Mixed reality for robotics

Abstract

Mixed Reality can be a valuable tool for research and development in robotics. In this work, we refine the definition of Mixed Reality to accommodate seamless interaction between physical and virtual objects in any number of physical or virtual environments. In particular, we show that Mixed Reality can reduce the gap between simulation and implementation by enabling the prototyping of algorithms on a combination of physical and virtual objects, including robots, sensors, and humans. Robots can be enhanced with additional virtual capabilities, or can interact with humans without sharing physical space. We demonstrate Mixed Reality with three representative experiments, each of which highlights the advantages of our approach. We also provide a testbed for Mixed Reality with three different virtual robotics environments in combination with the Crazyflie 2.0 quadcopter.