A virtual scenario to test the influence of an international network and simulated inertia on telepresence performance

Telepresent control of robots over the Internet or across large distances is in many applications either necessary or beneficial. However, exposing important control data to unreliable network conditions largely restricts the ability to carry out many long distance operations. This paper addresses a number of research questions regarding: (1) the impact of network delay on operator performance and immersion; (2) the implementation of simulated inertia to possibly improve performance and immersion; (3) personal attributes, such as sensomotoric coordination, on operator performance; and (4) pre-training in delayed telepresence scenarios. To accommodate these research goals, a virtual telepresence scenario was developed, utilizing an international network between Munich in Germany, and Wollongong in Australia. The results of this research confirm the negative impact of delay. Inertia turned out not to influence performance and immersion in both delayed and non-delayed scenarios. Additionally, neither training in delayed scenarios nor personal attributes, showed any significant effect on operator performance.