EyeRobot: enabling telemedicine using a robot arm and a head-mounted display

Abstract

Abstract Telemedicine has become a valuable asset in emergency responses for assisting paramedics in decision making and first contact treatment. Paramedics in unfamiliar environments or time-critical situations often encounter complications for which they require external advice. Modern ambulance vehicles are equipped with microphones, cameras, and vital sensors, which allow experts to remotely join the local team. However, the visual channels are rarely used since the statically installed cameras only allow broad views at the patient. They neither allow a close-up view nor a dynamic viewpoint controlled by the remote expert. In this paper, we present EyeRobot , a concept which enables dynamic viewpoints for telepresence using the intuitive control of the user’s head motion. In particular, EyeRobot utilizes the 6 degrees of freedom pose estimation capabilities of modern head-mounted displays and applies them in real-time to the pose of a robot arm. A stereo-camera, installed on the end-effector of the robot arm, serves as the eyes of the remote expert at the local site. We put forward an implementation of EyeRobot and present the results of our pilot study which indicates its intuitive control.