User Perception and Preference in Model Mediated Telemanipulation

Model mediated teleoperation allows users to interact with a remote environment via a local rendition to mitigate the effects of large communication delays. As the slave encounters an environment a model is identified, transmitted to the master, then haptically and graphically recreated. Particular attention must be paid to the user interface when model information is updated, to avoid confusion or disruptive effects. This paper examines various transition methods from the perspective of user preferences and perception. Transitions are grouped according to three basic philosophies: hiding changes from the user, forcing changes upon the user, and alerting users to model updates. A user study is presented which evaluated subjects´ performance and opinions for different approaches. We found transitions that gradually but actively presented information to be the most successful