Design the HCI Interface Through Prototyping for the Telepresence Robot Empowered Smart Lab

Human Computer Interaction (HCI) focuses on the interfaces between human user and computer, which largely impacts the usability of any computer-based system involving the human user. The research program Telepresence Robot Empowered Smart Lab (TRESL) aims to enable distance learning students to experience lab work in a remote laboratory as if they were physically present. The HCI module is a critical component since user experience is the key measurement of system usability. This paper proposes a solution for a web interface that enables online learners to employ telepresence robots as their avatars in a remote laboratory via the Internet. In this way, they can do lab work from anywhere as long as they are online. The main focus of this paper is to present the interface design through prototyping while explaining related parts of the TRESL solution to understand the design and software decisions presented.