Gesturing in the Air: Supporting Full Mobility in Remote Collaboration on Physical Tasks

Abstract

Many collaborative situations require that a remote helper guides a local worker in performing manipulations of physical objects in the real world (physical tasks). Existing systems supporting such collaboration often confine collaborators in fixed desktop settings. Therefore they have limited usefulness in situations in which collaborators are mobile and/or desktop settings are not feasible. In this paper, we present HandsInAir, a wearable system for remote guidance. This system is designed to support mobility of the collaborators and provide easy access to remote expertise. HandsInAir draws on the richness of hand gestures for remote guiding and implements a novel approach that supports unmediated remote gestures and allows the helper to perform natural gestures by hands without the need of a physical support. We review related work, describe technical implementation, and present a usability study demonstrating the usefulness and usability of HandsInAir.