This doctoral research investigates how extended reality (XR) can support self-directed practice and refinement of full-body motor skills, using Taekwondo as a primary application. It examines how head-mounted displays affect movement, how avatar-based guidance should be positioned during practice, and how multimodal feedback could help learners improve movement precision, timing and consistency. The research is conducted by Michelle Fernando at HICUP Lab, under the supervision of Klen Čopič Pucihar, Matjaž Kljun and Maheshya Weerasinghe.
Spatial anchoring of avatar guidance
Where should a guidance avatar appear while a learner steps, turns and moves through a training space? Our prototype explores four anchoring modes: world-anchored dynamic, world-anchored static, torso-anchored and head-anchored. These modes offer different ways to position expert demonstrations and representations of the learner’s own movement. A planned user study will investigate their suitability for movement practice, including guidance visibility, ease of following and user experience.
Publications:
- Michelle Fernando. 2026. Designing Immersive Guidance for Full-Body Motor Skill Learning. Accepted for the ACM International Conference on Interactive Surfaces and Spaces (ISS 2026). Publication forthcoming.
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