Evaluating the augmented reality human-robot collaboration system

This article discusses an experimental comparison of three user interface techniques for interaction with a remotely located robot. A typical interface for such a situation is to teleoperate the robot using a camera that displays the robot's view of its work environment. However, the operator often has a difficult time maintaining situation awareness due to this single egocentric view. Hence, a multimodal system was developed enabling the human operator to view the robot in its remote work environment through an augmented reality interface, the augmented reality human-robot collaboration (AR-HRC) system. The operator uses spoken dialogue, reaches into the 3D representation of the remote work environment and discusses intended actions of the robot. The result of the comparison was that the AR-HRC interface was found to be most effective, increasing accuracy by 30%, while reducing the number of close calls in operating the robot by factors of ∼3x. It thus provides the means to maintain spatial awareness and give the users the feeling of working in a true collaborative environment.