Towards an immersive user interface for waypoint navigation of a mobile\n robot

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the utility of head-mounted display (HMD)\ninterfaces for navigation of mobile robots. We focus on the selection of\nwaypoint positions for the robot, whilst maintaining an egocentric view of the\nrobot's environment. Inspired by virtual reality (VR) gaming, we propose a\ntarget selection method that uses the 6 degrees-of-freedom tracked controllers\nof a commercial VR headset. This allows an operator to point to the desired\ntarget position, in the vicinity of the robot, which the robot then\nautonomously navigates towards. A user study (37 participants) was conducted to\nexamine the efficacy of this control strategy when compared to direct control,\nboth with and without a communication delay. The results of the experiment\nshowed that participants were able to learn how to use the novel system\nquickly, and the majority of participants reported a preference for waypoint\ncontrol. Across all recorded metrics (task performance, operator workload and\nusability) the proposed waypoint control interface was not significantly\naffected by the communication delay, in contrast to direct control. The\nsimulated experiment indicated that a real-world implementation of the proposed\ninterface could be effective, but also highlighted the need to manage the\nnegative effects of HMDs - particularly VR sickness.\n