Related papers: Comparing Pedestrian Navigation Methods in Virtual…
The virtual reality (VR) and human-computer interaction (HCI) combination has radically changed the way users approach a virtual environment, increasing the feeling of VR immersion, and improving the user experience and usability. The…
Most prior methods for learning navigation policies require access to simulation environments, as they need online policy interaction and rely on ground-truth maps for rewards. However, building simulators is expensive (requires manual…
Virtual field trips (VFTs) have proven to be valuable learning tools. Such applications are mostly based on 360{\deg} technology and are to be characterized as single-user applications in technological terms. In contrast, Social VR…
Human crowd simulation in virtual reality (VR) is a powerful tool with potential applications including emergency evacuation training and assessment of building layout. While haptic feedback in VR enhances immersive experience, its effect…
Although Virtual Reality (VR) has accelerated its prevalent adoption in emerging metaverse applications, it is not a fundamentally new technology. On one hand, most VR operating systems (OS) are based on off-the-shelf mobile OS. As a…
New technologies allow ordinary people to access Virtual Reality at affordable prices in their homes. One of the most important tasks when interacting with immersive Virtual Reality is to navigate the virtual environments (VEs). Arguably,…
We exploit the complementary strengths of vision and proprioception to develop a point-goal navigation system for legged robots, called VP-Nav. Legged systems are capable of traversing more complex terrain than wheeled robots, but to fully…
Virtual reality (VR) is on the edge of getting a mainstream platform for gaming, education and product design. The feeling of being present in the virtual world is influenced by many factors and even more intriguing a single negative…
Mobile telepresence robots (MTRs) have become increasingly popular in the expanding world of remote work, providing new avenues for people to actively participate in activities at a distance. However, humans operating MTRs often have…
We study the challenging problem of releasing a robot in a previously unseen environment, and having it follow unconstrained natural language navigation instructions. Recent work on the task of Vision-and-Language Navigation (VLN) has…
We present a large empirical investigation on the use of pre-trained visual representations (PVRs) for training downstream policies that execute real-world tasks. Our study involves five different PVRs, each trained for five distinct…
The current approach to connected and autonomous driving function development and evaluation uses model-in-the-loop simulation, hardware-in-the-loop simulation, and limited proving ground work followed by public road deployment of beta…
As the capability and complexity of UAVs continue to increase, the human-robot interface community has a responsibility to design better ways of specifying the complex 3D flight paths necessary for instructing them. Immersive interfaces,…
Strategies for finding one's way through an unfamiliar environment may be helped by computer generated 2D maps, 3D virtual environments, or other navigation aids. The relative effectiveness of 2D and 3D virtual navigation aids was…
As social VR applications grow in popularity, blind and low vision users encounter continued accessibility barriers. Yet social VR, which enables multiple people to engage in the same virtual space, presents a unique opportunity to allow…
Pedestrian safety is a critical public health priority, with pedestrian fatalities accounting for 18% of all U.S. traffic deaths in 2022. The rising prevalence of distracted walking, exacerbated by mobile device use, poses significant risks…
The integration of human-centric approaches has gained more attention recently due to more automated systems being introduced into our built environments (buildings, roads, vehicles, etc.), which requires a correct understanding of how…
The visual functions of visual prostheses such as field of view, resolution and dynamic range, seriously restrict the person's ability to navigate in unknown environments. Implanted patients still require constant assistance for navigating…
Simulations are gaining increasingly significance in the field of autonomous driving due to the demand for rapid prototyping and extensive testing. Employing physics-based simulation brings several benefits at an affordable cost, while…
Recent success in legged robot locomotion is attributed to the integration of reinforcement learning and physical simulators. However, these policies often encounter challenges when deployed in real-world environments due to sim-to-real…