virtual reality interface designers

Abstract: Immersive virtual reality (VR) adaptations of neuropsychological tests change how a test operates. Before their scores are interpreted, the individuals they are intended to assess should find them usable, acceptable and tolerable, and for older adults this evidence is usually missing. This study evaluated the experience of the Trail Making Test in Virtual Reality (TMT-VR), a head-gaze adaptation of the Trail Making Test that requires no hand-held controller, in 47 younger (20-38 years) and 44 older adults (64-81 years). After the task, participants rated usability, pragmatic and hedonic user experience, acceptability, and cybersickness. The study had three aims: to compare the two age groups on these ratings; to examine whether the ratings were associated with age group, gaming and technology experience, and whether cybersickness was associated with motion sickness susceptibility; and to examine whether the ratings were related to TMT-VR completion and error-adjusted times. Both groups rated the TMT-VR as highly usable, acceptable and pleasant to use. Older adults gave slightly lower usability and pragmatic ratings, but neither the age-group differences nor the associations with age group or previous experience were statistically significant after correction. Cybersickness was low, with 38 of the 91 participants reporting no symptoms; it did not differ between the age groups and was not associated with motion sickness susceptibility. No correlation between the ratings and TMT-VR performance survived correction. The TMT-VR with head-gaze selection is therefore usable, acceptable and well tolerated by older as well as younger adults. Because the ratings were favourable across the whole range of TMT-VR scores, slower or less accurate performance is unlikely to reflect difficulty with the interface.

Abstract: Teleoperation is becoming increasingly important for collecting high-quality demonstrations to teach robots dexterous manipulation skills. For dexterous manipulation, bare-hand tracking provides a practical way to control robotic hands and demonstrate coordinated finger movements without gloves or exoskeletons. However, this type of teleoperation faces two key feedback limitations: a lack of force feedback and visual feedback of occluded region. The absence of force feedback hinders precise and safe manipulation, as operators must infer contact force visually rather than feel them directly. Occlusion by objects or other robot parts impairs the assessment of hand positions, approach distances, and pre-grasp configurations suited to the object's shape. To address these limitations, we propose a digital-twin-based augmented reality (AR) teleoperation interface that integrates bare-hand tracking, bimanual robotic hands, and virtual representations of the robot and task objects. The interface renders tactile measurements on robot hand meshes as visuo-force feedback. Furthermore, it offers a user-controlled virtual view panel or occlusion-aware transparency rendering to provide occlusion-mitigating visual feedback. We evaluated the interface through user studies involving Task 1 and Task 2, examining how force visualization and visual assistance support demonstration collection in tasks requiring careful force regulation and manipulation under occlusion.

Abstract: First-person-view (FPV) teleoperation of aerial swarms requires an operator to coordinate collective translation, viewing direction, and formation spacing. We present an upper-body interface that maps torso inclination, hand position, and head rotation to five continuous command dimensions. Neutral postures and motion ranges are calibrated for each participant. In a within-subject study, 14 participants navigated a simulated 15-agent swarm through three-dimensional obstacle courses using this interface and a conventional transmitter. Body-motion control reduced completion time by 19.4% and centroid path length by 7.0%, and increased path directness. Delivered-command variation was 88.8% lower, and concurrent command changes were more frequent. These command measures characterize the complete interfaces, which differed in calibration and filtering. No differences were detected in gate-centering error, collection yield, crash or disconnection counts, overall workload, or usability. All participants reported higher physical demand with body-motion control. The implemented interface therefore improved FPV navigation efficiency at the cost of greater physical demand.