The system offers several guidance modes. In full guidance mode, the AI waits for the player to place their next move, analyzes their current board position, and provides feedback explaining whether the move was brilliant, excellent, inefficient, or a blunder. The player may also request additional assistance, such as suggesting next moves or strategic advice tailored to their position. Through this fully guided tutoring experience, the player rapidly learns common strategies and apply it in their own gameplay.
For intermediate players, an assistive mode is available in which the AI will only provide feedback upon request. This mode is designed to promote player autonomy while allowing them to test and refine their skills. For novice players, voice commands can be used to ask which cells the selected piece is allowed to move to. When requested, the board will illuminate valid locations using yellow LEDs, with the most optimal move highlighted in red.
To track the board state, we plan to mount a camera on top of the board. Since each piece is labeled with a unique Chinese character, computer vision techniques can be used to identify the pieces and update the new game state. If time permits, we also plan to explore the ability to move pieces automatically through voice commands. This can be achieved by attaching steel to the bottom of the piece and using a gantry-mounted electromagnet placed beneath the board to drag the piece to the designated position. Additional stretch goals include expanding the chess engine to support common opening sequences.