Mobile haptic interaction with extended real or virtual environments

A mobile interface for physical interaction with extended real or virtual environments is presented, which frees the operator from being bound to a stationary workstation. The operator's unrestricted walking is available as input to the locomotion control of the teleoperator or the avatar. Hence, the operator uses proprioceptive perception of locomotion, which is required for navigation and wayfinding. To allow unrestricted local locomotion, the haptic interface moves along with the operator. This could be achieved by using a portable kinesthetic interface, which, however, is not capable of displaying large external forces. A mobile haptic interface, which actively follows the operator's locomotion. The corresponding locomotion platform is continuously positioned in such a way that maximum manipulability is guaranteed. In order to accomplish this under the kinematic and dynamic restrictions of the wheel-based platform, the operator's intention of locomotion is predicted. A prototype telepresence system for kinesthetic exploration of extended virtual environments has been designed according to the proposed paradigm, implemented, and tested.