Event

MSSE Thesis Defense: Sarjana Oradiambalam Sachidanandam, "Augmented Reality Interfaces"

Wednesday, August 11, 2021
3:00 p.m.
Online presentation
Sarjana Oradiambalam Sachidanandam
sarjana@umd.edu
https://umd.zoom.us/j/97858621124?pwd=OC8zcXhUVmE1ZnVGRGcxOEI5Z3ludz09

Effectiveness of Augmented Reality Interfaces for Remote Human Swarm Interaction

Sarjana Oradiambalam Sachidanandam

https://umd.zoom.us/j/97858621124?pwd=OC8zcXhUVmE1ZnVGRGcxOEI5Z3ludz09

Advisory Committee
Dr. Yancy Diaz-Mercado (Chair)
Dr. Jeffrey W. Herrmann
Dr. Mumu Xu

Abstract
Human Swarm Interaction (HSI) is a fast-growing research area in swarm robotics. One challenging aspect of HSI is facilitating how humans can effectively handle the many degrees-of-freedom present in a swarm of robots. Recent advances in Augmented Reality (AR) systems make these a viable option to communicate information. For example, AR based interfaces can help provide a human operator with visual cues about the swarm's states and control to facilitate decision-making. In research settings, AR systems can address issues such as limited availability of lab spaces, limited access to robotics resources, and the need for the ability to simulate dynamic environments with which robots and humans can interact. Further, to make swarm robotics more accessible and ubiquitous, HSI systems that support remote interaction would allow humans to interact with robot swarms and multi-robot systems regardless of the geographical distance between humans and swarms. Taking these into consideration, this thesis aims to investigate the effectiveness of AR based interfaces as tools for remote interaction in HSI systems. We develop a simple AR based interface and evaluate its effectiveness against an unaugmented interface, by means of remote human user studies. The results of these studies help develop an understanding of whether AR based interfaces can be useful tools for remote HSI.