Investigating Mixed Reality for Communication Between Humans and Mobile Manipulators

TL;DR

This paper explores using mixed reality as a communication tool to improve collaboration between humans and mobile manipulators, demonstrating enhanced performance and satisfaction through a user study.

Contribution

It introduces a novel MR-based communication layer for mobile manipulators, improving human-robot collaboration by conveying intentions and actions more effectively.

Findings

MR communication improves collaboration performance

Participants reported higher satisfaction levels

Effective in conveying robot intentions

Abstract

This article investigates mixed reality (MR) to enhance human-robot collaboration (HRC). The proposed solution adopts MR as a communication layer to convey a mobile manipulator's intentions and upcoming actions to the humans with whom it interacts, thus improving their collaboration. A user study involving 20 participants demonstrated the effectiveness of this MR-focused approach in facilitating collaborative tasks, with a positive effect on overall collaboration performances and human satisfaction.