Development of Gesture Recognition Based STEAM Educational Games Focused on Korean Traditional Archery

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop the gesture recognition-based STEAM educational game focused on Korean traditional archery. The game adopted the story of the Korean movie War of the Arrows and included educational contents based on the scientific principles of archery to help users shoot well in archery games. The game was demonstrated at the exhibition booths in the BIFF Village during the 2015 Busan International Film Festival (BIFF). Learning through body movements based on scientific knowledge could be a good approach for designing STEAM education program. The program’s contents include the scientific principles of archery, such as kinetic energy, kinematics of projectile motion, and predicted aiming method. The first key issue in the development was the robustness and usability of the gesture recognition system for on-site installation. The second key issue was the customized content for immediately increasing the interests of users. The difficulty of the game was determined by the archery target size and control. The user controlled the game with his or her own gestures: Aim was controlled by the user’s left hand, and the firing gesture required putting the user’s right hand up. We tested the gesture recognition-based art education game with many participants at the exhibition. Participants’ reaction was very favorable. Most people could play the game easily and intuitively. After the experience, users’ feedback was almost entirely positive. However, kids younger than six years old and elderly people over sixty-five could not play the game as easily. These facts should be considered for an educational game design.