Seeing Thru Walls: Visualizing Mobile Robots in Augmented Reality

TL;DR

This paper introduces an augmented reality system for visualizing mobile robots behind obstacles, enhancing safety and efficiency in robot-human interactions through 3D models, movement indicators, and ground planes.

Contribution

It presents a novel AR visualization approach for non-line-of-sight robot perception, demonstrating improved safety and comfort in user interactions.

Findings

Visualizations increased perceived safety and efficiency.

Motion intent visualization was more effective than robot model alone.

Participants felt more comfortable with robots in personal space.

Abstract

We present an approach for visualizing mobile robots through an Augmented Reality headset when there is no line-of-sight visibility between the robot and the human. Three elements are visualized in Augmented Reality: 1) Robot's 3D model to indicate its position, 2) An arrow emanating from the robot to indicate its planned movement direction, and 3) A 2D grid to represent the ground plane. We conduct a user study with 18 participants, in which each participant are asked to retrieve objects, one at a time, from stations at the two sides of a T-junction at the end of a hallway where a mobile robot is roaming. The results show that visualizations improved the perceived safety and efficiency of the task and led to participants being more comfortable with the robot within their personal spaces. Furthermore, visualizing the motion intent in addition to the robot model was found to be more effective than visualizing the robot model alone. The proposed system can improve the safety of automated warehouses by increasing the visibility and predictability of robots.