1 research outputs found
Towards an immersive user interface for waypoint navigation of a mobile robot
In this paper, we investigate the utility of head-mounted display (HMD)
interfaces for navigation of mobile robots. We focus on the selection of
waypoint positions for the robot, whilst maintaining an egocentric view of the
robot's environment. Inspired by virtual reality (VR) gaming, we propose a
target selection method that uses the 6 degrees-of-freedom tracked controllers
of a commercial VR headset. This allows an operator to point to the desired
target position, in the vicinity of the robot, which the robot then
autonomously navigates towards. A user study (37 participants) was conducted to
examine the efficacy of this control strategy when compared to direct control,
both with and without a communication delay. The results of the experiment
showed that participants were able to learn how to use the novel system
quickly, and the majority of participants reported a preference for waypoint
control. Across all recorded metrics (task performance, operator workload and
usability) the proposed waypoint control interface was not significantly
affected by the communication delay, in contrast to direct control. The
simulated experiment indicated that a real-world implementation of the proposed
interface could be effective, but also highlighted the need to manage the
negative effects of HMDs - particularly VR sickness.Comment: Submitted to VAM-HRI 2020 Workshop (delayed). 9 page