Usability Assessment of a Multimodal Hybrid Interface for Robotic Arm Command

This paper presents the usability assessment of a multimodal hybrid interface (MHI) that allows robotic arm manipulation based on movements of the eyes, the EEG biopotentials and hand gestures performed by the user. The key advantage of the proposed MHI is that it allows users to manipulate objects in a controlled environment using a 6-DOF Jaco robotic arm through a minimalist series of actions. The usability of the proposed MHI interface was evaluated by conducting a series of trials with subjects carrying out a standard robotic arm pick and place operation. The architecture of the MHI prototype includes a g. Nautilus biosignal amplifier with g.Sahara dry electrodes for electroencephalography (EEG) signal acquisition, Tobii X120 for gaze tracking and a Leap Motion controller for hand movements and gestures recognition. To assess the usability of the system the participants were asked to complete the System Usability Scale (SUS) 10 items questionnaire. The results showed an above average SUS score, the participants managing to successfully complete the required tasks. Such an interface could be used in the training of operators for remote robotic manipulation tasks.