From Robotic Tele-Operation to Tele-Presence through Natural Interfaces

In this paper we draw a distinction between tele-operation and tele-presence. We argue that the disappearance of mediation, as well as the cognitive and physical integration between human subject and robotic alias are fundamental for the realization of telepresence systems. In the experimental parts of this paper, we propose a novel and more suitable approach for developing and designing natural interfaces, based on new knowledge about human's motion detection provided by neurosciences. We validate the hypothesis that anticipatory movements of the head take place also in case of driving robotic artefacts in locomotion tasks. We suggest that the anticipatory movements of the head could be used as a natural interface in order to detect the human's steering intention in advance and with no additional cognitive burden for the person. In the final part, we argue that in order to realize telepresence systems, it is necessary to take into account also the psychological and sociological effects caused by technological mediation. As a matter of fact, moral disengagement and abstraction may determine a loss of presence