Orochi

Abstract

Supernumerary robotic limbs (SRLs) present many opportunities for daily use. However, their obtrusiveness and limitations in interaction genericity hinder their daily use. To address challenges of daily use, we extracted three design considerations from previous literature and embodied them in a wearable we call Orochi. The considerations include the following: 1) multipurpose use, 2) wearability by context, and 3) unobtrusiveness in public. We implemented Orochi as a snake-shaped robot with 25 DoFs and two end effectors, and demonstrated several novel interactions enabled by its limber design. Using Orochi, we conducted hands-on focus groups to explore how multipurpose SRLs are used daily and we conducted a survey to explore how they are perceived when used in public. Participants approved Orochi's design and proposed different use cases and postures in which it could be worn. Orochi's unobtrusive design was generally well received, yet novel interactions raise several challenges for social acceptance. We discuss the significance of our results by highlighting future research opportunities based on the design, implementation, and evaluation of Orochi.

Review of Supernumerary Robotic Limbs

“…SRLs will gradually move towards a rigid-flexible integration, combining the advantages of flexibility and rigidity. Many institutions are developing flexible supernumerary robots [11], [12], [13] combine the advantages of rigidity.…”

Collectively Sharing People’s Visual and Auditory Capabilities: Exploring Opportunities and Pitfalls

“…The expert claimed that one promising approach is to examine wearable shapechanging devices instead of arms and feet. For example, he told that one technically feasible solution is Orochi, which enables us to supplement an individual's human body with two additional robotic arms [60] that can be navigated by other people. We discussed that people are not usually aware that their seeing and hearing are being accessed by other persons when collectively sharing eyes and ears, but in the case of arms and feet, people would be conscious that the robotic arms are being accessed by others because the arms would be moved although they would not be operating the arms, and such access could seriously disturb their current activities.…”

HapticSnakes: multi-haptic feedback wearable robots for immersive virtual reality

“…HapticSnakes' feedback can be utilized for a variety of purposes: for example, to indicate different game status, like low health or to handicap limb movements during gameplay. Additional application domains are also in delivering information-rich notifications (Al-Sada et al 2019;Luzhnica et al 2016) or to break immersion in case of emergency. Future work should investigate further application domains for these emerging feedback types.…”