Abstract
Although user interfaces with gesture-based input and augmented graphics have promoted intuitive human-robot interactions (HRI), they are often implemented in remote applications on research-grade platforms requiring significant training and limiting operator mobility. This paper proposes a mobile mixed-reality interface approach to enhance HRI in shared spaces. As a user points a mobile device at the robot's workspace, a mixed-reality environment is rendered providing a common frame of reference for the user and robot to effectively communicate spatial information for performing object manipulation tasks, improving the user's situational awareness while interacting with augmented graphics to intuitively command the robot. An evaluation with participants is conducted to examine task performance and user experience associated with the proposed interface strategy in comparison to conventional approaches that utilize egocentric or exocentric views from cameras mounted on the robot or in the environment, respectively. Results indicate that, despite the suitability of the conventional approaches in remote applications, the proposed interface approach provides comparable task performance and user experiences in shared spaces without the need to install operator stations or vision systems on or around the robot. Moreover, the proposed interface approach provides users the flexibility to direct robots from their own visual perspective (at the expense of some physical workload) and leverages the sensing capabilities of the tablet to expand the robot's perceptual range.
Highlights
While robotics technologies and applications have experienced accelerating advances, with robots vacuuming homes, assembling automobiles, exploring planets and oceans, and performing surgeries, their potential remains limited by their ability to effectively interact with people
This paper proposed a novel mobile mixed-reality interface approach to interact with robots in shared spaces using the mobile devices that users already own and are familiar with
To evaluate aspects of the performance and user experience associated with these interfaces, a user study was conducted in which participants interacted with a humanoid robot to perform object manipulation on a tabletop
Summary
While robotics technologies and applications have experienced accelerating advances, with robots vacuuming homes, assembling automobiles, exploring planets and oceans, and performing surgeries, their potential remains limited by their ability to effectively interact with people. To ensure the physical safety and psychological comfort of users in these interaction scenarios, a high level of mutual attention and awareness are required of the human and robot (Drury et al, 2003). Efforts to maintain these conditions have typically been addressed in the design of the robot, with respect to its sensing (Fritzsche et al, 2011), reasoning (McGhan et al, 2015), and control (Lew et al, 2000), as well as in the modification of the environment (Lenz et al, 2012; Morato et al, 2014) for direct physical HRI applications. For seamless interaction with robots in shared spaces, readily accessible mobile solutions offer a compelling opportunity
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