We introduce a novel experimental system to explore the role of vibrotactile haptic feedback in Virtual Reality (VR) to induce the self-motion illusion. Self-motion (also called vection) has been mostly studied through visual and auditory stimuli and a little is known how the illusion can be modulated by the addition of vibrotactile feedback. Our study focuses on whole-body haptic feedback in which the vibration is dynamically generated from the sound signal of the Virtual Environment (VE). We performed a preliminary study and found that audio and haptic modalities generally increase the intensity of vection over a visual only stimulus. We observe higher ratings of self-motion intensity when the vibrotactile stimulus is added to the virtual scene. We also analyzed data obtained with the igroup presence questionnaire (IPQ) which shows that haptic feedback has a general positive effect of presence in the virtual environment and a qualitative survey that revealed interesting and often overlooked aspects such as the implications of using a joystick to collect data in perception studies and in the concept of vection in relation to people's experience and cognitive interpretation of self-motion.

Extended Reality (XR) technology -such as virtual and augmented reality -is now widely used in Human Computer Interaction (HCI), social science and psychology experimentation. However, these experiments are predominantly deployed in-lab with a co-present researcher. Remote experiments, without co-present researchers, have not flourished, despite the success of remote approaches for non-XR investigations. This paper summarises findings from a 30-item survey of 46 XR researchers to understand perceived limitations and benefits of remote XR experimentation. Our thematic analysis identifies concerns common with non-XR remote research, such as participant recruitment, as well as XR-specific issues, including safety and hardware variability. We identify potential positive affordances of XR technology, including leveraging data collection functionalities builtin to HMDs (e.g. hand, gaze tracking) and the portability and reproducibility of an experimental setting. We suggest that XR technology could be conceptualised as an interactive technology and a capable data-collection device suited for remote experimentation. CCS CONCEPTS• Human-centered computing → Mixed / augmented reality; Virtual reality.

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Vection refers to the illusion of self-motion when a significant portion of the visual field is stimulated by visual flow, while body is still. Vection is known to be strong for peripheral vision stimulation and relatively weak for central vision. In this paper, the results of an experimental study of central linear vection with and without vibrotactile feet stimulation are presented. Three types of vibratory stimuli were used: a sinusoidal signal, pink noise, and a chirp signal. Six subjects faced a screen looking at a looming visual flow that suggested virtual forward motion. The results showed that the sensation of self-motion happened faster and its intensity was the strongest for sinusoidal vibrations at constant frequency. For some subjects, a vibrotactile stimulus with an increasing frequency (a chirp) elicited as well a stronger vection. The strength of sensation of self-motion was the lowest in the cases when pink noise vibrations and no vibrotactile stimulation accompanied the visual flow stimulation. Possible application areas are mentioned.

Despite the great diversity of teleoperator designs and applications, their underlying control systems have many similarities. These similarities can be exploited to enable inter-operability between heterogeneous systems. We have developed a network data specification, the Interoperable Telerobotics Protocol, that can be used for Internet based control of a wide range of teleoperators.In this work we test interoperable telerobotics on the global Internet, focusing on the telesurgery application domain. Fourteen globally dispersed telerobotic master and slave systems were connected in thirty trials in one twenty four hour period. Users performed common manipulation tasks to demonstrate effective master-slave operation. With twenty eight (93%) successful, unique connections the results show a high potential for standardizing telerobotic operation. Furthermore, new paradigms for telesurgical operation and training are presented, including a networked surgery trainer and upper-limb exoskeleton control of micro-manipulators.

This article presents a user study of mobile robot teleoperation. Performance of speed, position and combined command strategies in combination with text, visual and haptic feedback information were evaluated by experiments. Two experimental tasks were designed as follows: positioning of mobile robot and navigation in complex environment. Time for task completion and motion accuracy were measured and compared for different command strategies and types of feedback. Role of haptic, text and visual feedback information in combination with described command strategies is outlined.

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This paper presents an experimental study on balance recovery control with a lower limb exoskeleton robot. Four participants were subjected to a perturbation during standing, a forward force impulse applied to their pelvis that forced them to step forward with the right leg for balance recovery. Trials with and without exoskeleton assistance to move the stepping legs thigh were conducted to investigate the influence of the exoskeletons control assistance on balancing performance and a potential adaptation. Analysis of the body kinematics and muscle activation demonstrates that robotic assistance: (1) was easy to use and did not require learning, nor inhibited the healthy stepping behavior; (2) it modified the stepping leg trajectories by increasing hip and knee movement; (3) increased reaction speed and decreased the step duration, (4) generally increased biceps femoris and rectus femoris muscle activity.