Physical Telepresence with Multiple Tabletop Robots

We will introduce TeleBots, a new approach to physicalizing the remote person’s presence through multiple tabletop robots. Unlike traditional mixed reality telepresence like Holoportation, in which the remote user can only be visually and spatially present, TeleBots allows virtual humans to physically affect and interact with remote environments. In our system, the holoported remote person can touch, grasp, move, and manipulate remote tangible objects as if they were co-located in the same space. Our system uses synchronized bi-directional interactions between a holographic avatar and mobile robots to create this illusion. Specifically, we will use Azure Kinect, a depth sensor, to create the remote user’s avatar and acquire its movements, and Hololens2, an AR device, to display the avatar. Meanwhile, Sony Toio, mobile robots, will be utilized to translate the remote user’s movements into physical interactions in the local environment. Our approach could increase the level of co-presence in remote collaboration, while allowing scalable, deployable, and generalizable for various applications.

Faculty Supervisor:

Ryo Suzuki

Student:

Partner:

University of Tsukuba

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Education

University:

University of Calgary

Program: