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

Omotoye Shamsudeen Adekoya1*, Antonio Sgorbissa1, Carmine Tommaso Recchiuto1
1DIBRIS Department, RICE Laboratory, University of Genoa, Italy
* Corresponding author: omotoye.adekoya@edu.unige.it
Accepted to IEEE RO-MAN 2026
The 35th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication · August 24-28, 2026 · Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan
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Paper arXiv Conference Code APK Video coming soon Project updates
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This paper extends HORUS from single-operator multi-robot supervision to collaborative multi-operator operation with co-located shared workspaces, private workspaces, and per-robot control leases.

Publication Update

This HORUS multi-operator collaboration paper has been accepted to IEEE RO-MAN 2026.

August 24-28, 2026 · Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan

The arXiv preprint is available. The project video will be added when it is available.

Abstract

Multi-operator robot-team control requires shared mission awareness and mechanisms that prevent operators from issuing conflicting commands. This work extends HORUS with collaborative session support for two workspace modes: a co-located shared workspace in the same physical location, and private workspaces placed independently by each operator. The system combines registration-driven scene construction, shared-session synchronization, and per-robot control leases for monitoring, tasking, and teleoperation.

The evaluation used 36 participants arranged into 18 pairs, controlling three Nova Carter mobile robots in two search environments. Both workspace modes supported effective task execution. The co-located shared workspace, however, improved perceived collaboration, shared understanding, and handoff clarity, and was the preferred mode among participants who expressed a preference.

Contributions

  • Multi-operator MR architecture for co-located and private-workspace collaboration.
  • Workspace-centric interaction design for shared tasking, awareness cues, and conflict prevention.
  • Per-robot control leases for arbitration and handoff during collaborative operation.
  • Human-subject evaluation comparing co-located shared-workspace and private-workspace collaboration.

Study Summary

  • 36 participants organized into 18 pairs.
  • Two collaborative conditions: co-located shared workspace and private workspace.
  • Three Nova Carter mobile robots operating in two search environments.
  • Search task based on finding AprilTags within 10-minute trials.
  • Objective task outcomes, usability, workload, collaboration, preference, and simulator sickness were recorded.

Key Findings

  • Objective task performance was comparable across the two workspace modes.
  • Co-location improved perceived teammate awareness, common task-state understanding, coordination, and handoff clarity.
  • Among participants who expressed an overall preference, 21 of 29 favored the co-located condition.
  • When asked which condition made collaboration easier, 27 of 33 participants favored co-location.

BibTeX

Current arXiv citation for the accepted RO-MAN 2026 paper. 

@misc{adekoya2026multioperator,
  title     = {A Multi-Operator Mixed-Reality Interface for Multi-Robot Control and Coordination: Co-Located and Private Workspace Collaboration},
  author    = {Adekoya, Omotoye Shamsudeen and Sgorbissa, Antonio and Recchiuto, Carmine Tommaso},
  year      = {2026},
  eprint    = {2606.07013},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  primaryClass  = {cs.RO},
  url       = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.07013},
  note      = {arXiv preprint arXiv:2606.07013; accepted to IEEE RO-MAN 2026}
}