It Takes Two to OЯTHO —Luxembourg: Experience the science of studying collaboration and mathematics learning with digital tools and environments

“It Takes Two to OЯTHO —Luxembourg: Experience the science of studying collaboration and mathematics learning with digital tools and environments” is an interactive science exhibit at the Luxembourg Science Center that invites visitors to become both players and researchers. OЯTHO is a two-player digital game, where each participant controls movement in only one direction: one player moves the ball left and right, while the other player moves it up and down. In order to guide the ball along the track, the players must coordinate their actions, discovering together how collaboration works in problem solving. This playful setup is based on an important mathematical concept: the Cartesian coordinate system, which connects the game to the worlds of mathematics and spatial reasoning.

Led by Dr. Catalina Lomos, the project builds on her research using eye tracking and digital learning tools to understand how people learn mathematics and interact. Here, the public will see science in action. While playing, eye-tracking glasses and a camera will record where the players look and how they interact while working with the digital learning environment (with full consent). Afterwards, players can view their data on a nearby screen and discuss what it reveals about teamwork and learning with digital tools.

The goal is to not only show how researchers study how we learn and interact with mathematics through digital environments, but also to bring science closer to the public by showing how researchers acquire the data to study behavior, learning, and collaboration when using digital learning tools and environments, and how designers or learning games conceptualize and improve their product. Families, children, and school groups will experience how scientists ask questions, collect evidence, and interpret results in the digital age. By transforming visitors into participants in real social science, the project bridges the gap between scientific research and public curiosity. The project demonstrates that learning, like science itself, is a shared human adventure, even when performed with and around digital tools.