Swarm fragmentation, the breakdown of communication and coordination among robots, can critically compromise a swarm's mission. Integrating Augmented Reality support into swarm monitoring-especially through co-located visualisations anchored directly on the robots- may enable human operators to detect early signs of fragmentation and intervene effectively. In this work, we propose three localised visual cues-targeting robot connectivity, dominant decision influences, and movement direction-to make explicit the underlying Perception-Decision-Action (PDA) loop of each robot. Through an immersive Virtual Reality user study, 51 participants were tasked with both anticipating potential fragmentation and selecting the appropriate control to prevent it, while observing swarms exhibiting expansion, densification, flocking, and swarming behaviours. Our results reveal that a visualisation emphasising inter-robot connectivity significantly improves anticipation of fragmentation, though none of the cues consistently enhance control selection over a baseline condition. These findings underscore the potential of co-located AR-enhanced visual feedback to support human-swarm interaction and inform the design of future AR-based supervisory systems for robot swarms. A free copy of this paper and all supplemental materials are available at https://osf.io/49gny.

In the context of robot swarms, fragmentation refers to a breakdown in communication and coordination among the robots. This fragmentation can lead to issues in the swarm self-organisation, especially the loss of efficiency or an inability to perform their tasks. Human operators influencing the swarm could prevent fragmentation. To help them in this task, it is necessary to study the ability of humans to perceive and anticipate fragmentation. This article studies the perception of different types of fragmentation occurring in swarms depending on their behaviour selected amongst swarming, flocking, expansion and densification. Thus, we characterise human perception thanks to two metrics based on the distance separating fragmented groups and the separation speed. The experimentation protocol consists of a binary discrimination task in which participants have to assess the presence of fragmentation. The results show that detecting fragmentation for expansion behaviour and anticipating fragmentation, in general, are challenging. Moreover, they show that humans rely on separation distance and speed to infer the presence or absence of fragmentation. Our study paves the way for new research that will provide information to humans to better anticipate and efficiently prevent the occurrence of swarm fragmentation.

One huge advantage of Augmented Reality (AR) is its numerous possibilities of displaying information in the physical world, especially when applying Situated Analytics (SitA). AR devices and their respective interaction techniques allow for supplementary guidance to assist an operator carrying out complex procedures such as medical diagnosis and surgery, for instance. Their usage promotes user autonomy by presenting relevant information when the operator may not necessarily possess expert knowledge of every procedure and may also not have access to external help such as in a remote or isolated situation (e.g., International Space Station, middle of an ocean, desert).

Historians use spatio-temporal navigation for their models and studies of historical evolutions and events. Their findings can then be exhibited in cultural mediation centers or museums. The latter, both to facilitate the transmission of knowledge and to make their exhibitions more attractive, are now exploiting new technologies. Indeed, digital systems allow, among other things, visitors to navigate spatially and temporally in virtual reconstructions of historical environments. We propose to combine these virtual representations with a tangible interface to provide visitors with an immersive experience and engaging interactions. To do so, we have set up a co-design process involving cultural mediation actors (museum directors, historians, etc.). The result is SABLIER, a tangible interactor to navigate through space and time based on the interaction metaphors and natural affordance of an hourglass. Finally, we have conducted an evaluation of the acceptability of our interactor, whose results are positive.

An interactive tabletop equipped with RFID technology implemented the Stroop and reverse-Stroop tasks. Participants moved a tangible object into one of four displayed virtual zones, which were identified either by a color border or the name of a color written in black. The correct target zone corresponded either to the color (Stroop) or meaning (reverse Stroop) of a word displayed in congruent or incongruent colored LED lights (e.g., “YELLOW” displayed in yellow or red, respectively). Participants took more time to place the object in a zone, made more errors, and found the task more difficult when the word was lit with an incongruent than congruent color. This interference was influenced by both the types of task and response zone in a way that fits with a dual step processing account. Results also showed that the outcomes of the conflicting information streams might be judged as fun.

After having outlined the uses of new technologies such as smartphones, touch-screen tablets, and laptops, this article presents the TangiSense interactive tabletop, equipped with RFID technology tagged on tangible objects, as a new paradigm of interaction for ambient intelligence. Within its framework, this article aims to distribute surfaces (tables) interacting mainly with tangible objects. Leads for interactive surface distribution such as interactive tables are given. The article proposes to describe some tangible objects, which are the interaction supports; these are called Tangigets. They are defined according to an augmented Presentation-Abstraction-Control structure to take the tangibility element into account. Six categories of Tangigets are also proposed, which are tangible objects, and the supports of distributed collaboration. To validate the Tangiget concept and its use on the TangiSense tabletop, illustrations in centralized and distributed configurations are proposed. A first evaluation is also presented. To conclude, the article presents the directions under consideration for our future research.