Ecological displays for robot interaction: a new perspective

Most interfaces for robot control have focused on providing users with the most current information and giving status messages about what the robot is doing. While this may work for people that are already experienced in robotic, we need an alternative paradigm for enabling new users to control robots effectively. Instead of approaching the problem as an issue of what information could be useful, the focus should be on presenting essential information in an intuitive way. One way to do this is to leverage perceptual cues that people are accustomed to using. By displaying information in such contexts, people are able to understand and use the interface more effectively. This paper presents interfaces which allow users to navigate in 3-D worlds with integrated range and camera information.