Empathic AI and XR for Ergonomic Education
EMPAIRED aims to transform ergonomic education by making it more inclusive through Algho, an AI-powered virtual human equipped with voice interaction and emotion recognition capabilities. A VR educative experience simulating a high-ergonomic risk industrial scenario will be implanted into the Ergon-XR framework, which is designed for ergonomic training and risk factor evaluation. The AIgho digital human will be embedded in the scene to enable an inclusive, engaging, and human-centered educational experience.
Technology
The dashboard provided by Ergon-XR will serve to track the trainee performance, allowing the trainer to access the data and provide corrections or relevant input. A group of at least 60 master’s students from advanced industrial design courses will evaluate the user experience and system usability. Through pre-assessment and post-assessment phases, the study will measure learning outcomes and training effectiveness, allowing for a detailed analysis of the students’ progress and skill development.
With the use of the Digital Human Algho platform and the creation of an immersive VR experience, this project aims to advance research in human-computer interaction, affective computing, and XR-based pedagogy specifically for the ergonomic challenges of the manufacturing field. Moreover, the EMPAIRED team—coordinated by the University of Siena in partnership with DeepReality SRL and Moebeus Società Benefit SRL—will develop a comprehensive educational training methodology along with a toolkit to evaluate the training experience. This collaborative effort will deliver a groundbreaking XR solution that transforms ergonomic education in the industrial sector by making it significantly safer, far more engaging, and truly inclusive.