Telemanipulation and telepresence

Abstract Telemanipulation is studied by many disciplines; however, this is generally done independently. This paper is intended to contribute to the integration of these disciplines by bridging the gap between the control engineers in the man-machine systems field, the computer scientists in the field of human-computer interaction, and the biomedical researchers in the field of severely bodily disabled persons. Three major problems in telemanipulation are recognised, i.e. the lack of tactile and touch information, the lack of information for depth perception since visual displays only generate 2D data, and the existing time-delay in the human operator - telemanipulator - control loop. For control theory the importance of the Internal Model for obtaining optimal filtering and control is highlighted, and for perception theory the choice for the so-called “ecological approach” is explained. Control theory and perception theory both point to the importance of an increase in feedback modalities, for instance by pointing to the importance of proprioceptive feedback for 3D perception, and by designing two-handed controls that pay attention to the asymmetry in the effectivities of both hands. It is argued that a combination of proprioceptive feedback and 3D perception is needed for good telemanipulation, and for telepresence. Also, a short note on compensation methods using predictive displays is given. Finally, the traditional approach will be compared with the ecological approach.