User interfaces (UI) are shifting from being attention-hungry to being attentive to users’ needs upon interaction. Interfaces developed for robot teleoperation can be particularly complex, often displaying large amounts of information, which can increase the cognitive overload that prejudices the performance of the operator. This paper presents the development of a Physiologically Attentive User Interface (PAUI) prototype preliminary evaluated with six participants. A case study on Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) operations that teleoperate a robot was used although the proposed approach aims to be generic. The robot considered provides an overly complex Graphical User Interface (GUI) which does not allow access to its source code. This represents a recurring and challenging scenario when robots are still in use, but technical updates are no longer offered that usually mean their abandon. A major contribution of the approach is the possibility of recycling old systems while improving the UI made available to end users and considering as input their physiological data. The proposed PAUI analyses physiological data, facial expressions, and eye movements to classify three mental states (rest, workload, and stress). An Attentive User Interface (AUI) is then assembled by recycling a pre-existing GUI, which is dynamically modified according to the predicted mental state to improve the user's focus during mentally demanding situations. In addition to the novelty of the proposed PAUIs that take advantage of pre-existing GUIs, this work also contributes with the design of a user experiment comprising mental state induction tasks that successfully trigger high and low cognitive overload states. Results from the preliminary user evaluation revealed a tendency for improvement in the usefulness and ease of usage of the PAUI, although without statistical significance, due to the reduced number of subjects.

A well-known challenge in rover teleoperation is the operator’s lack of situational awareness (SA). This often leads to an inaccurate perception of the rover’s status and surroundings and, consequently, to faulty decision-making by the operator. We present a novel teleoperation interface to control the locomotion of a ground rover with a 7DOF force feedback device (sigma.7), while providing haptic feedback to ensure appropriate SA. In particular, the device provides proprioceptive cues to convey the rover’s attitude. This can be particularly useful for environments with insufficient visual cues to estimate attitude (e.g., a cave). In systematic experimental trials controlling a robot in an outdoor environment, we evaluated the validity of employing sigma.7 as an alternative to a standard joystick. We tested the use of attitude as an aid to situational awareness. We found no significant detriment in manoeuvrability compared to a conventional joystick, thus validating the sigma.7 as an effective control device. Regarding SA, results showed no statistical difference between the visual and haptic cues for attitude feedback, thus validating the haptic method as an effective alternative to offloading the visual channel by conveying attitude information through the haptic channel instead of visual cues. Finally, qualitative observations of the participant’s behaviour during the experiments showed that operators with haptic feedback were comprehensively aware of the rover’s status.

Nowadays several interactive computing systems (ICSs) still have Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) that are inadequate in terms of usability and user experience. Numerous improvements were made in the development of better GUIs however, little has been done to improve existing ones. This might be explained by the fact that most ICSs do not provide source code access. In most cases, this means that only persons with source code access can (easily) enhance the respective GUI.

In order to safely teleoperate an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) through rough terrain, a human operator needs to be aware of its attitude. This awareness ensures (s)he can avoid rolling or tipping over the UGV, due to steep slopes or terrain depressions. Yet, it has been challenging to develop teleoperation systems that can provide attitude awareness, to human operators. So far, all research has been focused in implementing solutions through visual modality. We take a different approach, using haptic feedback to transmit an UGV's attitude to an human operator. Our novel attitude haptic feedback device (AHFD) provides information about the UGV's roll and pitch, and their direction of rotation, thorugh the use of upper limb proprioception. We also discuss a preliminary user study to understand the influence two different AHFD configurations (natural and ergonomic) have on attitude perception. Our results indicate there is no difference between the two AHFD configuration in judging attitude states and direction of rotations. Yet, natural configuration is perceived as causing higher physical strain and demand, while the ergonomic a higher overall mental effort. We also found participants had more difficulty in judging pitch attitude at higher angles.

Teleoperation of Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) is dependent on several factors as the human operator is physically detached from the UGV. This paper focuses on situations where a UGV designed for search and rescue loses traction, thus becoming unable to comply with the operator's commands. In such situations, the lack of Situation Awareness (SA) may lead to an incorrect and inefficient response to the current UGV state usually confusing and frustrating the human operator. The exclusive use of visual information to simultaneously perform the main task (e.g. search and rescue) and to be aware of possible impediments to UGV operation, such as loss of traction, becomes a very challenging task for a single human operator. We address the challenge of unburdening the visual channel by using other human senses to provide multimodal feedback in UGV teleoperation. To achieve this goal we present a teleoperation architecture comprising (1) a laser-based traction detector module, to discriminate between traction losses (stuck and sliding) and (2) a haptic interface to convey the detected traction state to the human operator through different types of tactile stimuli provided by three haptic devices (E-Vita, Traction Cylinder and Vibrotactile Glove). We also report the experimental results of a user study to evaluate to what extent this new feedback modality improves the user SA regarding the UGV traction state. Statistically significant results were found supporting the hypothesis that two of the haptic devices improved the comprehension of the traction state of the UGV when comparing to exclusively visual modality.

Creative industries' workers are becoming more prominent as countries move towards intellectual-based economies. Consequently, the workplace needs to be reconfigured so that creativity and productivity can be better promoted at shared workspaces. We report on a study based on diaries, interviews and probes, with 8 creative industries' professionals at a co-working space, with the goal of understanding their advantages and disadvantages, and causes for cognitive disruptions. Findings indicate that temperature, noise and coworkers' requests are the main causes for disruptions in the work processes. The insights are used to inform the design process of SENSE-SEAT, a seat with embedded sensors and tangible actuators, as a contribution to reimagining the role of tangible and embedded interaction in intelligent furniture. We are currently at a prototyping stage, with 3D prints and 3D renders and we explain the design process and outlining the early results.