A Novel Haptic Interface for Extended Range Telepresence - Control and Evaluation

A novel haptic interface for extended range telepresence is presented that allows the user simultaneous wide area motion and haptic interaction in remote environments. To achieve an extended workspace, the haptic interface consists of a haptic manipulator for precise haptic rendering and a large portal carrier system that enlarges the workspace by prepositioning the end-effector. As the prepositioning unit is grounded and driven by three linear drives, our approach has the advantages of high force capability and an accurate positioning of the haptic interface. The use of this haptic interface with Motion Compression permits to explore large remote environments even from small user environments. As a result, not only has the user visual, acoustic, and haptic feedback, but can also control the teleoperator or avatar by natural walking, which considerably increases the sense of immersion. A prototype system for haptic extended range telepresence was designed, implemented, and tested.