto, Marta, Nicolau, Hugo, Paiva, Ana, and Guneysu, Arzu
    In Proceedings of the interaction design and children conference Apr 2020
    Bib 
    @inproceedings{neto2020using,
  bibtex_show = {true},
  title = {Using tabletop robots to promote inclusive classroom experiences},
  author = {Neto, Isabel and Johal, Wafa and Couto, Marta and Nicolau, Hugo and Paiva, Ana and Guneysu, Arzu},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the interaction design and children conference},
  pages = {281--292},
  year = {2020},
  research_theme = {embodied-interaction}
}
  6. Iterative design and evaluation of a tangible robot-assisted handwriting activity for special education
    Guneysu Ozgur, Arzu, Özgür, Ayberk, Asselborn, Thibault, Johal, Wafa, Yadollahi, Elmira, Bruno, Barbara, Skweres, Melissa, and Dillenbourg, Pierre
    Frontiers in Robotics and AI Apr 2020
    Bib 
    @article{guneysu2020iterative,
  bibtex_show = {true},
  title = {Iterative design and evaluation of a tangible robot-assisted handwriting activity for special education},
  author = {Guneysu Ozgur, Arzu and {\"O}zg{\"u}r, Ayberk and Asselborn, Thibault and Johal, Wafa and Yadollahi, Elmira and Bruno, Barbara and Skweres, Melissa and Dillenbourg, Pierre},
  journal = {Frontiers in Robotics and AI},
  volume = {7},
  pages = {29},
  year = {2020},
  publisher = {Frontiers Media SA},
  research_theme = {embodied-interaction}
}
  7. Tip: Tangible e-ink paper manipulatives for classroom orchestration
    Johal, Wafa, Tran, Alex, Khodr, Hala, Özgür, Ayberk, and Dillenbourg, Pierre
    In Proceedings of the 31st Australian Conference on Human-Computer-Interaction Apr 2010
    Bib 
    @inproceedings{johal2019tip,
  bibtex_show = {true},
  title = {Tip: Tangible e-ink paper manipulatives for classroom orchestration},
  author = {Johal, Wafa and Tran, Alex and Khodr, Hala and {\"O}zg{\"u}r, Ayberk and Dillenbourg, Pierre},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the 31st Australian Conference on Human-Computer-Interaction},
  pages = {595--598},
  year = {2010},
  research_theme = {embodied-interaction}
}
  8. Modelling Visuo-Haptic Perception Change in Size Estimation Tasks
    Zhang, Jian, Johal, Wafa, and Knibbe, Jarrod
    In Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Apr 2026
    Website