ITS team during the prize distribution session to students of Puri Scholar Islamic Entrepreneur School, Surabaya

ITS Campus, ITS News – A collaborative team of lecturers and students from the Department of Electrical Engineering and the Department of Computer Engineering at Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) succeeded in developing an educational game based on hand movements for early childhood. This innovation, worth USD 4,982, received funding support from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) through the Special Interest Group on Humanitarian Technology (SIGHT) program.

Deputy team leader Feby Artwodini Muqtadiroh SKom MT highlighted the importance of early childhood education (PAUD) in the child development process. According to him, choosing the right learning method is very important to creating a pleasant learning environment. “So we offer educational games using technology as a means to improve children’s learning experiences,” she said.

Furthermore, the ITS doctoral student said that the innovation entitled Smart Game Based on Cultural Wisdom for Kidpreneur Learning is a learning package in the form of educational games. This game uses hand gesture technology with the camera as the interface. This is done by utilizing advances in technological advances in computer vision and artificial intelligence (AI) in augmented reality (AR).

Not only utilizing technology, but this innovation resulting from the guidance of Dr. Eko Mulyanto Yuniarno, ST MT, also makes learning more enjoyable. The reason is that in playing this game, players are required to interact directly by making appropriate hand movements. “With direct interaction, we can also improve students’ fine motor skills,” added the student, who is also a lecturer in the Information Systems Department ITS.

One Puri Scholar Islamic Entrepreneur School student tries to play an educational game using hand gesture recognition designed by a team of lecturers and ITS students

Interestingly, this game is packed with various types of educational games, such as mathematics, language, and logic. The selected themes also include aspects of culture, the environment, and love of country, thereby enabling teachers at schools to enrich students’ learning experiences. This is what will later underlie better academic and social cognitive development in children.

Feby and her team succeeded in implementing this innovation at Puri Pakar Islamic Entrepreneur School in Surabaya, a school that emphasizes entrepreneurial and Islamic values for early childhood. The choice of this school was based on its uniqueness, which accepts all students from various backgrounds. “We hope that we can help more schools with this learning package,” said Feby.

With the financial support received, Feby and the team succeeded in completing this innovation, so that it is now ready for use. This innovation is not only intended for the benefit of schools but is also hoped to have a broader positive impact on the development of early childhood education. “In the future, hopefully we can continue to develop innovation by adapting the types of games to suit students’ needs,” said Feby. (ITS Public Relations)

Reporter: Lathifah Sahda