ITL Holds Session on Human-Robot Interaction at PerMIS 07

Researchers in the Information Access Division (IAD) chaired a Special Session focused on human-robot interaction (HRI) at the recent Performance Metrics for Intelligent Systems Workshop (PerMIS 07) held at NIST August 28-30, 2007.  Salvatore Schipani and Brian Antonishek (IAD) co-chaired the Special Session on "Human-Robot Interface Issues".  The majority of user-robot interactions during emergency scenarios has been limited to direct control, with the most common operator interface being a video feed from the robotic platform to the user.  Unfortunately, operators frequently incur issues when attempting to perceive and evaluate remote environments, causing them to generate and subsequently execute sub-optimal control decisions.  This special session attended to the need for, and methods of, conducting impartial practitioner oriented assessments under operationally relevant yet experimentally controlled conditions. The assessments would be directed toward the development of effective interface design guidelines offering fused sensor information, rather than compelling users to mentally combine data from multiple sources.

Narratives of experimental research were presented by Dr. Schipani and Mr.
Antonishek, Dr. Ellen Hass (U.S. Army Research, Development, and Engineering
Command), and Dr. Marc Steinberg (Office of Naval Research).  Additionally,
Mr. Chris Stachowiak (U.S. Army Research Laboratory) demonstrated an experimental "multi-modal" information system consisting of visual, three-dimensional audio, and tactile displays. It was shown how such an array may assist in decreasing decision times, lower cognitive workloads, and improve the situational awareness of telerobotic operators.

Annual "PerMIS" events, sponsored by NIST's Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory, have become the premier venue for disseminating relevant research concerning Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) and Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) robotic systems.  This year, focus was directed to the application of performance measures concerned with technical readiness levels in the domains of homeland security, emergency response, military defense, hazardous environments, and medical emergencies.

CONTACT:  Sal Schipani (ITL), ext. 5846