A Multi-Operator Mixed-Reality Interface for Multi-Robot Control and Coordination: Co-Located and Private Workspace Collaboration

2026-06-05

AI Summary

This study addresses the challenges of insufficient shared situational awareness and command conflicts in multi-operator, multi-robot systems. The authors propose a mixed-reality collaborative interface that introduces, for the first time, dual interaction modes: a co-located shared workspace and independent private workspaces. By integrating registration-based scene construction, lightweight session synchronization, and a per-robot control lease mechanism, the system effectively prevents operational conflicts while supporting flexible configuration. User studies demonstrate that both modes yield comparable task performance; however, the co-located shared mode significantly enhances collaborative awareness, mutual understanding, and handover clarity, emerging as the preferred choice among participants. These findings validate the effectiveness and novelty of the proposed approach in multi-operator, multi-robot coordination.

Abstract

Multi-operator control of robot teams requires not only access to the same mission information, but also mechanisms for maintaining shared awareness and preventing conflicting interventions. Building on our previous HORUS interface (Holistic Operational Reality for Unified Systems) we present a mixed-reality interface that extends single-operator multi-robot supervision to collaborative multi-operator use. The system supports two complementary modes: a co-located shared workspace, in which operators observe and manipulate the same mini-map in the same physical location, and a private-workspace mode, in which operators work on the same mission through independently placed local workspaces. The architecture combines registration-driven scene construction, lightweight shared-session synchronization, and per-robot control leases to support collaborative monitoring, tasking, and teleoperation while preventing conflicting commands. We evaluated the approach in a human-subject study with 36 participants (18 pairs) controlling three Nova Carter mobile robots in two search environments. The performance of the objective task was comparable across the two modes, indicating that both modes supported effective mission execution. However, the co-located shared workspace significantly improved perceived collaboration, shared understanding, and handoff clarity, and was the preferred collaborative mode. These results indicate that physically co-locating the MR workspace improves how operators coordinate even when the underlying robot-control tools remain unchanged.

Problem

• multi-operator
• multi-robot control
• shared awareness
• conflicting interventions
• collaborative coordination

Innovation

• mixed-reality interface
• multi-operator collaboration
• shared awareness
• control leases
• co-located workspace